Yet more proof
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
July 16, 2009 - 12:00am

Israeli soldiers have given testimony that in some cases the Israeli army made use of Palestinian human shields in its war on Gaza in January. The accounts, from an Israeli human rights group, provide yet more proof, if more is needed, that Israel stood in grave contravention of the laws regulating combat behaviour and should be charged with war crimes.

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Editorial: Brazen testimony
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
(Editorial) July 16, 2009 - 12:00am

The world saw for itself how — for 22 days — the densely populated Gaza ghetto was bombarded by Israeli forces killing 1,400 Palestinians and injuring thousands more. But the Israelis have always claimed that the stark images flashed around the world were Palestinian propaganda and did not represent what was really happening. On Wednesday, however, came a report drawing on testimony from some of the soldiers who took part in the Gaza operation — and it proves that the Israeli government statements are lies.

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Barak: Criticism of IDF should be directed at me
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - July 15, 2009 - 12:00am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday criticized an Israeli human rights organization for publishing an Israel Defense Forces soldier's testimony that troops used Palestinians as human shields during Operation Cast Lead last January, despite a 2005 High Court ruling outlawing the practice.

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Israel soldiers speak out on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
July 15, 2009 - 12:00am

A group of soldiers who took part in Israel's assault in Gaza say widespread abuses were committed against civilians under "permissive" rules of engagement. The troops said they had been urged to fire on any building or person that seemed suspicious and said Palestinians were sometimes used as human shields. Breaking the Silence, a campaign group made up of Israeli soldiers, gathered anonymous accounts from 26 soldiers. Israel denies breaking the laws of war and dismissed the report as hearsay.

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Report Criticizes Israeli Drone Strikes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Christopher Drew - June 30, 2009 - 12:00am

Twenty-nine civilians, including eight children, were killed in several missile strikes by Israeli drones in Gaza in December and January, according to a report released on Tuesday by Human Rights Watch. The group questioned whether Israeli forces had taken “all feasible precautions” to avoid civilian casualties. Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, a spokeswoman for the Israeli military, said Israeli forces had gone to extraordinary lengths to warn civilians during the Gaza offensive, and she questioned the credibility of some of the Palestinian witnesses cited by the advocacy group.

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Palestinian boy 'hanged for collaboration'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
June 12, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian police say a 15-year-old boy has been found hanged near the town of Qalqilya in the West Bank. They said several family members had confessed to involvement in the killing, accusing the boy of collaborating with the Israeli army. Collaboration is viewed as a serious offence in Palestinian society. Suspects are often summarily killed. However, police said it was unlikely that such a young boy would have been recruited as an informer. He has been named in the Palestinian press as Raed Sawalha.

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Man killed, another injured in Jerusalem shooting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Erfat Weiss - June 2, 2009 - 12:00am

An armed man opened fire in central Jerusalem early Tuesday morning, shooting to death an Arab man and wounding a Jewish man. The shooter was arrested following a police pursuit. Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said the motive for the pre-dawn attack is not clear. The Arab who was killed was later identified as 33-year-old Amjad Abu Hader of the Shuafat neighborhood, located in northeastern Jerusalem. The wounded man was evacuated to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in serious condition.

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Jewish settler attack injures Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
June 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Several Palestinian workers have been hurt in an attack by a group of Jewish settlers in the northern West Bank. One worker suffered serious head injuries, as dozens of masked settlers threw rocks at their vehicles. Police say no arrests have been made following the attack near the Palestinian city of Nablus, which is circled by Israeli settlements. Friction and violence is common between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank, captured by Israel in 1967.

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Israeli Arabs arrested for plotting attacks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 30, 2009 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (AP) - Police say they have arrested seven Arab Israelis who plotted bomb attacks and kidnappings of Jews in retaliation for Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza. Police superintendent Avid Agarissi told Israel Radio the suspects were charged with contacting "terror groups in Gaza" to train to kidnap civilians and build explosive devices. He said they wanted to carry out attacks to avenge Palestinians killed in Gaza earlier this year. Police said the men were arrested earlier this month but details were only released Thursday for security reasons.

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Sick Gazans victims of Hamas-Fatah power struggle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
April 28, 2009 - 12:00am

Hundreds of Palestinian patients have been trapped in the Gaza Strip, unable to travel abroad for crucial treatment for cancer and other diseases, because of political infighting between Gaza's Hamas rulers and their Palestinian rivals. Eight Gazans who were waiting to travel abroad have died since the crisis began in March, when the dispute shut down a medical referral committee that helps sick residents find treatment outside of Gaza, according to the World Health Organization.

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