PA Employees in Gaza Key to Reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Omar Shaban - (Editorial) February 11, 2013 - 1:00am

In response to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, the Palestinian Authority (PA) took several measures, all of which — according to their claims — aimed to render the Hamas government’s task of running the Gaza Strip impossible, and to push it to quickly be exposed and collapse.

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Official: Abbas to convene PLO reform summit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
(Analysis) January 31, 2013 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- An independent politician said Thursday that President Abbas will convene a summit of the PLO reform committee next Friday in Cairo. The leadership of Hamas and Islamic Jihad will participate in the summit along with other parties, Yasser al-Wadiyeh, head of a coalition of independents, he said. The committee to restructure the PLO was formed in the wake of a May 2011 reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas that was never implemented.

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New Class of Palestinians Get Rich On Gaza Tunnel Trade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Omar Shaban - (Opinion) January 28, 2013 - 1:00am

One of the challenges for reconciliation between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) is to reaccommodate 55,000 PA employees — who had been asked to refuse to work with the Hamas government — in the Gaza Strip.  Another important challenge is how to assimilate hundreds of newly rich Palestinians who have amassed vast fortunes from illegal trade as well as legal economic activities, and re-incorporate hundreds who had halted economic activity because of the blockade. The tunnels are not new

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Gaza government to rebuild ministries, headquarters
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 13, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The government in Gaza will start rebuilding ministries and headquarters destroyed in Israel's 8-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the cabinet said Wednesday. A ministerial committee has been appointed to survey the damage and assess reconstruction needs, cabinet secretary-general Abdul-Salam Siyam said. Offices of ministries destroyed in the war have been moved to apartments and other buildings to continue providing services to citizens, Siyam said in a statement.

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Truce brings extra gleam to Gaza marketplace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal al-Mughrabi - December 13, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The horizon of the claustrophobic Gaza Strip stretches further out to sea after a bloody eight-day battle last month and its main market gleams with extra supplies of locally-caught fish. In a low-key move it has yet to acknowledge, Israel moved a naval blockade it imposed in 2009 back to six miles (10 km) from the Palestinian enclave's coast from three on Nov 23, two days after signing an Egypt-brokered truce with Gaza's Hamas rulers.

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Gaza's tunnels rebound from Israeli offensive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mohammed Daraghmeh - December 12, 2012 - 1:00am

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Rafah's biggest industry is back in business: Gazans are rebuilding the network of underground smuggling tunnels crisscrossing the Egyptian border that were pummeled in a recent Israeli offensive, restoring the illicit conduit for consumer goods and weapons so crucial to Hamas rule.

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Israel to withhold Palestinian funds until March, at least
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
December 12, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israel will withhold tax revenues from President Mahmoud Abbas's administration until March at least in response to his statehood campaign at the United Nations, Israel's foreign minister said. Under interim peace deals, Israel collects some $100 million a month in duties on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank -- money that is badly needed to pay public sector salaries.

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Hamas is failing its responsibility to Palestinians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
(Editorial) December 9, 2012 - 1:00am

By the time Khaled Meshaal dropped to his knees and kissed the ground in Gaza on Friday morning, the damage had already been done. Declaring himself a martyr-in-waiting, Mr Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, confirmed what many already knew: violence is the group's only vision for the future.

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Israel takes a harder line
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Los Angeles Times
(Editorial) December 4, 2012 - 1:00am

When Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would seek recognition from the United Nations for a Palestinian state, Israel complained that Abbas should have pursued that objective in face-to-face peace negotiations and warned of grave consequences, threatening to expand

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Throwing Gaza's fishermen a lifeline
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Abeer Ayyoub - December 3, 2012 - 1:00am

Sardines, shrimps, guitarfish and crabs were on display throughout the crowded fish market overlooking the Gaza seaport. "Local and fresh," a man hollered, before being interrupted by a customer asking about shrimp.

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