Israel to let more aid into Gaza in gesture to Clinton ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Nir Hasson, Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid - March 5, 2009 - 1:00am Israel will increase the range of goods permitted into the Gaza Strip as a gesture to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who concluded her visit to the region Wednesday. In recent weeks, Israel has prevented such products as jam, pasta and paper from reaching the besieged coastal territory. "We want humanitarian aid to get into Gaza in sufficient amounts to alleviate the suffering of the people," Clinton said, but stopped short of calling for a full opening of the crossings. » Read more

Hillary Clinton shores up weakened Palestinian leader ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times by James Hider - March 5, 2009 - 1:00am Hillary Clinton pledged her full support yesterday to the ailing Palestinian Administration of President Abbas, whose efforts to negotiate a peace deal with Israel have brought little progress, and whose standing among his own people has slipped dramatically. Speaking in Ramallah, the de facto capital of the Palestinian Authority, the US Secretary of State said that Mr Abbas's Administration was the only legitimate government of the Palestinian people - yet another snub to Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip and which the US regards as a terrorist organisation. » Read more

Clinton's caution in Israel has some Palestinians grumbling ATFP World Press Roundup Article from McClatchy News by Dion Nissenbaum - March 5, 2009 - 1:00am On her first visit as secretary of state to the de facto Palestinian capital, Hillary Clinton publicly chided Israel on Wednesday for demolishing dozens of Arab homes in East Jerusalem, a move that's undermining anemic peace talks with the Palestinians. » Read more

Deceptive unity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) March 4, 2009 - 1:00am Talks on forming a united Palestinian Authority government between West Bank-based Fatah and Gaza-based Hamas commenced in Cairo last week. Egypt is sponsoring the talks, with the tacit blessings of the international community. This is a mistake. The Obama administration should take a close look at the likely consequences of such an arrangement. » Read more

Driver Shot Dead After Rampage in Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - March 5, 2009 - 1:00am The Palestinian driver of a construction vehicle flipped over an Israeli police car and rammed an empty bus here on Thursday, injuring two police officers before he was shot dead, police said. Police later identified the assailant as a Palestinian resident of Beit Hanina, a predominantly Arab neighborhood in northeast Jerusalem. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the man, Mari al-Radeideh, 26, was married and the father of one child. Jerusalem’s deputy police commander, Niso Shahar, told reporters: “We have no doubt that it is a terror attack.” » Read more