June 11th

Palestinian Salaries Paid After Funds Released
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
June 11, 2008 - 3:53pm

RAMALLAH, West Bank Reuters) - Palestinian government workers received their wages almost a week late on Tuesday after Israel transferred tax revenues it held back over Palestinian attempts to block upgraded European-Israeli ties. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Monday the aid-dependent Palestinian government in the occupied West Bank had expected to receive tax revenues that Israel collects on its behalf on June 2 and to pay salaries two days later.

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Israeli Tank Fire Kills Girl In Gaza, Palestinians Say
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
June 11, 2008 - 3:46pm

This week Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other top officials have been discussing ceasefire prospects and possible broader military action should Egypt's efforts fail. Israeli tank fire killed a 9-year-old Palestinian girl in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian medical workers said. They said the girl's remains had been recovered from a house in the village of Qarara, east of Khan Younis, which had been struck by the tank fire. She was inside at the time of the shelling.

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Olmert Rejects Gaza Strip Invasion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI)
June 11, 2008 - 3:42pm

JERUSALEM, June 11 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday he has shelved plans to launch an invasion of the Gaza Strip and will give truce talks with Hamas more time. Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, released a statement saying that although the government won't move on a much-anticipated decision to invade Gaza in an attempt to stop rocket and mortar fire aimed at Israeli settlements, the preparations for military action will continue, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

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June 10th

According to UPI Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert may be shelving plans to invade the Gaza strip in favor of continuing truce talks with Hamas, (1) while many voices weigh in on the issue (8) (9) (11) (12). Violence continues in and around Gaza (2) (4) (5). An article from Al-Ayyam daily, translated by ATFP, evaluates the leadership of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad (7). The Israeli government votes to broaden the legal definition of counterterrorism, lessening its accountability for IDF actions in the West Bank (10).

Palestinians: Israel Transfers Delayed Tax Money, But Millions Missing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - June 10, 2008 - 5:28pm

Israel transfered vital tax funds to the Palestinian Authority Tuesday, after holding up the money for a week, a Palestinian offical said. The transfer was delayed after Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called on the European Union and OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) not to upgrade their relations with Israel.

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Top Mi Officer: Hama Fears Broad Idf Gaza Op
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amoss Harel, Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid - June 10, 2008 - 5:27pm

A senior Israel Defense Forces military intelligence officer told Tuesday's cabinet session that Hamas both fears a broad IDF operation in the Gaza Strip, and is expediting its preparations for such an incursion. Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz, the head of the research division of Military Intelligence, added that the militant Palestinian group was currently most interested in achieving calm in the Gaza Strip, which it controls, but was simultaneously continuing to smuggle weapons from Egypt.

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18 Mortars Hit Negev; 3 Hamas Men Killed In Iaf Strike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Shumlik Hadad - June 10, 2008 - 5:20pm

Eighteen mortar shells were fired from Gaza toward the Nahal Oz area noon Tuesday, as the "Kitchen Cabinet" - consisting of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni - was expected to reach a decision on whether or not to launch a military operation against Palestinian terror groups in the coastal enclave.

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Egypt Demands More Flexibility From Hamas On Prisoner Exchange Deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - June 10, 2008 - 5:13pm

Senior Palestinian sources in Gaza claimed on Tuesday that Egypt has increased its pressure on Hamas to submit a new list of prisoners it wants released as part of a comprehensive ceasefire agreement with Israel that would include the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Hamas' original list of 300 prisoners was, for the most part, rejected by Israel. According to Palestinian sources, Israel has agreed to release 71 prisoners "with blood on their hands".

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Gaza Groups Unfazed By Possible Idf Op
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - June 10, 2008 - 5:07pm

Israel's security cabinet is expected to make the pivotal decision of when – and more importantly if – the Gaza will see a wide-scale military operation meant to crush militant infrastructure; but the various armed groups in the Strip seem unfazed by the prospect. Hamas, the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) all believe that the political state of mind in Israel will not allow such an operation to materialize.

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Likud To Bring Motion To Dissolve Knesset Before House Next Week
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Amnon Meranda - June 10, 2008 - 5:04pm

The Likud Party has openly announced Tuesday it would bring a bill calling for the disollusion of the current Knesset before the House within a week. MK Silvan Shalom informed the faction that "on June 18 we will bring forth a motion calling for the dissolution of the Knesset in order to hurry the coming election in the most dignified way possible… The decision has been made. Olmert's government has reached the end of the road. All it cares about now is political survival."

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