News in Brief

The Home Front Command is mobilizing hundreds of Bedouin reserve soldiers, using emergency orders, in the wake of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into the southern Negev, which has a large Bedouin population. Officials in the command believe that Bedouin communities can be better served by Bedouin reservists working with emergency services due to their language and cultural skills, and that they will be better received by locals than their Jewish colleagues. The Negev Bedouin communities are particularly vulnerable to rocket damage, as many of the residents live in tents and shacks, there are no reinforcements against rockets and the siren alarm system is flawed. (Amos Harel)

The state is to respond today to a High Court of Justice proposal that would permit small groups of foreign journalists to enter the Gaza Strip, thus partially ending Israel's November ban on reporters from abroad entering the area. The court issued the proposal, which calls for allowing a small group of reporters into Gaza through a border crossing already open for other purposes, in a hearing held yesterday in response to a petition filed by the Foreign Press Association. (Gili Izikovich)

Army Radio broadcast signals in the south were interrupted yesterday morning by an Arab radio station, apparently run by Hamas. The Arab station jammed the Army Radio frequency during Golan Yochpaz's morning show. In a statement, Army Radio said the problems were corrected within a few minutes. "Hamas is aware of the centrality of Army Radio in Israel's media. There was an attempt to disturb broadcasts in the south, but using various means that we cannot describe the attempt was short and unsuccessful." (Gili Izikovich)

Under the slogan, "No compromise, stop the fighting," Meretz-The New Movement launched an Internet campaign that calls on the cabinet to adopt the position of the military establishment and reach a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. The campaign will include advertisements on leading Israeli Web sites, with messages such as "Another invasion? Another entanglement? More deaths?" and "No to a ground invasion." Party chairman Haim Oron said yesterday that the campaign is not meant to replace the party's election campaign, which like those of its fellow parties was suspended when the military operation began. (Roni Singer-Heruti)

Members of Friends of Gilad Shalit yesterday sent a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert demanding that any truce or cease-fire in the south include the release of the captured soldier. The activists also complained that Shalit's release is not one of the government's declared aims of the war. "How can it be that the fate of Gilad is not linked to the current fighting, or that the decision to fight was made as if Gilad doesn't exist. It's true that Gilad doesn't exist, he hasn't been home for over two and a half years," the letter said. (Jack Khoury)

Israel Railways reported that yesterday's passenger traffic from Be'er Sheva to the north of the country was at least double that of the norm for the middle of the week following the city's first rocket strikes. "Already at 8 a.m. passengers were pouring into the station, and by 8:30 it was packed, mainly with students carrying baggage," National Stations Manager Yehiel Tubol said yesterday. (Avi Bar-Eli)