US announces support for Egypt's wall ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 13, 2010 - 1:00am Bethlehem – Ma’an – The US administration in Washington announced on Tuesday its support for the construction of an underground steel wall on the Egyptian borders with Gaza, to prevent the smuggling of weapons. Spokesman for the US Foreign Ministry Gordon Duguid said "We have seen that Egypt is carrying out activities which will help stop weapons smuggling into Gaza. We believe that weapons smuggling should stop, and that measures taken to stop that weapons smuggling should be – could be carried out." » Read more

Up next: 'Al Qaeda in Palestine'? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Erin Cunningham - January 11, 2010 - 1:00am Gaza City, Gaza — Militant Islamist groups in Gaza seeking an alliance with Al Qaeda may be planning to carry out a large-scale attack in order to boost their credentials, warns a report released today by the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP). » Read more

Mideast peacemakers mull aid to Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Slobodan Lekic - January 12, 2010 - 1:00am BRUSSELS -- U.S. envoy George Mitchell urged European and other international donors on Tuesday to help the Palestinian Authority finance its institution-building program as it prepares to set up a Palestinian state. After meeting with America's partners in the quest for a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Mitchell said President Barack Obama was committed to achieving peace in the Middle East. "Central to the effort is resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of two states," Mitchell told reporters. » Read more

No easy riding for Gaza bikers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by Djallal Malti - January 12, 2010 - 1:00am GAZA CITY — When Munzer Diyya wants to get away from it all, he sits astride his motorcycle and takes to the open road -- all 45 kilometres of it. Diyya has the misfortune of being an open road enthusiast living in the Gaza Strip, a tiny territory sandwiched between Israel and Egypt and blockaded by both. So when he and his buddies gun their engines and head out on the highway, they are reduced to riding only the length of the impoverished and overcrowded Palestinian enclave -- a mere 45 kilometres (28 miles). » Read more

Palestinian PM accuses Israel of trying to isolate PNA ATFP World Press Roundup Article from China View January 12, 2010 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad accused Israel on Tuesday of trying to isolate the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) through a campaign against President Mahmoud Abbas and Fayyad's government. "The Israeli campaign can be explained only as part of a planned effort that openly aims at isolating us internationally," Fayyad told reporters in Ramallah. Once the PNA is boycotted, "Israel can evade the peace process' requirements," he added. » Read more

Hamas seeks to lower tension with Egypt, Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters January 12, 2010 - 1:00am Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Islamist movement's government in the coastal enclave, said other armed groups in the Gaza Strip should observe what has amounted to a ceasefire since Israel's major offensive a year ago. That, Haniyeh said, was in the interests of protecting Gazans from Israeli attacks. Monday, Israel's defense minister had warned Hamas to rein in its allies "or else" -- a threat of more Israeli action. » Read more

Abbas calls for settlement freeze 'for a fixed period' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) January 12, 2010 - 1:00am RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Tuesday said for the first time that he might restart peace negotiations with Israel if it froze settlement expansion for a "fixed period." "We will not accept the relaunching of negotiations without a complete halt to settlements, including in Jerusalem, for a fixed period," Abbas told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah. It was the first time Abbas appeared to accept some kind of temporary settlement freeze, after months in which he insisted on a total halt to settlement growth pending a final agreement on borders. » Read more