Hamas leader: We will maintain security in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press May 2, 2011 - 12:00am A Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip says the Islamic militant group has no plans to dismantle its security forces or end its struggle against Israel after a new Palestinian unity government is formed this week. Hamas and the rival Fatah movement are set to sign a unity deal in Cairo on Wednesday. The plan seeks to end a 4-year-old rift that has left the Palestinians divided between a Western-leaning government in the West Bank and the Hamas regime in Gaza. The plan calls for elections next year but is vague about the future of rival security forces or using violence against Israel. » Read more

The prime minister’s speech ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tzachi Hanegbi - (Opinion) May 1, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian Authority’s announcement that a reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas had been signed in Cairo prompted an immediate response from the government. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued the following statement: “The Palestinian Authority must choose between peace with Israel and peace with Hamas. There cannot be peace with both since Hamas aims to destroy Israel and says so openly.” » Read more

Egypt's revolution brings new players to move Palestinian pieces into place ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Jack Shenker - May 28, 2011 - 12:00am After years of unsuccessful lobbying by the Egyptian authorities for a reconciliation of the warring Palestinian factions, the post-Mubarak government has achieved a breakthrough. As Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the Hamas politburo, said on Thursday, a new page has been turned. The emergence of a reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah on Wednesday took most observers by surprise, but behind the scenes a new cast of players had been moving the relevant pieces into place ever since a popular revolution ousted the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. » Read more

Barenboim to conduct Gaza 'peace concert' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) May 2, 2011 - 12:00am Renowned Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim will lead a "peace concert" by an orchestra of European musicians on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, a United Nations agency said on Monday. The rare concert was announced in a statement by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, and will take place on Tuesday afternoon at Al-Mathaf Cultural House in Gaza City. Barenboim, an outspoken proponent of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, said he was delighted to be going to Gaza for the concert. "We are very happy to come to Gaza," he said in the UN statement. » Read more

Agreement increases pressure on Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - April 29, 2011 - 12:00am The accord struck between Fatah and Hamas that could end a bitter four-year feud will please a Palestinian public longing for a united leadership. Thousands in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-dominated West Bank rallied last month to demand that their leaders act, "with one hand". Their protests appear to have succeeded. The factions, after mediation by Egypt's transitional government, agreed on Wednesday to form an interim authority until elections are held within a year. Then, many hope, the Palestinians will once again fall under one government. » Read more

Egypt calls on US to recognize Palestinian state ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 2, 2011 - 12:00am Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi on Sunday called on the United States to recognize a Palestinian state, as rival Palestinian factions prepare to sign a reconciliation accord in Cairo. Arabi urged visiting US Congressman Steve Chabot to "press Congress and the American administration to recognise a Palestinian state." Recognition "would correspond with previous statements by the American administration supporting peace based on two states," the official MENA news agency quoted him as saying. » Read more

Mash'al arrives in Cairo for Abbas meet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 2, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas leader in exile Khalid Mash'al arrived in Cairo Sunday night as head of a delegation from his Islamist party, Al-Jazeera reported, ahead of a meeting with President Mahmoud Abbas who arrived in the Egyptian capital earlier in the week. The two are expected to sign a historic unity document and set of guiding implementation principals that will reunify the governments of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Abbas and Mash'al, along with their respective delegations, will meet Monday for a series of talks ahead of the signing. » Read more

Sanity returns Egypt to the Arab fold ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) April 30, 2011 - 12:00am Sometimes you can almost physically feel the political earth shifting beneath your feet. One of those moments occurred in Cairo a few days ago, when the main Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, signed an Egyptian-brokered reconciliation agreement to reconstitute a single Palestinian government. » Read more

Faction leaders leave for Cairo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency May 2, 2011 - 12:00am Delegates from Palestinian factions in Gaza left the coastal enclave Monday through the Rafah crossing en route to Cairo for meetings ahead of the signing of a reconciliation agreement. The delegates are expected in Cairo on Monday afternoon, where they will join Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader in exile Khalid Mash'al, who arrived earlier in the week. Egyptian authorities at the Rafah crossing told Ma'an early Monday that they were prepared to receive and welcome the delegations from Gaza to Egypt. » Read more

New Tension Roils Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal by Matt Bradley, Joshua Mitnick, Jay Solomon - May 1, 2011 - 12:00am Israel froze $88 million in Palestinian funds Sunday, elevating tensions over an Egyptian initiative to broker a power-sharing agreement between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority and raising new concerns about the prospects for peace in the region. » Read more