Hamas Risks Unwinnable War as It Raises Tensions with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by David Rosenberg - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas is ratcheting up tensions with Israel as a means of deflecting growing calls in the Palestinian street to end its feuding with the Fatah movement and form a national unity government, analysts say. But they warned that the shower of mortar shells and rockets its militants have rained on Israel risks dragging the organization into an unwinnable war. » Read more

Abbas, Fayyad condemn Jerusalem bombing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 24, 2011 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday condemned a bombing attack in central Jerusalem that killed one woman and injured dozens, the official Palestinian Authority news agency reported. Salam Fayyad, the resigned caretaker prime minister, said in a statement, "I condemn in the strongest terms possible the terrorist attack in Jerusalem today regardless of who is behind it." He also wished a speedy recovery to those who were injured. » Read more

Is J Street a Threat? Not to Most Israelis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Nathan Jeffay - (Opinion) March 23, 2011 - 12:00am In the three years since its founding, the dovish lobby J Street has become a household name across Jewish America. But ask Israelis about it, and they are more likely to think you are asking for directions to some thoroughfare they haven’t heard of. In polling commissioned by the Forward, only 14% of Jewish Israelis said they had heard of J Street. The remaining 86% had not. » Read more

Islamic Jihad: PA detains leaders, tracking members ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 24, 2011 - 12:00am Officials from the Islamic Jihad movement said Thursday that Palestinian Authority security forces detained two of the movement's leaders from their homes in the city of Jenin overnight. In a statement, officials said PA forces raided the homes of Khalid Jaradat and Tareq Qa’dan, taking the former to an unknown location and the latter to a detention facility in the northern West Bank. Jihad officials said PA forces were tracking members in the wake of a blast in West Jerusalem that went off near the central bus station, killing one woman and injuring 30 others. » Read more

The ‘A-Word’ in Hebron ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Letty Cottin Pogrebin - (Opinion) March 23, 2011 - 12:00am You’ve probably read about the situation in the West Bank city of Hebron, where some 800 Jewish settlers live in the midst of 170,000 Palestinians. But being there is something else. Being there can make you sick to your stomach; being there you can’t help thinking of the “A-word.” » Read more

Second wave of strikes injures 1 in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 24, 2011 - 12:00am A second Israeli airstrike Thursday morning hit a group of men beside a gas station in the northern Gaza Strip around 8:30 a.m., hours after a wave of strikes targeted sites across the coastal enclave. Spokesman of the higher committee of ambulance and emergency services Adham Abu Salmiya said the latest bombing targeted a site near the Jabaliya refugee camp, and injured one. A statement from Israel's military said the air force "identified a group of terrorists preparing to launch rockets at Israeli territory, and thwarted the attempt by firing at them." » Read more

Jerusalem bombing comes amid rising Israel-Gaza violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am The first Jerusalem bombing in years rocked a bus stop in the city center today, wounding more than 20. The explosion comes amid rising Israeli-Palestinian violence and speculation that another war with the Islamist militant group Hamas is inevitable. One Jerusalem resident who heard the explosion said it had been so long since the last attack that the bombing sounded like a crash from a nearby construction site. » Read more

Peace Can’t Be Provisional ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward by Ephraim Sneh - (Opinion) March 23, 2011 - 12:00am Israel needs to achieve an end to its conflict with the Palestinians. Recent developments in the region make this goal all the more urgent. Yet instead of working to achieve a permanent-status agreement, ending all claims by the two parties, we are increasingly hearing talk about pushing for an interim agreement based on provisional borders. This would be a profound mistake. » Read more

Jerusalem Blast Raises Fears of Growing Violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am A bomb exploded at a crowded bus stop near Jerusalem’s main bus station on Wednesday, killing one woman and wounding at least 24 other people. It was the worst attack in Jerusalem in four years, putting Israelis on alert, shattering years of relative calm here and prompting international condemnation. Paramedics and others aided the wounded Wednesday after an explosion at a crowded Jerusalem bus stop. One person was killed and at least 24 were wounded. Residents ran for cover Wednesday during a rocket attack on the Israeli city of Beersheba, about 25 miles southeast of Gaza. » Read more

For Palestinians, action must follow talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National (Editorial) March 24, 2011 - 12:00am Frustrated by a stagnant political process, the Palestinian people have spoken - they want reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah. But can their leaders deliver? It seemed so at first glance last week. After street protests in Ramallah and Gaza saw thousands calling for a new unity government, Hamas's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh hastily invited Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, to Gaza. Mr Abbas, all too aware of the Palestinian Authority's crumbling support, had little choice but to respond. » Read more