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Israel's security cabinet declares Gaza an "enemy entity," paving the way for cuts in gas supplies into the already isolated coastal strip. These and other punitive measures are a bid to isolate Hamas in response to rocket fire aimed at southern Israel.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden reports on the dangers and hardships facing one Palestinian family caught up in the ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip.

Violence also erupted elsewhere in the Middle East today. Israeli helicopter gunships launched attacks against Palestinian targets. Among the targets: the headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Gaza City. Arafat was not injured. Israel says the attacks are in retaliation for the killing of Israeli soldiers. Three soldiers had made a wrong turn into Palestinian territory, and sought refuge at Palestinian police station. But a mob of hundreds of Palestinians surrounded the building, and beat at least two of the soldiers to death. Mike Shuster of NPR News talks to host Robert Siegel about the incidents.

NPR's Jennifer Ludden in Gaza reports another cease-fire between the Israelis and Palestinians failed to stem the violence raging throughout the Palestinian territories. There were gun battles near an Israeli settlement in Gaza and in at least one town in the West Bank. Israeli troops clashed with stone-throwing demonstrators in other areas.

An emboldened Meshal kissed the ground in celebration and he was given a hero's welcome. Meshal said he he considered the moment a rebirth.

Most Israelis view Gaza as hostile territory ruled by a terrorist group, Hamas, committed to the destruction of the Jewish state. Though cross-border violence has subsided recently, Israelis still feel under attack and remain in a state of hyper-vigilance.

In the Gaza Strip there are no functioning courts and most of the Fatah-backed police force refuses to return to work. But Hamas, now the territory's sole power, has moved quickly to try to restore internal law and order after removing its rival faction just over two weeks ago.

The shots — the first that Israel has fired at Syria since the 1973 Yom Kippur War — come just days after a Syrian mortar shell hit a target inside the Israel-occupied Golan Heights. Israel noted the Syrian firing was part of that country's civil war. Separately, Israel also said it was ready to respond to a barrage of rocket fire from Gaza.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas controls most of the Gaza Strip and is declaring victory after five days of intense fighting with members of the rival Fatah movement.

Hadi Abushahla moved from London to Gaza four years ago to open a computer store. In the latest in a series of stories about the entrepreneur, we explore the difficult transition for Abushahla's family.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with James Wolff, the pseudonym of a former British intelligence officer who now writes about them in spy novels. His latest book is Spies and Other Gods.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the talks were meant to lay out a framework for lasting peace and to bring an end to Hezbollah's influence in the region.