Progress Reported in Gaza Truce Talks; Palestinian Toll Exceeds 1,000
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Craig Whitlock - January 15, 2009 - 1:00am

Diplomats said Wednesday they were closer to bringing about a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, but fighting in the coastal territory persisted as the Palestinian death toll in the 19-day war passed 1,000.

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A big shudder on the wing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) January 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Around two weeks after the start of fighting in Gaza, there are only vague reports on Israel's success in damaging Hamas' terrorist infrastructure. On the other hand, statistics on the harm done to civilians accumulate. More than 800 Palestinians have been killed and around 3,000 have been wounded, an overwhelming majority of them from air strikes. According to UN figures, half of those killed are civilians, and half of the civilians killed are women and children.

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Israeli forces pound targets, draw near Gaza City
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak, Josef Federman - January 10, 2009 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces pounded dozens of targets and edged closer to Gaza City on Saturday while southern Israel came under renewed rocket fire after one of its quietest nights in the two-week offensive against Hamas. In the day's bloodiest incident, an Israeli tank shell landed outside a home in the northern Gaza town of Jebaliya, killing nine people as they sat outside in their garden. Separately, a woman was killed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern town of Rafah.

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Arab media portray Palestinians as courageous victims
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Jeffrey Fleishman, Raed Rafei - January 8, 2009 - 1:00am

Face splotched in blood, eyes closed, mouth aslant, the child seems to be slumbering, but she is dead. The only part of her you see is her head tilting in ash and rubble above the caption, "A day of massacres in Gaza."

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Israel destroys Hamas homes, flattens Gaza mosque
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
January 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel destroyed the homes of more than a dozen Hamas operatives and bombed one of its mosques on Friday, the seventh day of a blistering offensive in Gaza and the day after a deadly strike killed a prominent Hamas figure. In what appeared to be a new Israeli tactic, the military called at least some of the houses ahead of time to warn inhabitants of an impending attack. In some cases, it also fired a sound bomb to warn away civilians before flattening the homes with powerful missiles, Palestinians and Israeli defense officials said.

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Civilians suffer as missiles fly in Gaza and Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux, Ahmed Burai - December 30, 2008 - 1:00am

Reporting from Ashkelon, Israel, and Jabaliya Refugee Camp, Gaza Strip -- Pierced by an Israeli missile, the mosque exploded at 1 in the morning, crushing the Balousha family's flimsy metal roof next door. Anwar Balousha awoke on the floor, covered by rubble, and heard moans from the bedroom next to his. Neighbors crawled over a collapsed wall and pulled him, his wife and four of their nine children to safety.

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At Arafat memorial rally, Abbas blames Hamas for continued rift
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
November 10, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday blamed political rival Hamas for another failed reconciliation attempt. Abbas spoke during a rally marking the fourth anniversary of the death of his predecessor Yasser Arafat. Over the weekend, Hamas pulled out of planned reconciliation talks at the last minute. It demanded that Abbas first release Hamas prisoners in the West Bank.

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Under Pressure, Abbas Says He’ll Talk Peace, But Actual Dialogue May Be Remote
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper, Isabel Kershner - March 6, 2008 - 7:20pm

After coming under heavy pressure from the United States, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said Wednesday that he intended to resume negotiations with Israel on a peace plan. But he did not say when he would return to talks, and he is under political pressure at home not to do so if the Palestinian death toll continues to rise from Israeli attacks on Gaza.

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Abbas Calls For Middle East Truce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
March 4, 2008 - 6:30pm

After meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Ramallah, he urged Israel to "halt its aggression so the necessary environment can be created" Mr Abbas suspended the talks in protest at Israel's offensive in Gaza, in which more than 110 Palestinians have died. Ms Rice insisted she still believed a peace deal could be achieved this year. Before flying to the West Bank, Ms Rice held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo and other senior government officials.

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Rice Concerned About Gaza Civilians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
February 28, 2008 - 4:40pm

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice voiced concern on Thursday about Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, but stopped short of an explicit call for Israel to exercise restraint. A surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence along the border of Gaza has raised fears of a full-scale conflict amid public pressure on Israeli President Ehud Olmert for tougher military action to deal with rocket attacks by Islamic group Hamas.

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