New regulation may bar migrants, Palestinians from filing lawsuits in Israeli courts ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tomer Zarchin - August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman has signed on regulations that require plaintiffs to cite their Israeli ID numbers or foreign passport numbers on the documents they file. Although the ministry said the cases of individuals such as migrant workers, Palestinian residents of the territories and stateless individuals who have no passport will be referred to a registrar or judge, civil rights activists say the new regulation will bar those without foreign passports from filing lawsuits in Israeli courts. » Read more

CEC: Voter registration opens in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Voter registration opened in the West Bank on Sunday to prepare for elections, the chairman of the Central Elections Commission announced. At a news conference in Ramallah, Hanna Nasser said 754 voter registration centers would be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday until Thursday. Nasser added that he hoped it would be the last time he announced the start of local elections, which are overdue and have been stalled by the infighting between Hamas and Fatah. » Read more

Israel air strike kills radical Gaza gunman ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 5, 2012 - 12:00am An Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian gunman from a radical Islamist group and wounded another on Sunday as they rode a motorbike in southern Gaza, near the Egyptian border, hospital officials said. They identified the dead man as a former member of the Popular Resistance Committees militant group who had shifted allegiance to "Magles Shoura al-Mujahddin", among Salafi factions that are a fringe presence in Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. » Read more

Palestinians send aid to Palestinians in Syria ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jihan Abdalla - August 5, 2012 - 12:00am An aid convoy left the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday carrying food and medicine in a symbol of support for Palestinian refugees caught up in the crisis in Syria. "Today the first convoy will leave from here, from the West Bank, from Palestinian soil towards Syria," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said at a press event marking the event. An official donations drive netted around $650,000 worth of food and medical aid from Palestinian companies, businessmen, and individuals during the charitable month of Ramadan. » Read more

Abbas to move on UN membership bid in September ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Mohammed Daraghmeh - August 4, 2012 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will take a first procedural step toward seeking U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine when he addresses the General Assembly in late September, but has not decided when to ask for a vote on his request, the Palestinian foreign minister said Saturday. Timing is seen as crucial in the Palestinian bid to be recognized as a non-member observer state by the U.N. General Assembly, an upgrade they hope will firmly establish the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as Palestinian territories in the eyes of the world. » Read more

Israel upgrades Arrow missile defense system ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - August 5, 2012 - 12:00am Israel has upgraded its top-tier Arrow II missile defense, a Defense Ministry official confirmed Sunday, as the country girds for possible attacks from Iran and Syria. Sensors, command and control equipment and radar have been enhanced to improve reach and accuracy, the official confirmed without elaborating. He would not say how many Arrow II batteries are deployed around the country and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the military's preparations. » Read more

Israel's ambassador to U.S. accuses Iran behind Sinai attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Israel's envoy to the United States on Monday blamed Iran for Sunday night's attack by Sinai militants against both Israel and Egypt, which left at least 15 Egyptian security personnel dead, the Israeli army on high alert, and thousands of Israelis in nearby communities in a night-long lockdown. "Iranian-backed terrorists again struck at our southern border today killing 15 Egyptian guards and attempting to massacre Israeli civilians," Ambassador Michael Oren wrote in a Twitter post, according to The Jerusalem Post. » Read more

Palestinian leadership condemns Sinai attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua August 6, 2012 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) extended on Monday its support to the Egyptian leadership and people after Sunday's deadly attack against a security checkpoint in North Sinai. Nabil Abu Rdineh, a spokesman for the PNA, said that the attack, which had left at least 16 Egyptian soldiers killed and seven others injured, is "a heinous crime and an act of terrorism." The gunmen remained unidentified although Egyptian sources suspect that they came from the neighboring Gaza Strip. They later seized an armored vehicle and headed for the Israeli border. » Read more

Israel says eight gunmen killed in Sinai attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters August 6, 2012 - 12:00am Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday eight gunmen from a global jihadist group were killed in their attempt to breach the Israeli border with Egypt's Sinai on Sunday. Barak told a parliamentary committee that the gunmen had also killed 13 to 15 Egyptian troops. He added that Israel had been in touch with the Egyptian authorities "to see if we could provide any help".

Gunmen Kill 15 and Steal Vehicle in Attack on Egypt Base ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Mayy El Sheikh, Kareem Fahim - August 5, 2012 - 12:00am Masked gunmen opened fire on an Egyptian Army checkpoint in the northern Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, killing 15 soldiers who were preparing to break their Ramadan fast. The gunmen then seized at least one armored vehicle and headed toward Israel, apparently in an attempt to storm the border, witnesses and officials said. » Read more