Hamas, Fatah delegations head to Cairo for reconciliation talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 18, 2008 - 8:00pm Egypt has invited Palestinian groups to Cairo next week for talks on Palestinian reconciliation, the state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on Tuesday. The agency quoted an unnamed official as saying Egypt would hold talks with Fatah and Hamas individually and would then organize wider discussions with all the groups simultaneously. The Palestinian delegations are expected to begin arriving on Monday, MENA said. » Read more

EU boosts aid to Palestinian Authority by an extra 40 million euros ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 19, 2008 - 8:00pm The European Union will give a financial boost on Wednesday to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to help Prime Minister Salam Fayyad pay public sector salaries, EU and Palestinian officials said. The 40 million euro injection of funds comes on top of the 256 million euros in budget support disbursed so far this year by the European Union. Fayyad has struggled in recent months to pay government workers because many Arab donors have not met their financial commitments. "The situation is very, very tight, for sure," a top official from Fayyad's office said this week. » Read more

Results of an Opinion Poll on Hamas and the Truce, the Government, Security Campaigns, The Peace Process and Elections. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from AWRAD December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm Results of an Opinion Poll on Hamas and the Truce, the Government, Security Campaigns, The Peace Process and Elections. Dated: 18 August, 2008 Field work: 6-8 August 2008 Sample Size: 1200 Palestinians in the West Bank & Gaza Margin of error: + 3 One: Introduction » Read more

Livni: Time is running out for peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - August 20, 2008 - 8:00pm Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday called for a unity coalition to pursue the creation of Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel, saying "time is against the moderates" looking to reach a peace agreement. Livni, a front-runner to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said she would try to form such a government if she wins next month's primary election of the ruling Kadima Party, as polls indicate she is likely to do. » Read more

Moot argument ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Meron Benvenisti - (Opinion) August 20, 2008 - 8:00pm It's hard to tell whether the reports that more and more Palestinians are now leaning toward a one-state solution are genuinely due to an increase in supporters of the idea, or to Israeli sensitivity. The binational bogeyman is so off-putting to Israelis that any Palestinian expression on the issue gives rise to speculation and conspiracy theories. » Read more

Route of security fence realigned to leave 1,000 acres to east ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Aviad Glickman - August 20, 2008 - 8:00pm The State Prosecution informed the High Court of Justice on Thursday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have decided to significantly alter the course of the security fence near the settlement of Maale Adumim, moving it to the west and leaving some 1,000 acres east of the fence. The decision was made following to petitions regarding the route of the fence in the area of Maale Adumim. » Read more

Report: Cairo warns Hamas of Israeli attacks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Roee Nahmias - August 20, 2008 - 8:00pm Egypt has warned Hamas leaders that Israel may target them if the organization refuses to compromise on its inflexible stance in the negotiations to secure the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit – Hamas officials are quoted as telling the London-based 'Al-Quds Al-Arabi' newspaper. » Read more

Palestinians say Naalin protestor beaten by IDF ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - August 20, 2008 - 8:00pm A Palestinian man was moderately wounded on Thursday afternoon during a demonstration against the security fence in the West Bank village of Naalin, located west of Ramallah. Some 150 Palestinians and left-wing activists are currently staging at protest there against the construction of the security fence, and are hurling rocks towards Border Police troops that are securing the site. » Read more

Palestine’s national poet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Uri Avnery - August 20, 2008 - 8:00pm ONE of the wisest pronouncements I have heard in my life was that of an Egyptian general, a few days after Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem. We were the first Israelis to come to Cairo, and one of the things we were very curious about was: How did you manage to surprise us at the beginning of the October 1973 war? The general answered: “Instead of reading the intelligence reports, you should have read our poets.” » Read more

Hamas: Gilad Schalit may become Ron Arad 2 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post August 19, 2008 - 8:00pm "If the enemy continues with its stubborn attitude, Gilad Schalit will become a second Ron Arad," a spokesman for Izzadin Kassam, Hamas's armed wing, said Wednesday, after the group held a large-scale drill on the site of the ruins of the former Gaza settlement of Netzarim. Schalit has been held captive in Gaza for over two years. Arad is an IAF navigator who parachuted into Lebanon in the 1980s and was captured by the Amal Shi'ite group, but went missing some years later. His fate is unknown. » Read more