Palestinians’ negotiator Erekat, Israeli security chief Amidror visiting D.C. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) February 20, 2013 - 1:00am Saeb Erekat, the top negotiator for the Palestinian Authority, and Yaakov Amidror, the Israeli national security adviser, are visiting Washington. Erekat will meet this week with David Hale, the top U.S. official handling Middle East peace talks, the State Department said in a statement Wednesday. Israeli officials confirmed that Amidror also is in Washington, but would not identify with whom he is meeting. The meetings comes ahead of President Obama's planned visit next month to Israel and Palestinian areas next month.

Palestinians have little faith Livni can influence peace talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Hugh Naylor - February 21, 2013 - 1:00am Palestinians are not optimistic about the influence of Tzipi Livni as Israel's negotiator in talks with them after her appointment in the emerging coalition government of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mrs Livni, a former foreign minister, was the leader of the opposition until March last year, when she formed her own party on a platform critical of Mr Netanyahu and his government's policy of expanding Jewish settlements. » Read more

Witnesses: 1 shot, 2 detained in Israeli raids in Jenin ATFP World Press Roundup Article from February 21, 2013 - 1:00am Israeli forces shot a Palestinian in his leg and detained two people in raids in the Jenin district overnight Wednesday, witnesses said. Soldiers detained Samid Abu Haija from his home in al-Yamun, northwest of Jenin, and 24-year-old Mohammad Naser al-Sadi from Jenin refugee camp. In Birqin village, west of Jenin, soldiers surrounded the home of Mohammad Qablawi and ordered residents to leave the house. » Read more

Official: Settlers torch 6 cars in Nablus village ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 21, 2013 - 1:00am Armed settlers attacked a village south of Nablus overnight Wednesday and torched six cars, a Palestinian Authority official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, said dozens of residents of the Esh Kodesh settlement outpost entered Qusra village firing heavily. They torched six cars, belonging to Raed Musbah, Abed Taher, Yousef Odeh, Yasser Abu Rida, and Nashat Fawzi, Daghlas told Ma'an. » Read more

DFLP chief hurt in Damascus explosion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 21, 2013 - 1:00am The head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine was lightly injured on Thursday in a car bomb that shook central Damascus and killed several people, a DFLP official said. Nayef Hawatmeh, 74, suffered minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment when the bomb exploded near DFLP offices in Syria, DFLP central committee member Khalid Atta told Ma'an. Atta said the bomb had not targeted the DFLP office, which was damaged in the attack. » Read more

Israeli officials fear impending U.S. budget cuts to trim military aid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 21, 2013 - 1:00am Israeli officials are concerned that the United States' budget cuts due to begin on March 1 will reduce its military aid to the Jewish country, economic Globes reported on Wednesday. The report said the planned budget cuts will approximately chop 250 million U.S. dollars from the aid and will halt the U.S. assistance to Israel's missile programs. » Read more

Israel's Oscar bid discomforts Netanyahu government ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Dan Williams - February 21, 2013 - 1:00am An Oscar-nominated Israeli documentary has brought little joy to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the focus of the film's criticism of Israel's policy toward the Palestinians. Featuring searingly confessional interviews with six former chiefs of the shadowy security service Shin Bet, "The Gatekeepers" portrays the 46-year-old West Bank occupation and Jewish ultranationalism as threats to Israel's survival. » Read more

Israel gives OK for oil drilling in Golan Heights ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press February 21, 2013 - 1:00am Israel says it has given the go-ahead for a gas exploration project in the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau it captured from Syria in the 1967 war. Israel's Energy and Water Resources Ministry said Wednesday it has issued a permit for the American-Israeli company Genie Energy to drill for oil on the plateau. The company is headed by Effi Eitam, a hawkish former Israeli Cabinet minister. » Read more

Gaza man self-immolates in government office ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 21, 2013 - 1:00am A man set himself on fire at a government office in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, wounding himself and four others, witnesses and medics said. The man was seriously wounded after he self-immolated at an office for the Ministry of Social Affairs in Jabalia, witnesses told Ma'an. Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said four others were wounded in the incident, including two female staff members and an elderly man. The wounded were taken to Kamal Udwan Hospital and Shifa Hospital, al-Qidra said.

Fatah irate at reported indirect Israel-Hamas talks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - February 21, 2013 - 1:00am Fatah officials expressed outrage on Wednesday over reports that Hamas and Israel are conducting indirect talks in Cairo. According to the reports, Israeli and Hamas officials who arrived in Cairo recently have been holding indirect talks about consolidating the current cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, which has been in effect since Operation Pillar of Defense ended in November. » Read more