Interview: Palestinian official slams Israel for settlement expansion ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua (Interview) February 5, 2013 - 1:00am A senior Palestinian official on Monday accused Israel of continuing settlement construction and " Judaizing" the holy city of Jerusalem, warning that it would endanger the Palestinians' presence in East Jerusalem. » Read more

The Vision of Rawabi Nears Fruition ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line by Felice Friedson - February 4, 2013 - 1:00am The American businessmen and women appeared transfixed as they listened to the man behind the first Palestinian planned city depict his journey from vision to reality. » Read more

Dayan: Palestinian state further away than ever ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Tovah Lazaroff - February 4, 2013 - 1:00am Dayan chastised the settlers that he charged drove former MK Bennie Begin (Likud) out of the Knesset. He also criticized Migron residents for breaking the council’s 2008 agreement with the government, a move that he said led to the outpost’s relocation last summer. The 57-year-old secular hitech businessman took over the council in July 2007, when it was demoralized in the aftermath of the 2005 disengagement and the violent clashes between settlers and border police during the demolition of nine homes in the Amona outpost in 2006. » Read more

Report: Bulgaria expected to blame Hezbollah, Iran for Burgas bombing ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - February 5, 2013 - 1:00am The Bulgarian government is expected to blame Hezbollah and its ally Iran for the terrorist attack last July that killed five Israeli tourists. The investigative report on the bombing in the Black Sea resort city of Burgas is likely to be released on Tuesday. Citing U.S. and Middle East officials, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Bulgaria is expected to announce that Hezbollah carried out the attack and that Tehran was involved in the operation. » Read more

Bright spot in Palestinian economy: more women opening businesses ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Christa Case Bryant - February 4, 2013 - 1:00am It's a rainy day in the West Bank village of Ajoul, and when the kids get out of school a few dart into Myassar Issa's mini-market to buy sweets before running home up the muddy hills leading out of the valley. » Read more

Mashaal says his reported 'two-state' comments are false ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 5, 2013 - 1:00am Hamas chief Khalid Mashaal told Jordanian state TV on Saturday that media reports suggesting he accepts the two-state solution are false. Last week, the Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq reported that Mashaal asked Jordan's King Abdullah to inform US President Barack Obama that Hamas will accept two states for Israel and Palestine. But Mashaal tried to dampen the comments in a TV interview, saying the movement would not "all of a sudden accept a Palestinian state with interim borders." » Read more

Saudi Arabia opens housing project in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency February 5, 2013 - 1:00am A Saudi delegation on Monday opened the biggest housing project in the Gaza Strip and pledged further funding to support Palestinian refugees. Saudi Arabia financed the 752-home neighborhood in Rafah for families whose homes were destroyed by the Israeli army. It features four schools, a market, a mosque, a clinic and a community center. » Read more

Israeli army demolishes Palestinian protest camp out of its jurisdiction ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 5, 2013 - 1:00am The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) demolished a Palestinian protest camp over the weekend although it was out of its jurisdiction, the Ha'aretz daily reported Monday. Israeli security forces on Saturday evacuated the camp in the Burin village near Nablus in the West Bank, where 150 Palestinian activists protested against Israel's expansion of its settlements. Clashes erupted following the eviction between the Palestinian activists, security forces and settlers living nearby. » Read more

Israeli airstrike complicates Syria's crisis ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua February 5, 2013 - 1:00am Israel's recent airstrike on a Syrian military research center has complicated the Syria crisis that has been protracted for nearly two years with no signs of an end in sight. On Monday, Syrian Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij said Israel launched the Wednesday airstrike in cooperation with armed Syrian rebels fighting government forces on the ground. » Read more

In Israel raid, Syria options severely constrained ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press by Zeina Karam - February 4, 2013 - 1:00am Syria's defense minister signaled Monday that his country won't hit back at Israel over an airstrike inside Syria, claiming the Israeli raid was actually in retaliation for his regime's offensive against rebels he called "tools" of the Jewish state. » Read more