October 14th

Red Cross discussing role in Shalit exchange with Hamas, Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet by Stephanie Nebehay - October 13, 2011 - 12:00am The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has offered to play a neutral intermediary role in the exchange of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for Palestinian prisoners and is in talks with both Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, an ICRC spokesman said on Thursday. "We are talking to both sides about our offer. We have offered our services as a neutral intermediary to both sides," ICRC spokesman Marcal Izard told Reuters in response to an inquiry. » Read more

Transfer of freed Palestinian prisoners 'begins Tuesday' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 14, 2011 - 12:00am One of the groups involved in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit said Thursday that the transfer of some 450 Palestinian prisoners will begin Tuesday. Spokesman Abu Mujahed of the Popular Resistance Committees said Thursday that as soon as the detainees are released, officials will check each one to make sure they are among those listed in the deal. Once the prisoners are checked, the factions holding Shalit will release him too. » Read more

Behind the scenes: How the Schalit deal came about ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - (Analysis) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am The main breakthrough came in July. After five years of negotiations, Hamas forwarded a letter to Israel in which, for the first time, it outlined its final terms for a prisoner swap for Gilad Schalit. Three months earlier, David Meidan, a former senior Mossad operative, had been appointed chief mediator to the Schalit talks by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Upon receiving the letter, he immediately got to work. » Read more

Prisoner swap deal with Israel serves Hamas interests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Emad Drimly, Osama Radi - (Analysis) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am Five years after the indirect talks with Israel to reach a prisoner swap deal, observers believe that the timing of hammering out the deal to release 1,027 prisoners for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is apparently calculated by the Hamas movement to serve its interests. As the deal to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners was declared on Tuesday, the leaders of the Islamic movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, described the deal "a great victory." » Read more

Gilad Shalit deal boosts Hamas, but also reveals group's weaknesses ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - (Analysis) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas is hoping for a boost in domestic popularity after securing the freedom of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for returning Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, but many also see the historic deal as a sign of the Islamic militant group’s recent vulnerability. » Read more

October 13th

Hamas' military wing threatens to capture more Israeli soldiers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 13, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, threatened Thursday to abduct more Israeli soldiers in order to force a prisoner exchange with Israel. At a press conference in Gaza City, the Brigades' spokesperson, Abu Obeideh, said, "An Israeli incursion in Gaza announces good news to Gilad Shalit, that he may have new friends." Abu Obeideh announced a plan to defend Gaza saying, "It will stun the Israelis and confuse them." He gave no further details. » Read more

Palestinian success at UN serves Israeli and US interests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ilan Baruch - (Opinion) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am Palestine knows, Israel knows, the US knows, and the entire world knows what the end result of any attempt to end the conflict in the Middle East must be. Like so many others in Israel and Palestine, I, too, sat transfixed in front of the television screen as I listened to the speeches at the UN by US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. All three of them addressed the representatives of the countries around the world but spoke to their peoples at home. And I was amazed. » Read more

Sweet freedom ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News (Editorial) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am Freedom is in the air. And no words can sum up the sentiments and emotions of thousands of Palestinian families as they anxiously await the release of their brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, fathers and mothers who have spent years and decades in Israeli prisons. Especially when so many times in the past they had come tantalizingly close to reuniting with their loved ones only to see their hopes crashed. This is a déjà vu moment they have experienced rather too often in the past, forever hanging between hope and despair. » Read more

Reconciliation after prisoner exchange ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am The prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel - announced but not yet concluded - could not have come at a more urgent moment. The fate of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit has caused friction between Hamas and Fatah since he was kidnapped on Israeli soil in 2006. Removing such a stumbling block to unity can only be a good thing. » Read more

Hamas trades Shalit for a new lease on its political standing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Taufiq Rahim - (Opinion) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am When Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spoke to the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York last month, he demanded the release of about 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. At the time he was riding a wave of momentum due to the bid for recognition of a Palestinian state at the world body. » Read more