According to the BBC, Ha’aretz, the Jerusalem Post and others Mubarak, Olmert, Abbas and Abdullah will meet this coming Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh to “discuss recent developments between Fatah and Hamas” and “strengthen moderates and to further the Israeli-Palestinian agenda”.

That is all very typical of normal war preparations. First, the Imperial High Command leaders meet in the Imperial Homeland (Olmert, Netanyahu consult with the US Nomenklatura bosses), then the Imperial stooges are informed on the decisions taken by the High Command.

Now that the decision has been made not to negotiate with anyone, preparations for war are well under way.

Take a look at this report by Ynetnews:

Netanyahu: Egypt, Jordan key to weakening Hamas

Likud leader says Israel needs Egypt and Jordan to train Palestinian security forces to impose rule of law in Palestinian territories, a step that will help embolden Palestinian moderates like Abbas

Israel needs the help of Jordan and Egypt to bolster moderate forces in the Palestinian Authority against the emboldened Hamas group, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday. Speaking to CNN, Netanyahu said that strengthening President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction with the help of moderate Arab countries could be the key to solving the Middle East conflict. “I think ultimately, to resolve the Palestinian problem we’ll have to have a regional component. We’ll have to have Egypt help in Gaza once the Hamas rule is terminated and we’ll have to have Jordan help with the West Bank,” Netanyahu told CNN. The radical Hamas group seized control of the Gaza Strip last week, prompting Abbas to dismiss the unity government between Hamas and his Fatah faction. An emergency government of technocrats was sworn-in in Ramallah after Hamas gunmen stormed government buildings in Gaza, emerging as the victor in a prolonged and bloody power struggle with rivals Fatah. Netanyahu lauded Abbas for calling Hamas “murderous terrorists” in a televised address to the Palestinian people on Wednesday night, but lamented that he should have done so in the past when the group waged terror attacks against Israeli civilians. He added that while Abbas might have genuine intentions to fight terror and resume peace talks with Israel, he lacked the means to provide security in the Palestinian territories where Iran and Syria were trying to sow strife. “The third thing is to try to bolster the moderates, the Palestinian moderates primarily by providing security and I would like to see Jordan nearby come in and provide help with security because evidently the Palestinian leadership of Abbas may mean well but it doesn’t have the power to handle that type of security,” Netanyahu said. The former prime minister warned Israel against unilaterally withdrawing from the West Bank, saying that similar withdrawals from south Lebanon and the Gaza Strip emboldened radical groups like Hizbullah and Hamas. “Well, I think it’s actually a sneak preview of what happens when Israel unilaterally walks out of a territory. That’s how Hamas politically won,” he said. “So we’ve just created an Iranian base at our doorsteps and the same happened before that in Lebanon where we unilaterally walked out there without peace or security arrangements.”

Pretty obvious, no? First – he clearly shows that the decision to invade Gaza has already been taken, second he states that a regional repressive structure will be put in place with Israel, Egypt and Jordan all collaborating against the party which the Palestinians democratically elected and third, he clearly repeats that Iran is to blame for all the Empire’s problems.

In the meanwhile, the Israeli website DEBKAfile reports that the number of US aircraft carrier battlegroups could grow up to four:

A third US carrier, the nuclear-powered USS Enterprise Strike Group is speeding towards the Persian Gulf

According to DEBKAfile’s military sources, the US naval build-up off the shores of Iran marks rising military tensions in the region, accentuated by last week’s Hamas victory which has endowed Iran with a military foothold on Israel’s southwestern border.

The USS Enterprise CVN 65-Big E Strike Group, the US Navy’s largest air carrier, will join the USS Stennis and the USS Nimitz carriers, building up the largest sea, air, marine concentration the United States has ever deployed opposite Iran. This goes towards making good on the assurances of four carriers US Vice President Dick Cheney offered the Gulf and Middle East nations during his May tour of the region.

The “Big E” leads a strike group consisting of the guided-missile destroyers USS Arleigh Burke DDG 51, USS Stout DDG 55, Forrest Sherman DDG 98 and USS James E. Williams DDG 95, as well as the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg CG 64, the SS Philadelphia SSN 690 nuclear submarine and the USNS Supply T-AOE 6.

On its decks are the Carrier Air Wing CVW 1, whose pilots fought combat missions in the Gulf and Arabian Sea during 2006. The Air Wing is made up of F/Q-18 Super Hornet strike craft, the Sidewinders Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-86, the 251st Marine Fighter Attack Squadron MFA, and the Electronic Attack Squadron VAQ 137.

The 32nd Sea Control Squadron VS consists of S-3B Vikings. The Airborne Early Warning Squadron VAQ 3 flies E-2C Hawkeye craft. The Fleet Logistics Support Squadron VRC is based on C-2A Greyhounds.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report Washington is considering deploying the fourth US carrier for the region in the Red Sea opposite Saudi Arabian western coast to secure the three US carriers in the Gulf from the rear as well as the Gulf of Aqaba and Suez Canal.