Hamas: Only breakthrough in Shalit deal is German mediation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - August 25, 2009 - 12:00am German involvement in mediation over a prisoner swap for the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit has advanced the negotiations but a breakthrough is not imminent, Hamas said on Tuesday. Hamas, the Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip, wants to trade Shalit for hundreds of jailed Palestinians. Israel long balked at freeing some of the prisoners but local media have recently reported progress. » Read more

Palestinian PM: We'll form de facto state by 2011 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz August 25, 2009 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority intends to establish a de-facto state within the next two years, despite failing peace talks, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Tuesday. "We have decided to be proactive, to expedite the end of the occupation by working very hard to build positive facts on the ground, consistent with having our state emerge as a fact that cannot be ignored," Fayyad told the Times of London. "This is our agenda, and we want to pursue it doggedly." According to Fayyad, the idea would be to "end the occupation, despite the occupation." » Read more

Evicted Palestinians camp by home taken by settlers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jihan Abdalla - August 25, 2009 - 12:00am Fresh dates and chicken soup were served up at dusk on the sidewalk in the well-heeled suburb of Sheik Jarrah this week, as the evicted Palestinian al-Ghawi family spent another night camped outside their former home. Their stone house in Arab east Jerusalem, in a district of consulates and trendy restaurants, is now home to Jewish settlers, who moved in as they were being kicked out on Aug 2. The furniture and belongings of the seven-member family were tossed on the street. Their neighbor offered shelter. » Read more

Fayyad unveils plan for de facto state by 2011 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 25, 2009 - 12:00am Palestinian caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad unveiled his plan to establish a de facto state within two years on Tuesday. Fayyad’s plan is to build up the apparatus of a state in the West Bank and Gaza even before Israel has withdrawn its forces from Palestinian land. He said the Palestinian Authority wants to take “positive steps … despite the occupation.” “This is on the path to freedom,” he said at a Ramallah news conference on Tuesday. » Read more

Israeli airstrike kills three in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 25, 2009 - 12:00am sraeli airstrikes overnight on a smuggling tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah killed two Palestinians and injured nine others. According to medical sources Nael Ali Batiniji, 22, and Mansour Ali Batiniji, 32, and Ibrahim Batiniji 24, arrived dead at Abu Yousef An-Najjar Hospital in Rafah. The three were brothers. Rescue workers were still searching for more bodies in the rubble of the tunnel. The medics also said nine injured people were taken to hospitals in ambulances after the strike. » Read more

Settlement issue looms over Netanyahu's Europe trip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - August 24, 2009 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embarked on a four-day trip to Europe on Monday, during which he will meet in London with US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell to try to firm up an agreement for fast-tracking peace talks with the Palestinians. » Read more

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says time is running out for peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by James Hider - August 25, 2009 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority intends to bypass failing peace talks and establish its own de facto state within two years, Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Prime Minister, said. Speaking on the eve of talks in London today between Binyamin Netanyahu and Gordon Brown, his Israeli and British counterparts, Mr Fayyad said that the idea was to “end the occupation, despite the occupation”. He told The Times in an interview: “After 16 years [of failed peace talks] why not change the discourse? » Read more