October 14th, 2008

Israeli official says Livni closer to PM post
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Karin Laub - October 12, 2008 - 8:00pm

Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni's Kadima Party initialed a partial agreement Monday on bringing the Labor Party into a new governing coalition, but several issues remained to be settled before a formal pact, a Labor official said. Livni also will need to attract support from smaller parties to form a new government to replace the one headed by former Kadima leader Ehud Olmert, who resigned as prime minister under the cloud of a corruption investigation.

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Israel closes West Bank for Sukkot holiday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
October 12, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel has shut down entry from the West Bank during the weeklong Sukkot holiday. The order bars almost all West Bank Palestinians from entering Israel until Oct. 21, though Israel says exceptions will be made for humanitarian cases. Israel routinely imposes such closures on Jewish holidays. It fears Palestinians could carry out attacks during the holiday period. Sukkot is a seven-day festival that commemorates the 40 years Jews spent in the desert living in temporary huts in biblical times. Many Israelis build sukkahs, or huts, to live or eat in to mark the holiday.


Palestinian leaders call for reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Albert Aji - October 11, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday the rift between his mainstream Palestinian faction and archrival Hamas must end. The Hamas leader, meanwhile, said the time is right for reconciliation. Fatah and Hamas have been at odds since the latter's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. Following the takeover, Abbas dissolved the Hamas-led government from his base in the West Bank and formed a new administration excluding the more radical group.

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Final Stages of the Palestinian Conflict?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Middle East Times
by Claude Salhani - October 13, 2008 - 8:00pm

Every decade of so the dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict undergo serious transformation as the result of changing conditions on the ground. The changes, however, have not always been for the better. Consider the following shifts in direction from the late 1940s with the creation of the State of Israel and the declaration of war by all its neighbors in 1948. Almost 10 years later, Israel goes to war against Egypt during the Suez crisis (1956). Then 11 years later Israel launches the Six-Day War, capturing large swathes of Arab lands.

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October 13th

Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad Reaffirms Commitment to Self-Empowerment, Peace at ATFP Gala
Press Release - Contact Information: Hussein Ibish - October 12, 2008 - 12:00am

Washington, DC, Oct 13 – While strongly criticizing Israel’s occupation policies, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told the audience at the Third Annual American Task Force on Palestine Gala on Oct.


October 7th

Tzipi Livni, Israeli Prime Minister-delegate, warns that time is running out for a peace agreement as extremists continue to gain strength (1). Amira Hass analyzes how the fractured Palestinian leadership is complicating prospects for a peace agreement with Israel (2). An op-ed by Danny Rothschild in Ynet News criticizes Tzipi Livni’s pledge to take Jerusalem off the negotiating table (4). The IDF works with the Palestinian Authority to coordinate security for Palestinians during the olive harvest (5).

Egyptian police block a convoy of activist groups attempting to deliver medical supplies to the Gaza Strip (1). The Christian Science Monitor reports on the first attempt at high school integration in Israel (2). Member of Hamas’ parliament announce that they will not recognize Mahmoud Abbas as president after his term expires on January 8th (4). Israeli Prime Minister designate Tzipi Livni is expected to meet with party leaders in an attempt to form a coalition government (5). Israel agrees to the deployment of Palestinian security forces in the West Bank town of Hebron (9).

Israeli security officials: Time running out on Shalit deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - October 6, 2008 - 8:00pm

Security officials have warned that the time for making a deal for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit is running out. The officials told Haaretz that the more time that passes, the more things can go wrong and the greater the danger that an opportunity will be missed to bring Shalit home. Talks are to open Tuesday in Cairo between Hamas and Fatah, mediated by the Egyptians, with an Egyptian-proposed package deal on the agenda that would include the release of Shalit.

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Egypt seeks ways to end Fatah-Hamas rift
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - October 5, 2008 - 8:00pm

A senior Hamas delegation is scheduled to arrive in Cairo Tuesday for talks with Egyptian officials on ways of ending the Hamas-Fatah power struggle. Headed by Musa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, the delegation is expected to hold a series of meetings with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Gen. Omar Suleiman and other senior Egyptian government officials over the next few days. The visit to Cairo is the first of its kind by a high-level Hamas delegation in several months.

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'Israel has agreed to allow PA troops into Hebron'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - October 6, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel is backing a bid by the Palestinian Authority to reassert control over Hebron, a senior Palestinian defense official told Ynet on Monday evening. According to the official Israel has authorized the request made by the PA to deploy security forces in the West Bank city as part of the effort to push back Hamas, which is poised to seize control there. At present time Israel has yet to confirm such an agreement.

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