Escalation in revenge attacks pushes Israel closer to war ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Catrina Stewart - March 25, 2011 - 12:00am A rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza struck an area close to Tel Aviv yesterday in a bold attack that could provoke Israel into a decisive strike and bring it one step closer to a new Middle East war. The latest attack, which injured nobody and landed in an unpopulated area 15 miles south of the city, will unsettle Israelis, who are used to seeing low-grade rockets and mortars drop mostly harmlessly in areas close to Gaza, but rarely feel threatened in cities such as Tel Aviv. » Read more

Jerusalem bus bomb will harm the Palestinian cause ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Seth Freedman - (Opinion) March 24, 2011 - 12:00am The deadly attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday has, inevitably, further ratcheted up the tension that has been brewing in the region for weeks. The strike at the heart of the city's teeming transport hub demands a strong response from the Israeli government, both for the sake of its own people and to warn Palestinian militants that a return to the bloodstained days of a decade ago is in neither side's best interests. » Read more

Jerusalem bus bomb will harm the Palestinian cause ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Seth Freedman - (Opinion) March 24, 2011 - 12:00am The deadly attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday has, inevitably, further ratcheted up the tension that has been brewing in the region for weeks. The strike at the heart of the city's teeming transport hub demands a strong response from the Israeli government, both for the sake of its own people and to warn Palestinian militants that a return to the bloodstained days of a decade ago is in neither side's best interests. » Read more

Gazans count cost of escalating violence ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News by Jon Donnison - March 24, 2011 - 12:00am "Why is Palestinian blood cheaper than Israeli blood?" asks Wael Abu Awema, a 40-year-old father of five. There have been Israeli attacks on Gaza every day this week. At least 10 Palestinians have been killed, including at least four civilians, two of them children. More than 30 Palestinians have been injured. "Of course we are worried. My kids are wetting themselves at night when they hear the Israeli air strikes," says Mr Abu Awema. His eyes are bloodshot and red, as if he also might be losing sleep. » Read more

Shalev: UNGA ‘Palestine’ resolution may have real impact ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by David Horovitz - March 25, 2011 - 12:00am Israel failed to realize until recently that the Palestinian bid to win United Nations General Assembly endorsement for statehood in September might not be merely declarative, but could have profound practical consequences under the provisions of a little-known UNGA resolution, Gabriela Shalev, the former Israeli ambassador to the UN, has told The Jerusalem Post. UNGA Resolution 377, also known as the “Uniting for Peace” resolution, was passed during the Korean War in 1950, at the initiative of the US, because the Soviet Union was vetoing UN Security Council action to protect South Korea. » Read more

Egypt tells J'lem it is committed to the peace accord ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters March 24, 2011 - 12:00am Egypt's foreign minister told an Israeli official on Thursday that Cairo was committed to its international treaties, Egypt's foreign ministry said, reiterating that the countries' peace accord is secure. It was the first publicly announced meeting between an Egyptian and an Israeli official since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was toppled from power on Feb. 11 and handed power to the military. » Read more

'IDF will have to carry out large-scale operation in Gaza' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post March 25, 2011 - 12:00am Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar (Likud) on Friday said that he estimates that the IDF will eventually have to carry out a large-scale operation in the Gaza Strip, bigger than Operation Cast Lead. Sa'ar made the comments in an interview with Israel Radio. Sa'ar said that he understood local authorities in the South who decided to cancel school in light of increased rocket and mortar fire, but emphasized that the Home Front Command said that studies could continue as usual. » Read more

Escalation approaching ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - March 25, 2011 - 12:00am The first terrorist attack in Jerusalem in three years; a home invasion and murder in a settlement for the first time in six years; more Palestinians killed in one single day than since Operation Cast Lead. It's strange how quickly Israel and the Palestinians reverted to the routine of mutual aggression that destroyed the last decade. » Read more

Israel struggling to avoid head-on clash with Hamas ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel - March 24, 2011 - 12:00am Israel's response to the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip remained limited on Thursday. One reason could be that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is abroad and the Israel Defense Forces will escalate its attacks when he returns. Another could be that Israel understands that it currently has little to gain from an escalation with Hamas. The air force's attacks on Thursday seemed symbolic. Gaza residents told Haaretz that among the targets was the old intelligence building, abandoned years ago, and a Hamas post no longer in use that had been bombed five times before. » Read more

The Palestinian narrative has won ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Oudeh Basharat - (Opinion) March 24, 2011 - 12:00am When the teacher asked us first-graders in Kfar Yafia what we do on Independence Day - it's "day" in the uninspired Jewish term, "holiday" in the imaginative Arab language - I answered excitedly: We go to Ma'alul. Ma'alul is my parents' village, whose residents were uprooted in 1948. Indeed, it was a holiday, when the military administration, in its generosity, loosened its grip a little and turned a blind eye to the crowds "celebrating" Independence Day on the ruins of the villages from which they had been uprooted. » Read more