January 23rd

Mideast: In Gaza, It's Darkness At Noon ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Mohammed Omer - January 23, 2008 - 8:37pm It gets dark, and cold, and people are getting hungry. Israel closed border crossings Friday, not allowing even UN humanitarian aid trucks carrying basic food. Crossings have been closed frequently since October 2007. "On Wednesday or Thursday we will have to suspend our food distribution programme in Gaza," spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Christopher Gunness told IPS. "We are running out of fuel for vehicles." » Read more

Gaza Border Breached; Thousands Flood Into Egypt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Rushdi Abu Alouf, Richard Bourdreaux - January 23, 2008 - 8:37pm Masked gunmen used explosives to blow holes in the Gaza Strip's border fence early today, enabling thousands of Palestinians to pour into Egypt to buy food, fuel and other supplies that had been cut off because of an Israeli blockade, witnesses said. Egyptian and Palestinian border guards did not resist the mass crossing at the Rafah terminal. Witnesses said Palestinian security officials later closed some of the breaches but kept two open, allowing Gazans to cross into Egypt and return with milk, cigarettes and plastic bottles of fuel. » Read more

Palestinians Blow Up Border Wall, Flood Into Egypt ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-mughrabi - January 23, 2008 - 8:34pm Tens of thousands of Palestinians poured into Egypt from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after militants blew up a border wall, and stocked up on food and fuel in short supply because of an Israeli blockade. "Those people are hungry for freedom, for food and for everything," said an Egyptian shopkeeper who gave her name only as Hamida, surveying shelves emptied swiftly by Gazans paying with Egyptian pounds and Israeli shekels. » Read more

January 22nd

Siege On Gaza / Paying The Price ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) January 22, 2008 - 7:16pm Defense Ministry officials yesterday pointed with satisfaction at the low number of Qassam rockets launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip in the past few days. Here was proof of the wisdom of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's decision last weekend to impose a total blockade on Gaza, in response to the ceaseless fire from Hamas. Just last week there were 42 launches a day on average, whereas in the past two days there were only four. » Read more

Israel Fears Int'l Pressure To Hand Over Gaza Borders To Pa Control ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - January 22, 2008 - 7:15pm There is growing concern in Israel that the recent tightening of sanctions against the Gaza Strip will result in international pressure to transfer control of the border crossings into the Strip to the Palestinian Authority. » Read more

Abbas And Olmert Far From Taking The "tough Decisions" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Khader Khader - January 22, 2008 - 7:13pm Maybe the most important statement that US President George W. Bush made during his historic visit last week was when he told both the Palestinian and Israeli sides that "tough decisions have to be taken". One tends to doubt whether Bush was really serious, considering the domestic political ramifications of such "tough choices" on both the Palestinian president and the Israeli prime minister. No doubt Bush must feel very happy that he has spent two presidential terms without having to face any "tough decisions" vis-a-vis the Arab-Israel conflict. » Read more

Divided They Fall: A Powerful Incentive For Hamas And Fatah To Reconcile ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star (Editorial) January 22, 2008 - 7:12pm Some of the condemnatory language flowing out of the international community is finally looking commensurate with the appalling tactics employed by Israel's government and military in the Gaza Strip. Direct reprisals against civilians and other forms of collective punishment are war crimes, after all, regardless of whether or not the perpetrator has deigned to sign that part of the Geneva Conventions defining them as such. But it is not enough for outside powers to summon the courage to speak out against Israeli abuses. » Read more

Israel Blames Gaza For Power Crisis But Agrees To Allow One Delivery Of Fuel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by James Hider - January 22, 2008 - 7:11pm Israel agreed under intense international pressure last night to allow a one-off delivery of fuel and medicines to Gaza to avert a humanitarian crisis. Ehud Barak, the Defence Minister, said that he would allow the emergency shipment after the Gaza Strip's sole remaining power plant shut down for lack of fuel and UN officials gave warning that they would be forced to stop food handouts to about a million Gazans if the total blockade, imposed last week, was not lifted. » Read more

No Light, No Heat, No Bread: Stark Reality For The Powerless In Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Rory Mccarthy - January 22, 2008 - 7:10pm When it opened its doors seven years ago, the European Gaza hospital was one of the biggest foreign investments in the long-troubled Gaza Strip and one of the leading medical centres in the Palestinian territories. Yesterday, the 250-bed hospital was sliding rapidly into crisis, turning away patients for routine operations and struggling to manage emergency cases, as the sole power plant in Gaza halted electricity production after Israel stopped all fuel supplies. » Read more

Leading Article: An Unlawful Policy Of Collective Punishment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent (Commentary) January 22, 2008 - 7:09pm The siege of Gaza has reached a vicious new intensity. Last Thursday, Israel blocked the delivery of fuel oil supplies to the Strip. The result is that Gaza's only power station has not functioned since the weekend. Hundred of thousands of homes in the territory have been left without power. Hospitals have been forced to rely on diesel generators. Bakeries and petrol stations have closed. International aid organisations working in the Strip have warned of a threat to sewage and water supplies if the blockade continues. » Read more