June 28th

Death of Hamas official won't stop flow of arms from Iran, Syria to Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) June 28, 2012 - 12:00am We don't know much about the assassination of Kamel Ranaja in Damascus Wednesday. But from the little information that was obtainable, mostly from Hamas officials, it was orchestrated by professionals. Someone had a group of armed men appear at Ranaja's Damascus home and gun him down. One can only imagine how the assailants took advantage of the turmoil gripping Syria, the clashes between Assad supporters and opposition members and demonstrations, to make it to Ranaja's doorstep and disappear without leaving a trace. » Read more

Hamas says the Mossad killed its senior figure ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - June 28, 2012 - 12:00am A senior Hamas figure has been killed at his home in Damascus, in an operation that the Islamist organisation swiftly attributed to the Israeli intelligence service, the Mossad. Kamel Ranaja, who died on Wednesday night, was reported to be a deputy to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was killed in a Dubai hotel in 2010. The Mossad was widely believed to be behind that assassination. It caused an international furore after Israeli agents were accused of using stolen passports cloned from British, Irish and other citizens to mount the operation. » Read more

Hamas says militant assassinated in Damascus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Ibrahim Barzak - June 28, 2012 - 12:00am Hamas said Thursday that one of its members was assassinated in his home in the Syrian capital, Damascus. An official in the Palestinian militant movement said Kamal Ghanaja was a former aide to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior commander who was himself assassinated in Dubai in 2010. The official said Hamas had been informed that a group of people entered Ghanaja's home, killed him and took some files. He said a senior member of the movement has gone to Damascus to follow the official investigations. » Read more

June 27th

Israeli official: Egypt likely to preserve peace treaty with Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am Newly elected Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is not likely to disavow the peace treaty between the two countries, a senior Israeli defense official said on Tuesday. » Read more

Israeli Guns Hold University Degrees Away ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Jillian Kestler-D'Amours - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, Jun 26 2012 (IPS) - After more than 25 years spent fighting for women’s rights in the Gaza Strip, Andaleeb Shehadeh is now struggling for the right to complete her university education. “This kind of studies is very important for the women who are active in women’s rights in the Gaza Strip,” the 46-year-old mother of four told IPS. “It’s not offered in Gaza or in the rest of the Middle East.” » Read more

Palestinians' enforcers work together 'to crush dissent' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am RAMALLAH // One is a longtime friend of the Palestinian president and stalwart of the powerful Fatah political faction. The other is a high-profile lawyer who once was officially rebuked for corruption. Together, Rafiq Alnatsheh and Ahmad Al Mughani are the face of Palestinian Authority (PA) justice. » Read more

Anti-Israel aid billboards are taken down ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) June 26, 2012 - 12:00am WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A subsidiary of the CBS Corp. removed 23 billboards in the Los Angeles area calling for a stop to U.S. foreign assistance to Israel. » Read more

Israel subjecting Palestinian children to 'spiral of injustice' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Harriet Sherwood - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am A belief that every Palestinian child is a potential terrorist may be leading to a "spiral of injustice" and breaches of international law in Israel's treatment of child detainees in military custody, a delegation of eminent British lawyers has concluded in an independent report backed by the Foreign Office. » Read more

Israel fears UN about to announce settlement panel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - June 27, 2012 - 12:00am Israel fears the United Nations is on the cusp of announcing the membership of its fact-finding mission on West Bank settlements, a move it claims could harm efforts to rekindle the frozen peace process. Already on June 14, UN Human Rights Council president Laura Dupuy Lasserre responded to a query on the matter at a meeting with NGO representatives in Geneva. She said there should be recommendations for members of the fact-finding mission by the end of the 20th session on July 6. » Read more

Morsi Is Israel's Nightmare, But The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor by Ben Caspit - (Opinion) June 25, 2012 - 12:00am We have reached the moment feared by generations of Israeli Intelligence and GSS chiefs. The ultimate nightmare scenario is playing out in front of our very eyes —the same narrative that played a major role in the terror scenarios that starred in the secret war games of the IDF and the Israeli defense system for an entire generation. The moment when Egypt fell — into the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood. » Read more