December 29th

Israel says Gaza assault 'war to the bitter end'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Matti Friedman - December 29, 2008 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel obliterated symbols of Hamas power on the third day of what the defense minister described Monday as a "war to the bitter end," striking next to the Hamas premier's home, and devastating a security compound and a university building.

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Israel mounts third day of Gaza raids
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - December 29, 2008 - 1:00am

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli air strikes flattened bastions of Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip on Monday in the third day of an offensive that has killed more than 325 Palestinians in the deadliest violence in the territory in decades. "We have an all-out war against Hamas and its kind," Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in parliament, using a term he has employed in the past to describe a long-term struggle against Israel's Islamist enemies.

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Gaza Toll Hits 300 in 3rd Day of Israel Strikes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Taghreed El-Khodary, Isabel Kershner - December 29, 2008 - 1:00am

GAZA — In a third straight day of deadly air strikes against the emblems and institutions of Hamas on Monday, Israeli warplanes pounded targets in Gaza including the Interior Ministry while the Israeli Army declared areas around the beleaguered enclave a “closed military zone.” The attacks brought the death toll in Gaza to more than 300, according to Palestinian medical officials.

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December 28th

The stories in today’s special Sunday news roundup all cover fallout from the massive Israeli airstrikes that killed and injured hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza yesterday. News articles are followed by opinion and analysis.

Delusions of victory in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Zvi Barel - December 28, 2008 - 1:00am

As of yesterday, politicians and the public at large have been enthralled by a new prospect: that of a wide-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip. Such a prospect answers all their heart's secret wishes: Avenging the rocket fire by Gazan militants, reclaiming Israel's prestige, delivering a fatal blow to Hamas, providing payback for Israel's 2005 pullout from Gaza, sending a strong message to Iran, an implicit one to Hezbollah, and also showing the government's concern for its citizens and scoring some points with the electorate ahead of the elections.

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Gratuitous massacre
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
December 28, 2008 - 1:00am

Yesterday one could feel gloom and fury in the streets of Amman, as people were following with shock and horror news of Israel’s devastating, barbaric attacks on the Gaza Strip, which left more than 200 people dead and 300 wounded, 120 of them seriously. As soon as news of the attacks and their unprecedented toll were reported live by satellite television stations, Jordanians around the Kingdom took to the streets in spontaneous demonstrations to express solidarity with their helpless brethren in the impoverished, besieged strip.

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Israel is poised for the latest act in a long history of tragic folly
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
December 27, 2008 - 1:00am

It is no secret that the period of Hamas' rule in Gaza since 2007 has been one of little or no accomplishment and of supremely unimaginative leadership. The Islamist movement has provided its enemy with a pretext to bring ruin on the very people whose rights a resistance group is supposed to defend.

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The Blood of Gaza…A Business Venture!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - December 28, 2008 - 1:00am

A grim and bloody theatrical play named the "Palestinian cause" has been recurring for decades, with the same scenes, and lies; there is nothing new except for its victims. [A play with] opportunistic factions and Israeli crimes, and Arab denunciation and condemnation. What is the difference between what is happening in Gaza and what took place in the Israeli-Hezbollah War [2006 Lebanon War]?

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With Gaza raid, Barak is back in the political ring
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yossi Verter - December 28, 2008 - 1:00am

Two months after Ehud Olmert was elected as Israel's prime minister, the Second Lebanon War broke out. Two months before Olmert departs, the military campaign in the south breaks out.

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Israel plays for high stakes in Gaza attack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Tobias Buck, Andrew England - December 28, 2008 - 1:00am

Less than 28 months after the end of Israel’s botched war in Lebanon, the country has launched another massive assault against a militant Islamist group in the region. This time, the enemy is Hamas not Hizbollah. And this time, Israelis are hoping fervently that their political and military leaders know what they are doing.

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