September 23rd

Retrial of Hamas financing case begins in Dallas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Paul J. Weber - September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm Federal prosecutors Monday started a second attempt to convict leaders of a Muslim charity on charges of financing terrorism after the first trial last year ended with a mistrial on most of the allegations. The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development is accused of funneling more than $12 million dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which the U.S. government considers a terrorist organization. » Read more

Few Palestinians Expect to Form Own State ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Angus Reid Global Monitor September 19, 2008 - 8:00pm Few people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip expect to see the creation of a Palestinian state within the next five years, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. 27.5 per cent of respondents believe the chances for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state next to Israel are medium to high, while 69.2 per cent are more skeptical. » Read more

Israel fears rise of attacks from East Jerusalemites ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) September 22, 2008 - 8:00pm Israeli media on Tuesday raised fears of a growing trend of attacks by Palestinians from east Jerusalem after a man rammed his car into a group of soldiers, injuring 13 people before being shot dead. Monday's was the latest incident involving vehicle attacks in the Holy City by Palestinians, sparking calls for stepped-up security and harsher punitive measures. The incident took place near Tzahal Square, just outside the 400-year-old walls of Jerusalem's Old City and a few hundred metres (yards) from Jaffa Gate, a major tourist thoroughfare. » Read more

Cash-strapped Palestinians get more aid pledges ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Haitham Haddadin, Sue Pleming - September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm The cash-strapped Palestinian government on Monday received pledges of nearly $300 million in new aid on top of more than $7 billion promised last year, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said. "We are grateful for the expressions of additional support over and beyond the Paris pledges," Fayyad told a news conference following a meeting that discussed aid to the Palestinians on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. » Read more

September 22nd

Hamas: Israel reneging on its promises for Shalit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, on Friday accused Israel of reneging on offers made in the negotiations for the return of Gilad Shalit. In an interview with the Palestinian Ramattan News Agency, Zahar claimed Israel had offered to free 450 Palestinian prisoners once Shalit was returned to Israel and an additional 550 prisoners two months later. He said Israel was now offering to release only 450 prisoners and warned that such back-pedaling could lead to the negotiations being scrapped altogether. » Read more

Hamas slams PA threat to use force to regain control of Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm Hamas government spokesman Taher Nunu urged all the Palestinian organizations on Sunday to refrain from making statements that could escalate the internal Palestinian conflict. Nunu's comment came after Gen. Dhiab al-Ali, who heads the Palestinian Authority's forces in the West Bank and is considered the Palestinian chief of staff, told Haaretz that the PA must be ready to use force against Hamas in the Gaza Strip "to reunify the homeland." Such comments legitimize various groups that want to undermine security and stability in Gaza, Nunu charged. » Read more

Israeli, Palestinian bereaved families meet ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Anat Shalev - September 20, 2008 - 8:00pm This weekend a series of meetings between Jewish and Palestinian families was held under the auspices of the "Parents Circle," a group connecting bereaved families from both sides. The Palestinians listened to the accounts of families of individuals who were killed by Qassam rockets, while the Israelis heard stories from Palestinian parents who have lost their children in the West Bank village of Naalin. Both sides agreed that peace must prevail to stop the bloodshed. » Read more

2 Palestinians die in Gaza smuggling tunnel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews September 20, 2008 - 8:00pm Two Palestinians suffocated inside a tunnel used by smugglers under the border between the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and Egypt on Sunday, local medics said. Several Palestinians have died in similar incidents in recent months in the tunnels, which are used to smuggle arms, fuel and other supplies into Gaza. Just last Thursday two people died in the collapse of a smugglers' tunnel under the Gaza-Egypt border. » Read more

Unveiled: Massive Investment Plan for West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Abd el-Raouf Arnaout - September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm A leading private Palestinian company is planning to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, beginning in the coming months. Projects range from an electricity power-generation plant in the West Bank city of Qalqilya to a multi-purpose hall next to the Israeli Justice Ministry in ?Salah A-Din Street in the center of Arab-dominated east Jerusalem. » Read more

Fatah Official Says Military Option Against Hamas Possible ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat by Ali El-saleh - September 21, 2008 - 8:00pm Palestinian National Security Forces Commander Major General Diyab al-Ali does not excluded a military solution as one of the options for retrieving the Gaza Strip from the hands of the Hamas movement and reuniting the homeland's two parts. » Read more