December 3rd

Palestinian man stabbed by Jews in Occupied Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News December 3, 2008 - 1:00am A Palestinian man was seriously wounded after being stabbed in an attack carried out by Jews in Occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday, officials said. Police were searching for a number of suspects who stabbed the 31-year-old resident of East Jerusalem, an Israeli police spokesman said. The man told Israel police four men wearing skullcaps attacked him near the ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Mea Shearim. The spokesman did not confirm the attackers were Jews, but said police believed it was a "nationalistically motivated" assault.

Hamas forces free three journalists arrested for fabrication ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News December 3, 2008 - 1:00am Hamas security forces on Wednesday freed three Palestinian journalists whom they arrested last month and accused of fabricating news critical of the Islamist group, officials said. The journalists worked in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip for the Palestine Press, a local news agency with ties to the group's main rival, President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. A Hamas internal security official said the three men were released after they confessed that they had "fabricated reports" critical of the Hamas cabinet and its security forces. » Read more

Gaza cash drought to delay state wages payment ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times December 3, 2008 - 1:00am Government employees in Gaza Strip will not receive salaries this month because of a severe cash drought in Palestinian banks there, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Tuesday. Fayyad said the state would transfer funds to Gaza banks on Wednesday but an Israeli blockade had prevented moving enough cash to the Hamas-run coastal enclave in time to cover salaries of more than 77,000 government employees. » Read more

Israeli forces stand by as ultra-nationalist Jewish settlers go on rampage in Hebron ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) December 3, 2008 - 1:00am At least 13 Palestinians and one Israeli were wounded on Tuesday as ultra-nationalist Israelis went on the rampage in the Occupied West Bank city of Hebron, clashing with residents and Israeli security forces. The Israeli rioting broke out as rumors spread that security forces were set to evict 100 Jewish settlers from an occupied house the Israeli high court has ordered evacuated. » Read more

Hebron settlers brace for forceful evacuation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by Michael Blum - December 3, 2008 - 1:00am Hundreds of Israeli settlers and supporters prepared on Wednesday to battle a forceful eviction after Israel declared a closed military area around a house in Hebron, occupied in defiance of a court order. The military decree followed violent protests on Tuesday involving settlers and their far right-wing supporters who hurled rocks at Palestinians, security forces, homes and cars and desecrated Muslim tombstones. » Read more

The slow death of Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Andrea Becker - November 24, 2008 - 1:00am

It's grim in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Anne Penketh - (Blog) December 3, 2008 - 1:00am I met Karen AbuZayd, the head of UNRWA, when she was sitting in the basement dining room of a trendy London hotel beside a mirror on which an artist has written in gold letters: "this is shit."It is understandable that Mrs AbuZayd, whose UN agency looks after the welfare of Palestinian refugees, did not wish to be photographed in front of the art work. But the message on the mirror aptly sums up the dramatic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, as she was the first to point out. » Read more

Israel convicts top Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News December 3, 2008 - 1:00am An Israeli military court has convicted the Speaker of the Palestinian parliament of being a member and officer of an illegal organisation. Abdel Aziz Dweik belongs to the Hamas movement, which controls Gaza. He has been in prison since his arrest by Israeli forces in 2006 and will be sentenced at a later date. Dozens of Palestinian legislators were arrested by the Israeli army in 2006. Thirty lawmakers remain in Israeli custody. They were detained following the capture by Hamas-allied militants of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. » Read more

Israel: Airstrike Kills 2 in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - December 3, 2008 - 1:00am An Israeli airstrike aimed at a militant squad in southern Gaza killed two Palestinian youths on Tuesday, and a militant was shot and killed in the West Bank when he tried to elude arrest. Palestinian medical officials said the two killed in Gaza were brothers, ages 15 and 17. An Israeli military spokesman said the target was a squad that had fired a mortar shell 20 minutes earlier. The armed wing of Hamas said it fired eight mortar shells at Israeli forces on Tuesday. » Read more

December 2nd

IDF troops shoot and kill wanted Palestinian during raid in Nablus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - December 1, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel Defense Forces soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian militant during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus on Monday, the IDF said. Such killings have become less frequent in the West Bank since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas launched a security campaign with U.S. backing. An IDF spokesman said troops entered Nablus to arrest a wanted man. When the militant attempted to get away, the troops fired warning shots and then fired at his lower body, the spokesman said. "He was hit and was transferred to an Israeli hospital, where he died of his wounds," he said. » Read more