July 29th

Poverty In Gaza Hits "unprecedented" Level ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Omid Memarian - July 29, 2008 - 5:00pm In both the West Bank and Gaza, young people aged 15 to 24 are the most likely of any group to be unemployed, while the number of households in Gaza below the poverty line has reached an historic high of nearly 52 percent, according to a new report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) issued Thursday. » Read more

Hamas, Fatah Pursue War Of Words Over Detentions ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Mohammed Assadi - July 29, 2008 - 4:58pm Hamas warned its Fatah rivals on Tuesday that a crackdown against the Islamist group by forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas could spark a revolt in the occupied West Bank. A senior Palestinian security official in Ramallah dismissed the threats by "irresponsible people". Abbas's security forces have detained at least 150 Hamas supporters in the West Bank in response to a sweep in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas seized nearly 200 Fatah sympathizers after a bomb blast killed five Hamas militants and a girl on Friday. » Read more

Israel Suspends Shooting Colonel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News July 29, 2008 - 4:54pm An Israeli colonel has been sent home for 10 days amid allegations he told one of his soldiers to shoot a Palestinian detainee at a checkpoint. The soldier says Col Omri Borberg ordered him to shoot the man at close range with a rubber-coated bullet. Unknown to the Israelis, a Palestinian girl filmed the incident and the video was published by a human rights group. Media reports say Col Borberg failed a lie-detector test about his claim not to have ordered the soldier to shoot. » Read more

Could Peace Break Out For Israel And Syria? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Janine Zacharia - July 29, 2008 - 4:53pm Israel and Syria have suddenly found fresh reasons to try to make peace after eight years of stalemate. President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, concerned about the survival of his regime, wants to reap the political and economic benefits of ending his nation's isolation from the West. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, mindful of his own precarious political future, seeks to wrest Syria out of Iran's orbit and stop it from funneling weapons to the Lebanese group Hezbollah, which used them against Israel in the 2006 war. » Read more

July 28th

Obama: We’ll Make Sure Palestinians Have A State ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - July 28, 2008 - 4:39pm "The Palestinian people are having a very tough time right now economically, and it is in US interests to make sure that they have a sense of hope and opportunity and a Palestinian state. I think it's in Israelis' interest as well," US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told NBC's Meet the Press Sunday on the heels of his Mideast tour. » Read more

Palestinian Family Losing Jerusalem Home After Five Decades ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) July 28, 2008 - 4:37pm "I was married here, I had my five children here and I want to die here," says a defiant Fawzia al-Kurd, determined that Jewish settlers will not drive her family from their home in occupied east Jerusalem. But sadly for the Al-Kurds, whose single-storey two-room house of golden stone that has been their home for the past 52 years, Israel's High Court has ruled differently. They are to be expelled, and the house, a wing of which has already been taken over by settlers will be lost forever. » Read more

Red-dead Canal Just One Option To Save Endangered Dead Sea - Wb ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times by Mohammad Ghazal - July 28, 2008 - 4:36pm A study looking into alternatives to save the shrinking Dead Sea will kick off later this year, according to the World Bank (WB). Experts warn the water body is dropping by one metre every year, calling for a plan to save this "world heritage" attraction and make available much needed water in the area. » Read more

Hamas Militants Vow Revenge After Israel Kills Top Operative ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star July 28, 2008 - 4:35pm Israeli forces killed a top Hamas operative in an early morning gunfight in the southern Occupied West Bank city of Hebron, according to Palestinian security officials who said another three people were arrested in the raid. Hamas' armed wing vowed to take revenge for the killing of Shihab al-Natshe, who Israeli media reported was behind a suicide bombing in February that killed an Israeli woman and wounded 11 other people. » Read more

Palestinian Factional Fighting Wounds Six In Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by Sakher Abu El Oun - July 28, 2008 - 4:33pm Clashes broke out in Gaza City on Sunday, wounding at least six people, as Hamas-run security forces pressed on with a territory-wide crackdown on rival Palestinian factions after a deadly bombing. The fighting erupted when Hamas-run police moved to arrest members of the Army of Islam, a small shadowy group believed to have links to Al-Qaeda. "Hamas forces came to arrest us early this morning, just after midnight," one member of the group who asked not to be identified told reporters. » Read more

Israel To Move Small Part Of West Bank Barrier - Report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters July 28, 2008 - 4:31pm Israel plans to tear down a small portion of an internationally condemned barrier and move it closer to its border with the occupied West Bank, an Israeli newspaper reported on Monday. The Haaretz daily said a 2.4 km stretch of fencing would be moved in response to a petition filed with Israel's high court by Palestinians from two villages. Palestinians would recover most of some 700 acres Israel had confiscated for the barrier near the West Bank town of Qalqilya, the report said. » Read more