November 18th

IDF to move Gaza fugitives to Ramallah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Erfat Weiss - August 3, 2008 - 8:00pm Most of the Fatah members who escaped from the Gaza Strip following clashes with Hamas will be transferred to the West Bank, the defense establishment decided Monday morning after two days of consultations. The incident began on Saturday, when members of the Fatah-affiliated Hilles clan surrendered to Hamas forces in Gaza. Many of the family members began moving towards the Nahal Oz crossing. » Read more

Palestinian shot by Border Guard in Naalin dies ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - August 3, 2008 - 8:00pm Ahmed Amira, an 18-year-old Palestinian who was critically injured in the West Bank village of Naalin about a week ago, died of his wounds at a Ramallah hospital Monday morning. Amira, who was shot by Border Guard forces during clashes in the village, had been in a state of brain death in the past few days. He was wounded a day after an 11-year-old boy was killed by an Israeli Border Guard policeman in Naalin. » Read more

PA dismisses 1,000 Hamas-affiliated officers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - August 3, 2008 - 8:00pm The Palestinian Authority has dismissed some 1,000 police and security officers suspected of being affiliated with Hamas supporters or connected to the movement controlling Gaza, on the backdrop of fears that the recent clashes in the Strip would spread to the West Bank. » Read more

Palestinian teenager dies after being shot by Israeli forces ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm A Palestinian youth targeted by Israeli forces in clashes last week died on Monday, hospital officials said. Eighteen-year-old Yousef Amira was shot during a July 30 clash between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators that followed the funeral of a 10-year-old boy killed by Israeli forces a day earlier near the West Bank village of Nilin, Palestinian officials said. Amira was struck in the head by what Palestinian medical workers described as a rubber bullet.

Five Palestinians die in Egypt-Gaza border tunnel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News August 1, 2008 - 8:00pm At least five Palestinians suffocated to death while digging a smuggling tunnel beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border, hospital workers said. Eleven others were also injured during the incident on Friday. Witnesses said the tunnel was being dug to smuggle goods from Egypt into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Many Gazans use tunnels to bypass an Israeli blockade that was tightened after Hamas fighters seized the coastal strip last year.

The politics of indecision in Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Gwynne Dyer - August 3, 2008 - 8:00pm I am proud to be a citizen of a country where the prime minister can be investigated like an ordinary citizen, said Ehud Olmert on July 30, announcing that he would resign as prime minister in September to defend himself against corruption allegations. He should be even prouder: Three of Israel’s last four prime ministers were under investigation for corruption when they left office. » Read more

Rights Group: Israel pressed Gaza sick to become informers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) August 3, 2008 - 8:00pm Israeli security agents have been pressuring Gazans seeking medical treatment abroad to work as informers in violation of international law, an Israeli rights group said Monday. A report by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said that Palestinian patients have "become an accessible and important target for the GSS (General Security Services) for the purposes of recruiting and gathering information." » Read more

Abbas: No retreat for Fatah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak, Karin Laub - August 3, 2008 - 8:00pm Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday refused to grant West Bank asylum to forces of his Fatah group who fled weekend faction fighting in Hamas-ruled Gaza, despite fears for their safety. Abbas ordered over 200 fighters back to Gaza from Israel, insisting a Fatah presence must be retained in the territory, which has been controlled by Hamas since a violent takeover in June 2007. Fatah is not prepared to write off Gaza, and Abbas also fears that an entrenched Hamas there could export rebellion to the West Bank, where he rules. » Read more

Nine killed as Hamas clashes with Fatah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times by Tobias Buck - August 2, 2008 - 8:00pm The Gaza Strip was on Sunday reeling from one of the worst bouts of internecine fighting in over a year, after a Hamas raid on the stronghold of a powerful Gaza clan left at least nine dead and forced as many as 200 family members to flee into Israel. The clashes marked a further escalation in the struggle between Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, and the Fatah party of Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.

Israel releases Hamas ex-minister ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News August 3, 2008 - 8:00pm A minister for the Hamas group in the former Palestinian government, Omar Abdelrazek, has been freed after two years in Israeli custody, reports say. Mr Abdelrazek served as finance minister in the Hamas-led administration installed in 2006. He was among a large group of Hamas politicians seized by Israel in June 2006, accused of membership of a terrorist organisation. He was not charged with an offence or put on trial during his detention. Mr Abdelrazek was released overnight from Megiddo prison in northern Israel, a Palestinian security official said. » Read more