Hamas Emboldened By Israel-hezbollah Prisoner Swap ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - June 30, 2008 - 5:08pm Hamas militants holding an Israeli soldier said Monday they would stick to their tough demands in negotiations over his release, emboldened by the high price Israel is paying in a planned prisoner swap with Hezbollah. The declaration could complicate Israel's efforts to bring Sgt. Gilad Schalit home after two years in captivity. Israel agreed Sunday to free Samir Kantar, a Lebanese convicted in a grisly 1979 attack, along with other prisoners and bodies of Lebanese fighters, in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. » Read more

Israel Reopens Gaza Border, Hamas Looks To Truce ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-mughrabi - June 30, 2008 - 5:05pm Israel reopened three of its border crossings with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Sunday following a halt to Palestinian cross-border shelling attacks that had strained an Egyptian-brokered truce, officials said. An Israeli military spokesman said Sufa commercial crossing, the Nahal Oz fuel-transfer deport and the Erez border terminal for travelers resumed operations at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT), with some restrictions in force. » Read more

Israel's Prisoner Swap With Hezbollah: Too Risky? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - June 30, 2008 - 4:59pm In an epilogue to the Lebanon war two summers ago, Israel's cabinet on Sunday approved a prisoner swap with Hezbollah to recover two soldiers whose kidnapping along the Lebanese border sparked six weeks of cross-border fighting. The deal involves trading Samir Quntar – a Lebanese member of a Palestinian militant group responsible for the killing of an Israeli father and daughter in a 1979 terrorist attack – for Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, who were abducted in 2006 and have probably been killed, say Israeli officials. » Read more