February 5th

International Criminal Court to consider Gaza investigation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Sebastian Rotella - February 5, 2009 - 1:00am

In a move that could inject a new international actor into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the International Criminal Court will examine requests to investigate alleged war crimes during the recent combat in the Gaza Strip, its chief prosecutor said Wednesday. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the Netherlands-based court, said he had decided to consider an investigation after the Palestinian Authority accepted the jurisdiction of the court last week.

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After the war, Gazans seek answers on white phosphorus
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - February 5, 2009 - 1:00am

When Nafiz Abu Shabam received a 5-year-old patient at the Shifa Hospital early in the war between Israel and Hamas, he dressed her burns and sent her for tests. Three hours later, when he and other medical staff redressed the wound, they saw smoke coming from it. "We found small pieces of foreign material in her body, and even when we picked it out, the wound was still smoking," he says. "We were later told [by foreign doctors and human rights workers who arrived after the war started] that it was white phosphorus."

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Gaza War Created Rift Between Israel and Turkey
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Sabrina Tavernise - February 4, 2009 - 1:00am

The four daily flights to Tel Aviv are still running. The defense contract signed in December has not been scrapped. But since Israel’s war in Gaza, relations with Turkey, Israel’s closest Muslim ally, have become strained. Israel’s Arab allies stood behind it in the war, but Turkey, a NATO member whose mediating efforts last year brought Israel into indirect talks with Syria, protested every step of the way in a month of angry remarks capped when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stalked off the stage during a debate in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 29.

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Don’t Try This at Home
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Thomas L. Friedman - (Opinion) February 3, 2009 - 1:00am

In recent days, some have questioned whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was making a big mistake in appointing so many “special envoys,” such as George Mitchell, to handle key trouble spots, like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I think they are right to question Mrs. Clinton about this plethora of envoys. But I don’t think the problem is that she has too many; it’s that she doesn’t have enough. In the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, she may need at least a half-dozen envoys.

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February 4th

ATFP Warns Against Israel’s Plans for New West Bank Settlement
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - February 4, 2009 - 1:00am

Washington, DC, Feb. 4 – The American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) today warned that plans for a new Israeli settlement in the West Bank poses a serious threat to progress towards a peace agreement. The proposed new settlement in the so-called “Binyamin region” of the occupied West Bank is located to the east of the separation barrier and would violate both Israel’s Roadmap obligations and commitments by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to former US President George W. Bush.


The New York Times profiles how the Israeli incursion has affected the small Gazan farming village of El Atatra (1). Israel prepares to defend itself against possible war crimes charges from the International Criminal Court (2) (8). An op-ed in The Washington Times analyzes Obama’s recent television interview with Al-Arabiya (3). UN officials report that Hamas policeman have seized a large amount of aid intended for Gaza civilians (4). National security dominates the debate as candidates prepare for Israeli general elections next week (5). Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority announces a $600 million reconstruction program for Gaza (7). Mideast envoy George Mitchell requests to have a regional office for dealing effectively with day-to-day developments (9). A top Hamas official tells The Jerusalem Post that a ceasefire agreement is likely to be reached by the end of the week (11).

War crimes accusations rattle Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - February 4, 2009 - 1:00am

Three-and-a-half years ago, Israeli reserve Gen. Doron Almog was forced to flee Britain just after landing in London. He had been tipped off about a surprise warrant for his arrest issued by a British magistrates court. The charge: war crimes. Now, as the recent Gaza war stirs up more accusations of offenses, the Jewish state and international human rights advocates are gearing up for more potential criminal cases against military officers and political leaders in Europe and possibly elsewhere.

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DALE: Obama's Arab-TV interview
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times
by Helle Dale - (Opinion) February 4, 2009 - 1:00am

The Arab world remains in a tizzy of excitement over the interview given last week by President Obama with the Arabic news service Al-Arabiya. "Overwhelmingly positive" is how the State Department's Web site describes the reaction in the Middle East. Was it anything Mr. Obama said that made them so elated? More likely it was the simple act of speaking to the Arab world through one of its own media and the facts of Mr. Obama's identity and family background. One thing is for sure, Mr.

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In Shattered Gaza Town, Roots of Seething Split
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Sabrina Tavernise - February 3, 2009 - 1:00am

The phosphorus smoke bomb punched through the roof in exactly the spot where much of the family had taken refuge — the upstairs hall away from the windows. The bomb, which international weapons experts identified as phosphorus by its fragments, was intended to mask troop movements outside. Instead it breathed its storm of fire and smoke into Sabah Abu Halima’s hallway, releasing flaming chemicals that clung to her husband, baby girl and three other small children, burning them to death.

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Abbas government announces $600 million Gaza aid project
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ali Sawafta - February 4, 2009 - 1:00am

The government of Western-back Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Wednesday a $600 million reconstruction program for the war-battered Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who heads Abbas's West Bank-based government, said the program would cover all Palestinian houses destroyed or damaged during Israel's 22-day military offensive in the Hamas-ruled enclave.

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