March 15th

Gaza-Israel clashes: The view from each side ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News by Rupert Wingfield-Hayes - March 12, 2012 - 12:00am Sitting in the centre of Gaza City this mini-conflict has an almost surreal quality. With the windows open, a distant rumble very like thunder rolled across the city each time an Israeli strike hit home. But down below on the streets the cars kept passing, the shops stayed open, pedestrians kept walking home with their groceries. After years of blockade and repeated rounds of air strikes Gazans appear almost inured to the endless conflict. Further out of the city, closer to the Israeli border, the atmosphere is different. The streets are quieter. » Read more

Israel-Gaza truce mostly observed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - March 13, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA, March 13 (Reuters) - An Egyptian-brokered truce between Israel and militant groups in the Gaza Strip was largely observed on Tuesday after four days of violence in which 25 Palestinians were killed and 200 rockets were fired at Israel. The number of Palestinian rocket attacks dropped sharply after the deal took effect overnight, with less than 10 rockets reportedly fired since then. In a further sign of a return to normality, towns and cities in southern Israel announced plans to reopen schools that had been kept shut for the past three days. » Read more

Israeli aircraft hit Gaza in response to rockets ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press by Amy Teibel - March 15, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says its aircraft have struck militant sites in the Gaza Strip in response to continued rocket fire on southern Israel. The two sides agreed earlier this week to halt a four-day flare-up of violence but sporadic rocket fire and retaliatory airstrikes have persisted. Thursday's airstrike came after three rockets were fired at Israel a day earlier. No one was hurt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Iran for the latest violence. » Read more

Airstrikes target Gaza Strip ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency March 15, 2012 - 12:00am GAZA CITY (Ma’an) -- Israel launched airstrikes on two sites in the Gaza Strip overnight Wednesday, less than 48 hours after agreeing to an Egypt-brokered truce. Witnesses said that Israeli missiles landed on agricultural land, causing a fire and severe damage. No injuries were reported. In a statement, the Israeli army said its warplanes targeted "a rocket launching site in the northern Gaza Strip and a terror tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip." Earlier, a rocket fired at Beersheva was intercepted by the Iron Dome active missile defense system, the army said. » Read more

March 14th

To the leftist who has no problem with rocket fire on Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Bradley Burston - (Opinion) March 14, 2012 - 12:00am War again. Rockets again. Israel assassinates the commander of a radical Palestinian militia coalition in Gaza. In retaliation, gunners in the Strip fire rockets at cities across southern Israel. Israel launches a series of air strikes targeting the launch crews. More than 20 Palestinians are killed and scores injured. In Israel, questions are raised about the wisdom and the necessity of the assassination. Sounds all too familiar. Not much new here, from the looks of it. Back pages, even in the Arab world. » Read more

Israel 'must end imputiny of violence by settlers' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Donald MacIntyre - March 14, 2012 - 12:00am EU governments, including Britain, have secretly been urged by their top diplomats in Jerusalem and the West Bank to press Israel to enforce laws against Jewish settlers responsible for an "alarming" rise in violence against Palestinians and their property. » Read more

Israelis See Iran “Mini-Drill” in Gaza Flare Up ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - March 13, 2012 - 12:00am JERUSALEM, March 13 (Reuters) - Israel has emerged from the past few days of fighting with Palestinians in Gaza more confident that its advanced missile shield and civil defences can perform well in any war with Iran. Describing how the flare-up in violence had provided an impromptu opportunity to test out Israel's defences, one Israeli official said on Tuesday it gave useful indicators for any potential conflict with Tehran: "In a sense, this was a mini-drill," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. » Read more

Palestinians Are Caught in the Middle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am The tension between Iran, on one hand, and Israel and the United States, on the other hand, is growing and having a variety of impacts regionally and internationally. The reason for the increased tension is numerous official statements and periodic leaks over a possible Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities as a way to prevent it from becoming a nuclear power. » Read more

It’s Not Iran ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) March 12, 2012 - 12:00am The Israeli-Palestinian peace process, as we have known it since the 1993 signing of the Oslo accords, essentially died more than three years ago with the demise of the final status talks between then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Whatever happens in the months ahead between Israel and Iran or between the United States and Iran will not directly affect a non-existent peace process. » Read more

Gaza’s Blood Traders Fighting Assad’s Battle? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) March 14, 2012 - 12:00am Whilst the world is in a state of shock with regard to the massacres that continue to be carried out against the Syrian people at the hands of the Bashar Assad regime, “tinplate” rockets were being fired from Gaza into Israel, and the Israelis, of course, responded to this with violence, and then suddenly it was announced that the Egyptians had mediated and therefore the situation had calmed, and then Hamas announced that it was involved in this. So why did what happen, happen? Why was the Egyptian mediation accepted in the first place? » Read more