Israeli warplanes in fresh strikes on Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency January 12, 2011 - 1:00am The Israeli air force resumed overnight its recent series of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of the consequences if Palestinian rocket fire continued. The first air strikes on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis killed a militant of the Islamic Jihad and wounded another man, Palestinian sources said. The Israeli military confirmed the attack, saying it had targeted a member of Islamic Jihad who "was involved in planning a massive terrorist attack in the heart of Israel." » Read more

Why the demise of the Middle East ‘peace process’ may be a good thing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Alastair Crooke - January 11, 2011 - 1:00am Establishing a Palestinian state has been a sine qua non of Western foreign policy for the last 20 years. For some, the evident demise of the “peace process” has given rise to a sense of bereavement nearly on par with the end of civilization. A Palestinian state, for many, was a banner of conscience, a matter of justice. It was perceived, too, as the essential remedy for the wider maladies of the Middle East. Its final exhaustion would seem to edge the region closer to an abyss. » Read more

Why Palestinians want to be Israeli citizens ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jackson Diehl - January 12, 2011 - 1:00am One of the givens of the Middle East peace process is that Palestinians are eager to be free of rule by Israel and to live in a state of their own. That's why a new poll of the Arabs of East Jerusalem is striking: It shows that more of those people actually would prefer to be citizens of Israel than of a Palestinian state. » Read more

Israel: Airstrike in Gaza Kills a Militant ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - January 11, 2011 - 1:00am A Palestinian militant from the group Islamic Jihad was killed in Gaza on Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike, according to the Israeli military and the group. The military said in a statement that the target of the strike, Muhammad Najar, 23, was “involved in planning a massive terror attack in the heart of Israel,” and that the pinpoint killing had disrupted those plans. Islamic Jihad threatened to avenge the Israeli attack.