October 25th

'Morsi harsher on Hamas than previous regime' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh, Ben Hartman, Yaakov Lappin - October 25, 2012 - 12:00am Defying expectations, the current regime in Egypt has acted more harshly against Hamas than the previous one, Vice Premier Silvan Shalom told Israel Radio on Thursday. "It's good for the public to know that the current leadership is acting against Hamas in a very tough way," Shalom said, specifying that it is destroying tunnels "one after the other," limiting movement and blocking it from carrying out terrorist activity from Egyptian territory. » Read more

U.S. extends $4 billion loan guarantees to Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by TheMarker - October 25, 2012 - 12:00am The United States extended its $4 billion loan guarantees to Israel by another four years on Wednesday. U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner and Doron Cohen, the director general of Israel's Finance Ministry, signed an agreement extending the loan program until 2016. » Read more

Israel: UN bid risks 'far-reaching consequences' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 25, 2012 - 12:00am BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel on Wednesday threatened "difficult and far-reaching consequences" of plans to upgrade Palestine's status in the United Nations next month. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman relayed the warning during talks with visiting EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Jerusalem, a statement from his office said. If President Mahmoud Abbas "continues unilateral measures against Israel in the UN General Assembly, there will be difficult and far-reaching consequences," Lieberman told Ashton. » Read more

Israel re-opens 2 Gaza Strip crossings ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 25, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli authorities have re-opened the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossings into the Gaza Strip after closing them a day earlier, Palestinian and Israeli officials said Thursday. Palestinian border official Raed Fattouh told Ma'an that Israel would allow 167 truckloads of medical aid, clothes, shoes, fruit, and livestock to enter Gaza. An Israeli liaison official confirmed that both crossings were operating Thursday. They had been closed due to the "security situation" on the border, an official said Wednesday. » Read more

Momentum builds for Gaza to secede, Israel and West Bank to become one ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Christa Case Bryant - October 24, 2012 - 12:00am After decades of the "two states for two people" blueprint more or less dominating proposals for Israeli-Palestinian peace, a new paradigm is gaining momentum. Under this model, Israel absorbs the West Bank and its 2.5 million Palestinians, while Hamas-run Gaza becomes a separate entity aligned with the Middle East’s rising Islamist powers. » Read more

Hamas to appoint Abu Marzouk as chief: sources ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 24, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Hamas is considering appointing Moussa Abu Marzouk, currently deputy head of the Hamas politburo, to replace Khaled Mashaal as the movement's chief, sources said Wednesday. The Shurra council of Hamas, the Islamic Palestinian movement that rules the Gaza Strip, made the decision to appoint Abu Marzouk after a series of meetings in Cairo last week, the sources said. » Read more

Palestinians, Israeli left-wingers protest settlement supermarket ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 24, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Palestinians and Israeli left-wing activists on Wednesday blocked the entrance to a supermarket located in a West Bank settlement industrial zone north of Ramallah. The protesters, waving Palestinian flags, burst into the branch of the Rami Levy chain and called for the boycott of settlement- manufactured foods and goods marketed at the store. » Read more

Israel claims "no knowledge" about Sudanese allegations of arms plant attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua October 24, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Wednesday claimed they have "absolutely no knowledge" about the allegations by Sudanese officials over Israel's involvement in a " mysterious" explosion of a Khartoum ammunition plant. Yigal Palmor, spokesperson for the ministry, told Xinhua that the ministry do not know anything regarding the explosion. » Read more

Israel says 79 rockets fired at it from Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jeffrey Heller - October 24, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Palestinians fired dozens of rockets into Israel from Gaza on Wednesday and an Israeli air strike killed a militant, a day after the Emir of Qatar made a rare visit to the enclave's Hamas leadership. Hamas claimed responsibility for some of the rocket and mortar bomb attacks, prompting some Israelis to wonder whether it had been emboldened by the Qatari visit on Tuesday that broke the Islamist group's diplomatic isolation. » Read more

Egypt brokers informal Israel-Gaza truce ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters October 25, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Palestinian fighters held fire overnight Thursday and Israel refrained from airstrikes as an informal truce brokered by Egypt appeared to take hold following two days of violence along the Israel-Gaza border. Palestinians had launched dozens of rockets into Israel over the preceding two days and Israel conducted a number of air raids on the coastal enclave, raising fears of a prolonged, bloody confrontation between the two sides. An Israeli military spokeswoman said the last known rocket was fired from Gaza on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. » Read more