Abbas to Haaretz: We will compromise on refugees ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm Perhaps it was the daytime fast and abstention from smoking during the holy month of Ramadan, and perhaps it was the conversation about the exhausting negotiations with Israel that caused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to press the white button at least three times in the course of last Wednesday's interview. Sa'id, his personal assistant, enters without a word, pulls out the packet and lights a cigarette for the president. Abu Mazen's relaxed mood does not hint at all the troubles bombarding him from inside and out. » Read more

A Mideast Crisis to Avert ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Dennis Ross - September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm Having just spent a week visiting Israelis and Palestinians, I find it hard not to be struck by the sense that everything is in limbo. Even as they continue to negotiate, Israelis and Palestinians are, for the most part, biding their time as they wait to see what the political transition in Israel and in the United States will produce. But there is a looming issue that I found to be worrying Palestinians and Israelis alike: What happens in January when Mahmoud Abbas's term as president of the Palestinian Authority expires? » Read more

There's a Partner, but Who Cares? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm A new security reality has been developing in the West Bank in recent months, one that has been virtually ignored by the Israeli press. The chaos that once reigned in the West Bank's cities, villages and refugee camps has vanished, replaced by newly invigorated Palestinian security forces. In the 14 months since Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority has managed to revive a concept almost unknown to residents of the territories in recent years: law and order. » Read more

As peace talks sputter, Israelis and Palestinians eye Plan B ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm Over the past two decades of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, deadlines for peace agreements have come and gone with precious few treaties. Now, amid low expectations for an agreement before the expiration of the Bush administration's target for an accord by the end of 2008, voices are growing on both sides advocating abandoning talks on Palestinian statehood if they miss the mark yet again. "We certainly need to think outside the box," says Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian legislator and longtime supporter of peace talks. "The business-as-usual approach hasn't worked." » Read more

Israeli government debates settler evacuation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times by Matti Friedman - September 13, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel's government had its first discussion Sunday of a plan to offer West Bank settlers cash to leave their homes, a largely symbolic step taken as the prime minister approaches the premature end of his term. The plan would pave the way for a large-scale pullback after a peace agreement with the Palestinians. But both sides say such a peace accord, or even a partial agreement, are far from completion. » Read more

Palestinian Is Killed in a Clash With Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - September 12, 2008 - 8:00pm A Palestinian youth was killed on Saturday in a clash with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Tekoa, near Bethlehem, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. Earlier in the day, armed Jewish settlers attacked a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank after a Palestinian intruder stabbed and lightly wounded an Israeli boy, 9, in an illegal Jewish outpost in the area, Israeli officials said. At least four Palestinians were wounded in that confrontation, some by live fire, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials. » Read more

Abbas to Meet Bush on Sept 25: Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is to hold talks with US President George W. Bush at the White House on September 25, a day earlier than initially announced, Palestinian officials said on Monday. "The meeting will be held on September 25," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP. Before traveling to Washington, Abbas is to attend the opening session of the UN General Assembly. Abbas and Bush will "evaluate the Israeli-Palestinian negotiation process and discuss the obstacles that prevent reaching an accord," Erakat said. » Read more

Israel seals Gaza border crossings after rocket attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel?s border crossings with the Gaza Strip were sealed on Monday, following a rocket attack by Palestinian fighters. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the indefinite closure of the crossings after the attack. The rocket, which was fired into the Israeli town of Sderot, started a fire but did not cause any casualties.

Israeli Police Probing "Pogrom" ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm Israeli police are investigating a rampage by settlers in a Palestinian village in the West Bank on Saturday which PM Ehud Olmert called a "pogrom". Mr Olmert, who is about to step down, called the attack by about 100 settlers on Asira al-Qabaliya "intolerable". It was filmed by human rights groups and came after an intruder stabbed and wounded a child at Yitzhar settlement. But police have not arrested any of the settlers who were filmed. Four people suffered gunshot wounds in the attack. » Read more

Israeli soldier gets 14 days for role in stillborn at checkpoint ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star September 14, 2008 - 8:00pm An Israeli soldier was sentenced to 14 days in prison for his role in an incident in which a Palestinian delivered a stillborn baby after being forced to wait at a checkpoint inside the Occupied West Bank, the Israeli Army said Friday. "The incident is one that could have been prevented," the Israeli military said, adding that the squad commander who was in charge of the checkpoint at the time was removed from his position and sentenced to 14 days in jail. » Read more