January 12th

Israel's victories in Gaza make up for its failures in Lebanon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ari Shavit - (Analysis) January 12, 2009 - 1:00am


The war on Hamas is a war for the sovereignty of Israel. It was launched due to repeated rocket attacks from Gaza following Israel's disengagement from the coastal strip. No country in the world would put up with a situation in which its sovereignty is being undermined and its citizens are being threatened. Given its small geographical territory and many enemies, Israel can not put up with this situation. Therefore, it is up to every decent person who wants Israel to strive for peace and end its occupation and return to its original borders to support its fight for sovereignty.


Egypt defends its Gaza policy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Nadia Abou el-Magd - January 12, 2009 - 1:00am


Egyptian officials yesterday launched a public relations offensive aimed at defending the government’s policies towards the Gaza Strip and tempering growing criticism of its handling of the two-week-long conflict.


Crisis Imperils 2-State Plan, Shifting a Balance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Michael Slackman - (Analysis) January 11, 2009 - 1:00am


With every image of the dead in Gaza inflaming people across the Arab world, Egyptian and Jordanian officials are worried that they see a fundamental tenet of the Middle East peace process slipping away: the so-called two-state solution, an independent Palestinian state coexisting with Israel.


Blair Says Mideast Cease-Fire Elements in Place
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Griff Witte - January 12, 2009 - 1:00am


Israeli war planes and gunboats destroyed targets in the Gaza Strip Monday, including homes of Hamas leaders, as special Mideast envoy Tony Blair said after a meeting in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that "the elements of an agreement" for a cease-fire are in place. Blair, the former British prime minister, spoke amid intense negotiations aimed at bringing the 17-day war to a halt. Both Israel and Hamas are participating.


Hamas: A Crisis of Leadership
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - (Opinion) January 12, 2009 - 1:00am


What is Hamas lacking?


Hamas reportedly rejects Egypt bid for long-term Gaza truce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
January 12, 2009 - 1:00am


Hamas has rejected an Egyptian proposal for a long-term truce between the Gaza Strip and Israel, the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayyat reported on Monday. The newspaper quoted a senior Hamas source as saying: "There are still many details that need to be discussed before we can say that we have reached an agreement of principles. Egypt's state-owned news agency reported on Sunday that talks were progressing between Egyptian officials and a Hamas delegation dispatched to Cairo on finding an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip.


Israel sees cracks in Hamas's will to fight
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
January 12, 2009 - 1:00am


On the 17th day of the war against Hamas, Israel said it launched around 15 airstrikes overnight, fewer than in some recent nights, as Israeli troops pushed into a heavily populated area of Gaza City from the south on Sunday in fierce fighting that reportedly continued on Monday. Senior Israeli officials said for the first time in the war that they believed that the Hamas military wing was beginning to crack and that Hamas leaders inside Gaza were looking for a cease-fire. News reports said Hamas fired at least one missile out of Gaza into southern Israel without causing casualties.


Battered by Israel, Hamas faces tough choice
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Rushdi Abu Alouf, Jeffrey Fleishman - January 12, 2009 - 1:00am


Hamas fighters are scattered in cells across the Gaza Strip, launching rockets, ambushing Israeli soldiers, and vanishing into tunnels and bunkers to escape airstrikes on a pummeled terrain of shattered buildings and bodies curled and crumpled in the streets.


Sources: Hamas leaders hiding in basement of Israel-built hospital in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - January 12, 2009 - 1:00am


Senior Hamas officials in Gaza are hiding out in a "bunker" built by Israel, intelligence officials suspect: Many are believed to be in the basements of the Shifa Hospital complex in Gaza City, which was refurbished during Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip. Shifa, the coastal strip's largest hospital, was built while Gaza was under Egyptian rule, before 1967. During the mid-1980s the building underwent massive refurbishment as part of a showcase project to improve the living conditions of residents.


1 dead, dozens injured in Gaza by suspected white phosphorus munitions
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Yasser Ahmad, Richard Boudreaux - January 12, 2009 - 1:00am


Palestinian villagers said the shelling came from the direction of the Israeli border, less than a mile away, scattering flaming objects in their midst and burning down 20 homes and the local United Nations-run school. "One landed in my kitchen and caused a fire," said Zohair Mohammed abu Rejila, 35. "I went to put it out, but another one landed on Mayar, my baby daughter. It was like a block of fire, a piece of plastic on fire. When I knocked it off her, it exploded and out came this heavy white smoke with a very bad smell."



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