Hamas vows revenge after leader killed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Erfat Weiss - May 28, 2009 - 12:00am Senior Hamas commander Abdel Majid Dudin, responsible for series of deadly terror attacks in Israel, killed in West Bank gunfight with police force attempting to arrest him; organization blames PA cooperation with 'Zionist enemy' » Read more

Abbas pushing pan-Arab peace with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press May 28, 2009 - 12:00am The Palestinian president will be pushing President Barack Obama on Thursday to facilitate peace with Israel through a larger solution to the Middle East conflict. Top Palestinian officials traveling with President Mahmoud Abbas said he was working to repackage a 2002 Saudi Arabian plan that called for exchange of Arab land occupied by Israel in the 1967 war for normalized relations with Arab countries. » Read more

Amnesty: Israel repeatedly breached rules of war in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz May 28, 2009 - 12:00am Amnesty International has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the rules of armed conflict during its recent offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "Israeli forces repeatedly breached the laws of war, including by carrying out direct attacks on civilians and civilian buildings and attacks targeting Palestinian militants that caused a disproportionate toll among civilians," the human rights watchdog said in its annual report. » Read more

Netanyahu letting settlers keep the upper hand ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - (Analysis) May 28, 2009 - 12:00am The trend is clear. In a few weeks Israel will be asked to take the first steps in removing the outposts in the West Bank. The settlements are not necessarily topping the Obama administration's agenda, but the Americans have been insistent enough that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have to show a willingness to act on the ground. Netanyahu's stance before his party colleagues in the Knesset on Tuesday, where he suggested that the Iranian nuclear program is more important than the future of the outposts, marked the start of an effort to prepare the ground for a move. » Read more

Israel rejects US call over settlement work ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News May 28, 2009 - 12:00am Israel will continue to allow some construction in West Bank settlements despite US calls for a freeze on its work, a government spokesman says. Mark Regev said the fate of the settlements should be decided in peace negotiations with the Palestinians. His remarks appear to be a rebuff to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said all such activity should cease. Her comments came hours before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was due to meet US President Barack Obama. » Read more

Disturbing figures that undermine peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Michael Jansen - May 28, 2009 - 12:00am When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel would not halt settlement construction in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan, he was, in effect, proclaiming his flagrant defiance of the will of the international community. And, for the first time in years, the US is at one with the majority of the world’s governments which see Israeli colonies in occupied Palestinian and Syrian land as the main obstacle to regional peace. » Read more

Pressure on Abbas rises before visit to US ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Omar Karmi - May 27, 2009 - 12:00am Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, might be forgiven for thinking he is in a rare position of strength as he prepares for his first visit with Barack Obama, the US president, today in Washington. There is certainly unusual agreement between Mr Abbas, who is also president of the Palestinian Authority, and Mr Obama on what, at least in the short term, is required to relaunch a serious peace process. » Read more

Obama should lay the parameters down ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by George S. Hishmeh - May 27, 2009 - 12:00am The inconclusive meeting between US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month, has confused rather than assuaged their audiences in the US and overseas. The interpretations have been varied, ranging from one end of the political spectrum to the other. It was surprising, but probably intentional, that the meeting which lasted two-and-a-half hours, more than double the originally allotted time and a good part of it limited to the two leaders, had no joint statement. » Read more

Obama Draws Line on Israeli Settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat May 28, 2009 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama has drawn a line on Israeli settlement expansion before he meets with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as part of his urgent quest to revive peace talks. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Obama made it clear, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited here last week, that he wants "no natural growth exceptions" to his call for a settlement freeze. » Read more