February 19th

Hamas condemns Egypt’s flooding of Gaza tunnels ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Arabiya February 17, 2013 - 1:00am Hamas released a statement on Saturday condemning Egypt’s closure of tunnels with Gaza, saying this renews Israel’s blockade on the strip, reported AFP. Khalil El-Haya, a senior Hamas official, said at a conference in Gaza that the tunnels were the only means available to Palestinians to face Israel's “brutal blockade,” reported the agency. » Read more

Israel to return West Bank farmland to Palestinian owners after wrongly allocating land to kibbutz ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amira Hass - February 18, 2013 - 1:00am Israel is slated to return some 1,200 dunams (‏300 acres) of farmland in the northern Jordan Valley to its Palestinian owners, following the Israel Lands Administration’s admission it had mistakenly assigned the land to Kibbutz Merav, which is within the Green Line. » Read more

Israeli Siege Snuffing Out Gaza's Camel Industry ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Rami Almeghari - February 14, 2013 - 1:00am Salama Jbara, a long-time camel rider and breeder, participated last Friday [Feb. 8] in a camel marathon near the destroyed and abandoned Gaza International Airport in the southern city of Rafah. Salama's camel and 12 others took part in the race, which many consider here a part of the local culture that some tribes, including the Malalha, al-Semairy and Abu Amra, continue to preserve despite years of turmoil that have reduced camel production in Gaza. » Read more

Is Qatari cash keeping the calm in Gaza? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Lappin - February 19, 2013 - 1:00am Israeli deterrence has so far successfully kept Hamas from violating the cease-fire reached after an eight-day round of violence in November, but a second factor might also be playing a role in upholding the unprecedented calm along the Gaza-Israel border: economics. » Read more

Taking a hike in the Holy Land on the Jesus Trail ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Christa Case Bryant - February 17, 2013 - 1:00am For Christian pilgrims in hiking boots, Israel’s 36-mile Jesus Trail offers glimpses of the kind of biblical scenery the master Christian may have seen as he made the rounds in verdant Galilee. » Read more

Netanyahu seeks broad coalition to push forward Israeli-Palestinian peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - February 18, 2013 - 1:00am Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to establish as broad a coalition as possible to promote an agreement with the Palestinians, he told a meeting of Likud ministers Sunday morning. » Read more

Rivals' pact in Israel blocks Netanyahu from forming coalition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times by Edmund Sanders - February 17, 2013 - 1:00am A new odd couple in Israeli politics has become the biggest obstacle to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's effort to form the next government. » Read more

Senior official: Just a handful of prisoners held in Israel without public's knowledge ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ofra Edelman - February 15, 2013 - 1:00am In recent decades a handful of prisoners have been held in detention in Israel under fictitious name and without it being a matter of public's knowledge, a senior legal source with knowledge of the Ben Zygier case said Thursday. While some of these cases ultimately were made public, others were never publicized, the source said. » Read more

Girl hospitalized after acid attack in Nazareth ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ben Hartman - February 19, 2013 - 1:00am A teenage girl from Nazareth is hospitalized in serious condition after a man threw acid in her face Tuesday morning. Police arrested a 51-year-old man shortly afterwards who reportedly attacked the woman because she refused a marriage proposal either from him or a member of his family. Police said the 15-year-old girl was lying in her bed when she heard a knock at her bedroom window Tuesday morning. When the girl opened the window the man threw acid in her face and then fled the scene, Northern District Police Spokesman Yehuda Maman said Tuesday. » Read more

Palestinians struggle to farm in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - February 17, 2013 - 1:00am Zuhair Al Manasrah sat in his office where he manages plantations of 20,000 date palms and described the risk he took as a Palestinian investing in agriculture. "It's difficult to farm anything when you're under occupation," said Mr Al Manasrah, 69, who spent stints as the governor of Bethlehem and Jenin before turning full-time to farming. » Read more