January 28th

Israel Vows Not To Block Supplies To Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Steven Erlanger - January 28, 2008 - 7:16pm Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel promised the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Sunday that Israel would no longer disrupt the supply of food, medicine and necessary energy into the Gaza Strip and intended to prevent a “humanitarian disaster” there. Last Wednesday, the Hamas rulers of Gaza broke open the border to Egypt, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to seek goods that Israel had restricted in its clampdown on the region. » Read more

January 28, 2008 - Vol. 9, Issue 21 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now by Middle East Peace Report - January 28, 2008 - 7:15pm Military Escalation is a Boon for Hamas: Even before the breach of the Gaza-Egypt border, the escalation in cross-border attacks between Gaza and Israel had pumped up public support for Hamas. This was the principle finding of a poll conducted in the West Bank and Gaza by the Ramallah-based AWRAD research center, when compared with an AWRAD survey from shortly before the November Annapolis peace conference. » Read more

Bush Hits A Wall In The Mideast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Jim Hoagland - January 28, 2008 - 7:14pm Watching Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner and other congressional leaders craft a stimulus package to calm the turbulent economy is like watching President Bush pursue his equally implausible and belated Middle East peace initiative. In each case, the challenges are so much larger than the means suddenly being brought to bear that you don't know whether to laugh or to cry. » Read more

Israeli 'economic Warfare' To Include Electricity Cuts In Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Ellen Knickmeyer - January 28, 2008 - 7:13pm Saying they were waging "economic warfare" against the Gaza Strip's Hamas leaders, Israeli officials told the Supreme Court on Sunday that the military intends to start cutting electricity to the Palestinian territory and continue restricting fuel. The statements by Israel's state attorney, outlining Defense Ministry plans, came in response to a lawsuit filed by Israeli and Palestinian rights groups. » Read more

Hamas Helps Egypt To Reclose Gaza Border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Omar Sinan - January 28, 2008 - 7:12pm Hamas militants joined Egyptian forces for a second day Monday in trying to restore control at three breaches in the Gaza border, building a chain-link fence to seal off one opening and directing traffic at two others. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have flooded into Egypt unchecked over the past six days since Hamas militants blasted holes in the border partition. They have been voraciously buying up food, fuel and other goods made scarce by Israeli and Egyptian closures of Gaza's borders. » Read more

January 25th

Naming Names From Gaza To Damascus And All The Way Through Lebanon! ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Raghidadergham.com by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) January 25, 2008 - 6:27pm There are times when naming names becomes inevitable because any reluctance to do so, whether in the name of diplomacy, politics or any other consideration, may terribly discredit the hesitant party and hurt the victims of harmful maneuvering, be they innocent civilians in Palestine or an entire generation in Lebanon. There are times when entrusted mediators or self-proclaimed backchannels have to act according to their consciences under a moral and political responsibility that obliges them to name things as they are. » Read more

Hamas Scores Another Victory: Israeli Media ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Mohammed Mar’i - January 25, 2008 - 6:24pm Israeli media outlets yesterday said that Hamas has added another victory to its achievements in handling the strict siege imposed on Gaza Strip since the movement ousted the security sources of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and senior officials of rival Fatah movement last June. » Read more

Abu Mazen’s Conundrum ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Miftah by Caelum Moffatt - January 25, 2008 - 6:24pm Israel’s current siege of Gaza must be inflicting the Palestinian President, Abu Mazen, with a sharp pain to the temples. This ache, which has been intermittent since June 2007, is undoubtedly caused this time by the confusion over how to act in response to the newest demonstration of Israeli aggression. The 1.5 million people of Gaza, the president’s people, are caught up as innocent victims in a fray between Palestinian rockets from the coastal strip and Israeli air strikes. » Read more

Analysis: Hamas Outmaneuvers Israel With Three Quick Moves ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amoss Harel - (Analysis) January 25, 2008 - 6:23pm In a week when Israeli leaders were boasting about their successful adoption of the conclusions in the Winograd Committee's interim report, which included in their view the attack on Syria, recent events on the Gaza Strip and Egyptian border are raising concerns to the contrary: Perhaps not enough lessons were learned or have been implemented. » Read more

The Siege Of Gaza Has Failed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz (Editorial) January 25, 2008 - 6:22pm While politicians and the media are waiting with bated breath for publication of the Winograd report on the Second Lebanon War, a new situation is taking shape on the Egyptian border that might eventually result in a new investigative committee. The diplomatic and security situation that arose on the Israeli-Egyptian border once the Egypt-Gaza border was flung wide open has apparently not yet penetrated the Israeli consciousness. But it is time to start asking pointed questions about the events of this week instead of about those of July 2006. » Read more