November 16th, 2012

Signs mount of possible Israeli invasion of Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM —Israeli aircraft pummeled rocket launching operations of Gaza militants on Friday, and as troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers massed near the Palestinian territory, signaling a ground invasion might be growing near. Fighting between the two sides escalated sharply Thursday with a first-ever militant attack on the Tel Aviv area, menacing Israel's heartland. No casualties were reported, but three people died in the country's rocket-scarred south when a projectile slammed into an apartment building.

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Egypt asks US to end Israel’s operation in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
November 15, 2012 - 1:00am

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt asked the United States to push Israel to stop its offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, warning that the violence could “escalate out of control,” the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

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Obama presses Egypt to help rein in Hamas as Gaza conflict escalates
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Chris McGreal, Harriet Sherwood - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am

Barack Obama is pressing the Egyptian leadership to help de-escalate the bloody conflict in Gaza amid concern that a further ratcheting up of violence, such as a major Israeli ground assault, could damage the peace accords between Cairo and Jerusalem.

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With Gaza Attacks, Egypt’s President Balances Hamas Against Israeli Peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Mayy El Sheikh, David Kirkpatrick - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am

CAIRO — The escalating conflict in Gaza has confronted President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt with a wrenching test of his commitments — to his fellow Islamists of the militant group Hamas and to Egypt’s landmark peace agreement with Israel.

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Bolder Hamas Tests Alliances in a Shifting Arab World
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Jodi Rudoren - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY — Instead of the wedding drums that typically provide the evening soundtrack in this forlorn coastal strip, the black, still air was pierced by gunshots on Thursday, as citizens fired celebratory rounds after the ruling Hamas faction announced that one of its rockets had hit an Israeli aircraft.

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Fire continues during Egypt PM visit to Gaza, despite ceasefire
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 16, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - A ceasefire that Israel declared for a visit by Egypt's prime minister to the Gaza Strip on Friday collapsed after Palestinians continued cross-border rocket attacks and Israel launched air strikes in the enclave. Rockets fired from Gaza hit several sites in southern Israel shortly after Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil arrived. The Israeli air force responded with an attack on the house of Hamas's commander for southern Gaza, and a Palestinian was killed in a separate air strike near Gaza City, the Islamist group said.

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Israel Girds for Ground Assault in Gaza; Egypt’s Premier Visits
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Alan Cowell, Isabel Kershner, Jodi Rudoren - November 16, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM — After a morning of heavy rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, the Israeli military seemed to be edging closer to a ground invasion of Gaza on Friday, saying forces were “on standby” and “ready to enter should it be decided that a ground operation is necessary.”

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November 15th

NEWS: Rocket and missile attacks continue between Israel and Gaza, with 3 Israeli civilians and at least 13 Palestinians, including several civilians, killed. Egypt reportedly asks the US to intervene to stop the violence and recalls its envoy to Israel. The US is reportedly trying to stop the conflict from breaking Egypt-Israel relations. The violence prompts a rise in international oil prices. AP recalls Israel's long history of assassinating Hamas leaders. Pres. Abbas calls for an urgent Arab meeting on the conflict, and PLO officials ask the UN to intervene. For Israel, the new conflict comes in the context of the changed regional political landscape.Ma'an provides an obituary for slain Hamas commander al-Jaabari. Peter Beinart is banned from an Atlanta Jewish book festival. The Student Senate at UC Irvine urges university divestment from companies “complicit” in human rights violations by Israel. COMMENTARY: Hussein Ibish says the price for the new round of violence between Israel and Hamas, motivated by their internal politics, will be paid by the ordinary Palestinians of Gaza. The New York Times says it's hard to see how a new war in Gaza will benefit Israel and that its policies would be more defensible if it were engaged in serious negotiations with the PLO. Some experts say Israel's escalation is an effort to restore deterrence. Eric Yoffie says progressive Jewish Americans should support Israel's “get tough policy” in Gaza. Barak Ravid says before the assassination, Israel did its best to lull Hamas into a false sense of security. Ha'aretz calls for calm. Eitan Haber says without a peace agreement Israel faces endless wars. Jonathan Rosen says, beyond rhetoric, its policies show the Netanyahu government wants a strong Hamas in power in Gaza. Eva Illouz looks of the disturbing pattern of Jewish and other critics of Israel's policies being automatically branded “anti-Semitic.” Elias Harfoush says the latest PLO UN initiative is pointless, but the Daily Star says it makes no sense for Hamas to engage in a conflict with Israel while the PLO is trying to achieve something at the UN. Yossi Alpher analyzes the strategic dimensions of Israel's decision to escalate in Gaza.

Gaza rockets kill 3 Israelis, hit near Tel Aviv
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - November 15, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM —Palestinian militants barraged Israel with nearly 150 rockets on Thursday, killing three people and striking the southern outskirts of Tel Aviv as Israel pressed a punishing campaign of airstrikes on militant targets across the Gaza Strip. As nightfall approached, the fighting showed no signs of slowing, and the rocket attack on the city of Rishon Lezion, by far the deepest target reached by Gaza militants so far, raised the likelihood of an even tougher Israeli response.

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Strategic Dimensions Of Attacking Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Beast
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) November 14, 2012 - 1:00am

There can be no doubt that the Hamas leaders in Gaza brought this on themselves. Recent rocket attacks from the Strip no longer made any pretence of being perpetrated by more extreme Salafists and assorted jihadists. Rather than distance itself from the attacks, Hamas has been taking the credit for sending up to one million Israelis in the Gaza periphery into safe rooms and shelters.

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