January 11th

'Watch your step,' Barak warns Hamas over renewed Gaza rocket fire ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jack Khoury - (Analysis) January 11, 2010 - 1:00am Addressing an increase of rocket fire into Israel from Gaza, Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday advised Gaza's Hamas rulers to "watch their step, and not to cry crocodile tears if they force [Israel] to take action." Army Radio on Monday quoted Israeli security experts as saying that Hamas has lessened its determination to prevent the rocket fire from Gaza, due to growing dissent in the coastal strip. » Read more

Israel considers giving legal status to two illegal West Bank outposts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - (Analysis) January 11, 2010 - 1:00am After four and a half years of government promises to destroy the two West Bank settlements of Hayovel and Harsha, the High Court of Justice said yesterday that it intends to examine conditions on the ground there, potentially paving the way for their formal recognition. » Read more

Medics: Israeli strike kills 3 in central Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency (Editorial) January 11, 2010 - 1:00am Gaza - Ma'an - At least three Palestinians were killed by Israeli aircraft fire in central Gaza early Sunday evening, medics reported. They were identified as Hasan Al-Qatarawi,22, and Awad Nasir, 29, both from from Deir Al-Balah, as well as Hudayfa Hams, 23, from Nusseirat refugee camp. All three were transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza City, according to Muawiya Hassanein, the Gaza Health Ministry's director of ambulance and emergency services. » Read more

Israel shrugs off Mitchell's loan threat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Ilene Prusher - (Analysis) January 11, 2010 - 1:00am Jerusalem — Israeli officials on Sunday tried to downplay tensions looming with the United States after George Mitchell, the Obama administration's Middle East envoy, suggested in a PBS interview that the US could consider withholding support for loan guarantees for Israel. » Read more

Clinton urges Israel, Palestinians to plunge into talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Paul Richter - (Analysis) January 9, 2010 - 1:00am Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday urged Palestinians and Israelis to plunge into negotiations over the most difficult issues dividing them as a way of breaking an impasse in peace talks. Clinton said negotiations on major issues, such as the borders of a future Palestinian state or the status of Jerusalem, would help defuse the dispute over the growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank that has obstructed progress toward peace. "Resolving borders resolves settlements," Clinton said at the State Department. "Resolving Jerusalem resolves settlements." » Read more

Palestinian attacks test Israel's quick-retaliation policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - (Analysis) January 9, 2010 - 1:00am A recent spate of cross- border and mortar attacks by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip -- the worst in a year -- is testing Israel's resolve to strike back hard against such provocation. But it remains to be seen whether the get-tough approach will hinder or escalate violence, analysts and officials said Friday. Israeli military planes struck several Gaza targets early Friday, including what Israeli officials described as the first air attack on Gaza City in nearly a year. » Read more

In West Bank, conditions 'not ripe' for Palestinian uprising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - (Opinion) January 10, 2010 - 1:00am Born in a refugee camp in this restive West Bank city, Ammar Arafat threw his first stone at 13. At 15, he was jailed for scaling the fence at an Israeli military camp with explosives under his shirt. Upon release, he took up arms again and landed back in prison. Freshly out of jail for the second time, Arafat, 20, is mulling his next move. But nowadays, he has traded in his explosives vest for a designer military jacket with shiny Armani buttons. A more mature Arafat said he wants to enroll in college, find work as a Palestinian police officer and build a stable life. » Read more

U.S. ambition alone won't forge Mideast peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jackson Diehl - (Opinion) January 11, 2010 - 1:00am Give George Mitchell points for perseverance, at least. Last year the attempt by President Obama's Middle East envoy to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, with an ambitious two-year deadline, was an embarrassing flop. Neither Israelis nor Palestinians showed much interest in new negotiations. As the world watched, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu forced the administration to retreat from its demand for a complete freeze on settlement building, while Saudi King Abdullah directly rebuffed Obama after he traveled to Riyadh to ask for a gesture to Israel. » Read more

January 10th

Assessing the Position ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam by Hassan Khader - (Opinion) January 8, 2010 - 1:00am Translated by ATFP Four factors govern Egypt’s policy towards the Gaza Strip: 1. The Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the upholding of which is a key priority for Egyptian national security. 2. Concerns triggered by Israel’s desire to transfer responsibility for the Gaza Strip onto the Egyptian state, especially in light of Israel’s redeployment from the strip, and its attempts to rid itself of the obligations imposed by international law on the occupying power. » Read more

Clinton urges Israel, Palestinians to plunge into talks Media Mention of Ziad Asali In The Los Angeles Times - January 9, 2010 - 1:00am By Paul Richter January 9, 2010 Reporting from Washington » Read more