The Israel-Hezbollah Shadow War ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Ali Hashem - February 24, 2013 - 1:00am Five years ago, when Hezbollah's military commander Imad Mughniyah was assassinated in Damascus, fingers were quickly pointed toward Israel. The group's secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, promised to launch an open war on Israel to avenge his slain comrade. Everyone was worried the blood of the most wanted Hezbollah member might ignite a regional conflict. » Read more

Abbas to Palestinian Authority security officials: Don't get drawn into Israeli violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Jack Khoury, Barak Ravid - February 26, 2013 - 1:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly met Monday evening with Palestinian security chiefs in Ramallah and instructed them to enforce calm in the West Bank. » Read more

UN calls for independent inquiry into Palestinian death ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Foreign Press February 25, 2013 - 1:00am The United Nations called Monday for an independent inquiry into the death of a Palestinian in Israeli custody, warning that mounting tensions risk an eruption of violence in the occupied territories. The Palestinians also demanded an independent investigation in a letter to the UN Security Council, which said that Arafat Jaradat, who died at the weekend, could have been tortured. UN Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry made the call for an investigation in a statement after talks with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on the Jaradat's death. » Read more

Minister: Autopsy shows torture killed Jaradat ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 24, 2013 - 1:00am An autopsy has revealed that Arafat Jaradat died of extreme torture in Israeli custody and did not have a cardiac arrest, the PA Minister of Detainee Affairs said Sunday. At a news conference in Ramallah, Issa Qaraqe said an autopsy conducted in Israel in the presence of Palestinian officials revealed that 30-year-old Jaradat had six broken bones in his neck, spine, arms and legs. » Read more

Palestinian prisoner buried, as Israel, West Bank leaders try to prevent clashes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Joel Greenberg - February 25, 2013 - 1:00am A Palestinian prisoner who died in an Israeli jail was given a hero’s burial with military honors in the West Bank on Monday amid signs that Palestinian and Israeli leaders were working to prevent days of street clashes from triggering a wider eruption of unrest. » Read more

An Israeli folly to the fore ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Philip Stephens - February 25, 2013 - 1:00am Israel and Australia are involved in a spat over the death of a young man held in an Israeli prison. It is a cloak-and-dagger tale. Ben Zygier, who is said to have hanged himself in 2010 after being detained in conditions of great secrecy, held dual citizenship. Media reports in the two countries suggest the former Mossad employee had threatened to reveal details of the way Israeli intelligence agents carry other nations’ passports on overseas operations. » Read more

Amid mounting pressures, some see potential for new Palestinian uprising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Christian Science Monitor by Christa Case Bryant - February 25, 2013 - 1:00am Less than a month before President Obama is to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah, raising hopes he will help bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the peace table, some see the West Bank heading in a very different dir » Read more

Wrong Cause ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post (Editorial) February 24, 2013 - 1:00am Many injustices plague Palestinian society, few of which can be blamed on the Jewish state, even by the farthest stretches of the imaginations of Israel’s enemies. These are self-inflicted injustices. In the Gaza Strip, an Islamic quasi-state ruled by the totalitarian regime of Hamas has in the past few weeks arrested or summoned for interrogation at least 16 journalists as part of a campaign aimed at intimidating the local media, as reported by The Jerusalem Post’s Khaled Abu Toameh. » Read more

My Journey From Palestine to Hollywood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Huffington Post by Emad Burnat - (Opinion) February 22, 2013 - 1:00am My wife and I had seen that look before -- on the faces of our kids, mostly. After all, like all Palestinian children living in the West Bank, ours have grown accustomed to the humiliation of ID checks and interrogations. But we had never seen our youngest son, Gibreel, as disappointed as he was on Tuesday, when American immigration officials threatened to deny us entry to the United States and to the 85th Academy Awards for which we had traveled two days to attend. » Read more

Israel fears prisoner death may spark Palestinian uprising ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - February 25, 2013 - 1:00am Masked Palestinian gunmen fired in the air on Monday as thousands marched at the West Bank funeral of a prisoner whose death in an Israeli jail has raised fears in Israel of a new uprising. Arafat Jaradat's death on Saturday and a hunger strike by four other Palestinian inmates have raised tension in the occupied territory after repeated clashes between stone-throwers and Israeli soldiers in recent days. » Read more