January 2nd

Thousands of Gazans near Rafah displaced by IAF bombing of tunnels
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - January 1, 2009 - 1:00am

Rafah residents came to the realization on Tuesday that the air force has adopted a new method for destroying weapons smuggling tunnels in the town. On Monday, the military fired 10 missiles which are believed to have destroyed 10 tunnels. Palestinians say IAF drones fired seven missiles on Tuesday at the same number of tunnels. The buzz of the drones and the shrieking missile fire interspersed with the exploding bombs were heard all day and all night. A total of 12 ordnances were counted on Tuesday, though 12 explosions were not heard.

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IDF sending Hamas a message: Now it's personal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) January 2, 2009 - 1:00am

The killing of senior Hamas official Nizar Ghayan Thursday in an Israel Air Force strike in Jabalya is a significant development at this stage of the war in the Gaza Strip, due not only to his high position in the Gaza leadership but also because of the message his assassination sends to the Palestinians.

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Fighting in dense Gaza brings child casualties
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
January 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Samar Hamdan ran weeping through the street, trying to touch the body of her dead 11-year-old brother during a funeral procession in this northern Gaza town. Just a day before, the 15-year-old girl's two sisters were also buried, victims of the same strike from an Israeli missile. As Israel steps up its attacks on the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated spots on Earth, children are paying the price. "In this crowded strip, everything is beside everything else," said Karen Abu Zayd, a top U.N. official in Gaza.

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Israel destroys Hamas homes, flattens Gaza mosque
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
January 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel destroyed the homes of more than a dozen Hamas operatives and bombed one of its mosques on Friday, the seventh day of a blistering offensive in Gaza and the day after a deadly strike killed a prominent Hamas figure. In what appeared to be a new Israeli tactic, the military called at least some of the houses ahead of time to warn inhabitants of an impending attack. In some cases, it also fired a sound bomb to warn away civilians before flattening the homes with powerful missiles, Palestinians and Israeli defense officials said.

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Israel Lets Some Foreigners Leave Gaza as Bombing Continues
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Taghreed El-Khodary, Isabel Kershner - January 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli warplanes pounded Hamas targets in Gaza for a seventh day on Friday while Israel allowed hundreds of foreigners, many of them married to Palestinians, to leave the enclave, raising fears here that Israel was planning to escalate its week-old campaign. Tensions spread to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Palestinian anger at reports of civilian casualties in Gaza seemed to be translating into at least a temporary increase in popular sympathy for Hamas.

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Hamas Resilient Despite Israeli Onslaught
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
January 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel is methodically targeting the Hamas domain, bombing government offices, security compounds, commanders, and even Hamas-linked clinics, mosques and money changers. Yet Gaza's Islamic rulers show no sign of buckling under the aerial onslaught. Israel says Hamas still has thousands of rockets. Hamas TV and radio remain on the air, broadcasting morale-boosting battle reports. Hamas' political and military leaders communicate from hiding places by walkie-talkie. Police patrol streets to prevent price gouging and looting.

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IAF strikes more than 30 Hamas targets in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Yoav Stern - January 2, 2009 - 1:00am

The Israel Air Force pressed on with its assault on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip Friday evening, bombing the home of Hamas member Mohammed Madhoun, who was responsible for rocket attacks against Israel. Madhoun's house was also used as a laboratory for the manufacturing of rockets and explosive devices and as a storage facility for rockets, mortar shells, and various weapons. At least eight people, among them five children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza on Friday. In all, the IAF reportedly hit 35 Hamas targets throughout the day Friday.

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January 1st

Israel’s attacks on Gaza continue as civilians suffer the consequences (1,2). The Bush Administration struggles to find a sustainable response, while Arab and Palestinian rifts intensify (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10). Mustafa Barghouthi refutes Israeli arguments, while the Arab News interviews ATFP President Ziad Asali and Geoffrey Aronson of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (9, 11). Kevin Clarke and Eboo Patel urge American religious communities to re-examine their approaches to the conflict (12, 13).

US Jews, Muslims Need New Playbook
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Newsweek
by Eboo Patel - January 1, 2009 - 1:00am

The Council of Islamic Relations calls the Israeli attack on Gaza a "disproportionate and counterproductive ... massacre". Its homepage features a photo of a bombed out building in Gaza with a panicked official ushering civilians to safety. The American Jewish Committee's homepage has a picture of Palestinian militants in ski masks holding guns next to a video of AJC Executive Director David Harris speaking of the "intolerable situation" Israel faces and how it had "no choice" but to bomb Gaza.

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Escaping the Gaza ghetto
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Chicago Tribune
by Kevin Clarke - January 1, 2009 - 1:00am

It's hard to watch the mayhem in Gaza, watch the bloodied faces of children and anguished parents, hard even to watch the death mask of even the most ardent, Israel-hating member of Hamas as he is carted off to his grave, easier to turn it off, and not think about this complex, seemingly intractable mess that is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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