Israel counted food needs in Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - October 17, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military calculated the number of calories Gaza's residents would need to consume to avoid malnutrition during a sweeping blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory between 2007 and mid-2010, according to a document the Defense Ministry released under a court order. Critics claim the document is evidence that Israel limited food supplies in order to put pressure on Hamas, the violently anti-Israel militant group that seized power in the coastal strip in mid-2007.

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PA workers to strike over unpaid salaries
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 17, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- The Palestinian Authority's public workers union has called for full strike Wednesday and Thursday and again next week in protest of the government's failure to pay salaries. The head of the union, Bassam Zakarneh, said Tuesday that the Palestinian Authority was allowing the United States and Israel's pressure over the UN bid to affect the Palestinian people.

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Palestinians plan protest to halt Shadma development
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - October 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinians on Sunday held the first of what they hope will be weekly protests meant to halt any attempt by settlers to develop a small Gush Etzion hilltop, known to Israeli as Shadma and to Palestinians as Oush Ghrab. Several dozen Palestinians holding flags and signs stood in the parking lot behind the hill, which is sandwiched between the Palestinian village of Beit Sahur and the Nokdim road.

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New iPhones snapped up in Gaza despite high prices, poverty
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
October 15, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Reuters) -- Apple's new iPhone 5 is selling well in the Gaza Strip despite inflated prices, reaching the enclave via smuggling tunnels even before high-tech hub Israel next door. The cutting edge smart phone is being snapped up for almost double what it costs in the United States, its price jacked up by middlemen on its circuitous delivery route from Dubai via tunnels linking the blockaded territory with Egypt.

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Salafis' rise in Gaza robs Hamas of resistance banner
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - October 15, 2012 - 12:00am

Tel Aviv Israel and Hamas are seeking to restore the relative calm that has prevailed for months after a weekend flare-up in fighting between Israel and Gaza that left at least five Palestinians dead. 

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Gaza's precious space and the cost of real estate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Jon Donnison - October 11, 2012 - 12:00am

On a horse and cart winding his way through his olive grove, sun-kissed in the early evening autumn sunshine, I meet Hamed Talba. A policeman by trade, Hamed has recently become a man of the land. He's not really cut out as a farmer, striking something of an urbane figure. But this was an investment and it has proved very lucrative. "I bought this plot for $90,000 (£56,000) in 2010," he tells me as he shows me round his land on the outskirts of Gaza City.

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West Bank cash crisis as donors fail to pay
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Matthew Kalman - October 10, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority, facing a major cash crisis, has warned 150,000 employees it does not know when they will receive their September salaries.

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Palestinians set first private sector minimum wage
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
October 9, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories — The Palestinian government on Tuesday approved a minimum wage of 1,450 shekels ($376, 290 euros) a month for the private sector, labour minister Ahmed Majdalani said. "This is an unprecedented decision... on which we can build," Majdalani told AFP, dismissing criticism that the rate was to low.

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Israel, Palestinians cooperate on Gaza Internet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - October 4, 2012 - 12:00am

For two days hostilities ceased along a half kilometer stretch of the Gaza fence as Israelis and Palestinians jointly toiled to provide the strip with its first high speed internet service. It will take another two weeks for the service to be up and running, said Maj. Adam Avidan who heads the foreign relations department for the Israeli Coordination and Liaison Administration to the Gaza Strip. “It will allow Gazans to connect to the world, and hopefully to peace,” he said.

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Qatar invites bids to reconstruct Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 3, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Qatari government on Tuesday invited tenders for four construction projects, in the first stage of a $254 million project to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip. Qatar's ambassador to Gaza Muhammad al-Imadi is heading a committee overseeing the work. Consultants have been invited to submit designs for a city to be named after Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa al-Thani.

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