Mubarak, Obama tackle over phone requirements of launching direct peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 5, 2010 - 12:00am Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak received Wednesday a phone call from U.S. President Barack Obama during which they discussed the requirements for starting direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported. Mubarak underlined during the conversation Egypt's appreciation of the commitment of U.S. president to establish peace and create a propitious atmosphere for launching peace talks in line with clear terms of reference and a specific time frame. » Read more

Hamas urges Fatah not to go to direct talks with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 5, 2010 - 12:00am Islamic Hamas movement warned on Thursday Fatah party of going to direct negotiations with Israel after the latter declined holding a tripartite meeting to set terms of reference for the stalled peace process. Salah al-Badawil, Gaza-based spokesman for Hamas, in a press release, demanded Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party not to return to "absurd talks" with Israel, urging the West Bank- ruling movement to give the priority for achieving national unity and isolating Israel. » Read more

Abbas: Either Fight or Negotiate! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - August 5, 2010 - 12:00am No one ever tells the whole truth, even in simple cases such as negotiations, and here is a story to illustrate that. Of all the American Presidents, Barack Obama is actually the most enthusiastic to establish a Palestinian state and liberate the West Bank and Gaza. This is something that the Arabs and their supporters have failed to achieve through war, bombings, demonstrations or zealous speeches over the past 40 years. It is natural to regard negotiations as an alternative to defeat, and even the "Oslo Accords" that were criticized by many achieved more than empty rhetoric. » Read more

Israel indicts 3 Arabs on espionage charges ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press August 5, 2010 - 12:00am Israel has indicted three Arab men on charges of spying for Syria. The Shin Bet security service reported on Thursday that two Druse Arabs living in the Golan Heights and an Arab citizen of Israel were charged with passing information to the enemy and plotting to kidnap a Syrian pilot who had defected to Israel. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war. The two indicted Druse Arabs — a father and son — are Syrian citizens, like most of the Druse in the Golan Heights. » Read more

Israeli forces demolish rebuilt Area C structures ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 5, 2010 - 12:00am Israel's Civil Administration returned to the Jordan Valley on Thursday to demolish 23 structures recently rebuilt by residents and farmers in Al-Farisiya. The town, in the Tubas district located across the highway from the Nahal Rotem settlement, is part of the nearby Sdemot Mehola. The area has a total of five settlements, most engaged in farming, with more than half of the settlement-occupied land in the northern part of the Jordan Valley used for agriculture. » Read more

Violence as Hebron outpost evacuated ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 5, 2010 - 12:00am An illegal Israeli settlement outpost erected near the larger Kiyrat Arba settlement in Hebron was evacuated by Israeli forces on Thursday morning, sparking violence from squatters. The outpost, a collection of wood buildings and tents in Hebron's Al-Buwayra area, was taken down and more than a dozen settlers removed from the area, who proceeded to torch Palestinian lands, witnesses said. » Read more

Israel’s insistence on direct talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Michael Jansen - August 5, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu insists on holding direct talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) for four important reasons. First, he seeks to end Israel's isolation on the international scene. Second, he wants to project the impression that his right-wing government is prepared to negotiate with the Palestinians. Third, he is determined to begin anew, to erase 19 years of negotiations and arrangements agreed by previous Israeli premiers. His intention is to impose and formalise new "red lines? across which Israel will not budge. » Read more

Turkey and Israel Do a Brisk Business ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Dan Bilefsky - August 5, 2010 - 12:00am Israeli business executives here like to point out that most of the angry Turks who protested Israel’s deadly raid on a Turkish-led flotilla to Gaza this past spring do not know that their cellphones, personal computers and plasma televisions were made using parts and technology from Tel Aviv. For Manashe Carmon, chairman of the Israel Turkish Business Council, such ignorance is a blessing for Israelis and Turks. » Read more

Hamas Blamed for Contested Gaza Explosion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line August 5, 2010 - 12:00am A mysterious explosion which obliterated eight Gazan homes, damaged another 30 and injured over 50 people on Monday originated in a house used by Hamas to store weapons, The Media Line has learned. The Deir Al-Balah refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip was rocked Monday by an explosion centered in an uninhabited house belonging to 'Alaa Al-Danaf, a field commander of the 'Izz A-din Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas The 'Iz A-Din Al-Qassam Brigades blamed the explosion on Israel, claiming it was an assassination attempt on their field commanders. » Read more

PA minister apologizes for closing TV stations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 5, 2010 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority Minister of Telecommunications apologized Wednesday for a series of raids and closures of several TV and radio stations in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Mashhur Abu Daqqa told Ma'an radio that an investigation committee would be formed to follow up on the raids, which were undertaken by PA ministry employees and customs officers, vowing to "bring to account those who violated the law." » Read more