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. » Read more

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. » Read more

'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. » Read more

Washington and Beirut set up joint military panel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Hussein Abdallah - October 6, 2008 - 8:00pm Lebanon and the United States set up a joint commission on Monday charged with organizing their bilateral military relationship. The commission was set up after a meeting on Monday between Defense Minister Elias Murr and US Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Mary Beth Long, who arrived in Beirut late on Sunday. In a related development, a joint statement by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the US Embassy said that Beirut and Washington had signed three military contracts worth $63 million in US grants to the LAF. » Read more

Israeli govt sued over settlement ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Mohammed Mar’i - October 6, 2008 - 8:00pm For the first time in the history of illegal takeovers of privately owned Palestinian land, the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din on behalf of five Palestinian landowners demanded compensation from Israel for assistance it provided to builders of the illegal settlement outpost Migron in the West Bank as well as its failure to evacuate it. » Read more

Russia's Jerusalem land claim worries Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Tia Goldenberg - October 6, 2008 - 8:00pm The Russians are coming to downtown Jerusalem, reclaiming ownership of a landmark with the approval of the Israeli government, just as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visits Moscow to try to iron out serious policy differences between the two countries. After years of contacts, Olmert's Cabinet agreed Sunday to hand over the small tract known as Sergei's Courtyard. The area, which once accommodated Russian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, now houses offices of Israel's Agriculture Ministry and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. » Read more

Livni expected to meet leaders of religious parties in bid to form ruling coalition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) October 6, 2008 - 8:00pm Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni pressed ahead with efforts to secure a ruling coalition on Monday, a day after delivering her first foreign-policy speech since being named to form a new government. Elected on September 17 to replace Premier Ehud Olmert at the head of the Kadima party, Livni needs to put together a governing coalition if she is to also take over as premier while averting a snap election. » Read more

Hamas will not recognise Abbas after term ends ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) October 6, 2008 - 8:00pm Hamas members of parliament said on Monday that they will not recognise Mahmoud Abbas as president after January 8, a move that could sharpen the internal divisions plaguing the Palestinians. “The legal term of President Abbas ends on January 8 and Abu Mazen [Abbas] will not remain president for a single minute after this date,” Hamas parliamentary leader Ahmed Bahar told AFP. » Read more

Olmert's Final Divorce From "All of Eretz Israel" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Counterpunch by Uri Avnery - (Opinion) October 6, 2008 - 8:00pm In colloquial Israeli Hebrew, when someone discovers something that everybody else already knows, we say: "Good morning, Elijahu!" Why Elijahu? I don't know. Now one could say: "Good morning, Ehud!" That's what I said to myself when I read the sensational interview that Ehud Olmert gave this week, on the eve of the Jewish New Year, to the newspaper "Yediot Aharonot". » Read more

In Israel, a first attempt at high school integration ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Brenda Gazzar - October 6, 2008 - 8:00pm Yazan Khalaf has no shortage of big dreams. Aspiring to be a pilot, the young Arab-Israeli entering the 10th grade is also trying to "change the whole world." Yazan might not start any kind of global revolution, but he is taking part in an educational experiment that could profoundly affect Israel. » Read more