July 28th

6 Palestinians injured in clashes with Israeli settlers over house demolitions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 28, 2010 - 12:00am Six Palestinians were injured and four others were arrested during clashes with Israeli police in East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, witnesses said. The witnesses said angry Palestinian young men threw stones at Israeli police and settlers who came to inspect a site where the municipality of Jerusalem is planning to build an entertainment place. The Israeli police used rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowds, the witnesses added. » Read more

Egypt seizes 10 Gaza tunnels ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 28, 2010 - 12:00am Egyptian forces took control of 10 smuggling tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border area of Salah Ad-Din in Rafah on Wednesday and thwarted a cement-smuggling operation, a security source said. Forces seized a tunnel after receiving information on its location, the official told Ma'an. The tunnels were raided and 30 bags of cement were found inside. The smugglers fled the scene before security forces arrived. The cement, weighing approximately 1.5 tons, was confiscated. The tunnels will be demolished, the source said. » Read more

PNA to suffer financial crisis if donors continue not to pay, officials say ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua July 28, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian officials said on Tuesday that the lack of Arab donations to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) this year might lead to a severe financial crisis in the upcoming months. Palestinian Labor Minister Ahmed Majdalani told Xinhua that Arab states have only paid 20 percent of what they have pledged to give in aid to the PNA. "Our Arab brothers are cutting off the financial supports when our European friends are honoring their pledges to financially boost the PNA," he said. » Read more

Fatah official: PA to disband government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency July 28, 2010 - 12:00am The Ramallah-based government led by premier Salam Fayyad will be disbanded and a new Palestinian Authority cabinet will be formed next week, a high-ranking Fatah official said Tuesday. Fatah's parliament speaker Azzam Al-Ahmad told Ma'an radio that President Abbas would consult with Palestinian factions over the new structure of the PA. Fayyad or another politician will be tasked with forming a government, he said. » Read more

Israel: Palestinians have set 'impossible' conditions for direct peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters July 28, 2010 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has laid down "impossible" conditions for moving to direct peace talks, Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom said on Wednesday, according to French news agency AFP. "The Palestinians have set three impossible conditions: that the negotiations start from the point they left off at the end of 2008 when Ehud Olmert was prime minister, that they be based on a total Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 lines and that the freeze of [settlement] construction continue," Shalom was quoted as saying. » Read more

Israeli premier talks to Jordanian king about need for direct Mideast peace negotiations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Jamal Halaby - July 28, 2010 - 12:00am In a surprise visit to Amman on Tuesday, Israel's prime minister tried to mobilize Jordan's king in his effort to persuade the Palestinians to resume direct peace talks, though the chief Palestinian negotiator again rejected the idea. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's quick trip to neighboring Jordan came after a Palestinian document, obtained Monday by The Associated Press, noted that President Barack Obama's envoy is also pressing the Palestinians to restart direct peace negotiations with Israel. » Read more

Report: IDF prepares to demolish yeshiva at West Bank settlement Yitzhar ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz July 28, 2010 - 12:00am The military is preparing to demolish a Jewish seminary building at the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar after residents lost an appeal against its destruction, Army Radio reported Wednesday. Military sources said that army prosecutors had turned down an appeal against plans to raze the yeshiva, which the government has ruled illegal, in response to attacks by Yitzhar settlers on neighboring Palestinians and the extremist language used by the yeshiva's rabbi, Itzik Shapira. » Read more

Hamas may employ Gaza army draft ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press July 28, 2010 - 12:00am The top security official in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Tuesday he is considering setting up a bigger military force, first with volunteers and eventually with conscripts as well. Such a step could further tighten Hamas' control of Gaza and deepen the rift with the group's Western-backed rivals in the West Bank. Hamas seized Gaza by force in 2007, wresting control from forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Currently, Hamas has a paid security force of about 18,000. » Read more

Israel razes homes in Bedouin village ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - July 28, 2010 - 12:00am For the sixth time in a decade, farmer Ismail Mohamed Salem watched Israeli bulldozers raze his home in this disputed Bedouin village. Hours later, he sat next to the rubble and vowed to rebuild — yet again. "This is my land," said Salem, 70, as his grandchildren lay sleeping on straw mats next to the demolished structure, now a 20-foot pile of twisted aluminum, broken concrete and splintered wood. "Why should I leave?" Salem's home was among 45 demolished early Tuesday as part of a long-running dispute between Arab tribes in the Negev desert and the Israeli government. » Read more

US revamps its ‘Muddle East’ policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ehud Yaari - July 28, 2010 - 12:00am The foreign policy team of US President Barack Obama is undertaking a reassessment of its policy all over the Middle East, including Israel. No one has made or will make a public declaration about such a change, but a reassessment is nonetheless under way, and we can already detect the first products of this rethinking of policy. » Read more