ANALYSIS-In Gaza, Hamas may have weathered worst of storm
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Tom Perry - (Analysis) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

The worst could be over for Hamas whose rule in Gaza has survived three years of economic blockade and a full-scale Israeli military onslaught. The Islamist group is starting to see cracks in Israeli and Western policies that have made governing Gaza no easy task. Hamas still faces Israeli hostility and international sanctions, and is hated by its Palestinian opponents, foremost among them the Fatah movement which controls the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. For Hamas, the feeling is mutual.

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Hamas chief wants Egypt to host meeting with Fatah leaders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

The Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal wrote a letter to Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, telling him he is ready to meet leaders from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party in Cairo, a Hamas official said Thursday. Mashaal sent his letter with an Egyptian lawmaker Mustafa Bakri when he met him in Damascus Tuesday, Yousef Rizka, an adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haneya, told Xinhua.

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Hamas arrests alleged collaborators with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - July 7, 2010 - 12:00am

The militant Hamas group launched a campaign to arrest suspected collaborators with Israel in the Gaza Strip, detaining five in overnight raids, a Hamas security official said Wednesday. The raids began after a two-month amnesty for collaborators expired and just three months after two collaborators were executed. Collaboration is viewed as an especially egregious offense in Palestinian society. The Hamas official said suspects would go to trial, adding, "We are not going to show any mercy to those involved in spying on our people."

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Better late than never
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Yossi Alpher - (Opinion) June 30, 2010 - 12:00am

The Israeli government decision to end its three-year blockade of civilian goods entering the Gaza Strip is a welcome move. Sadly, it came about a year too late, and its timing and circumstances benefited the wrong parties. That's because the Netanyahu government (in all fairness, like many of its predecessors) seems to do the right thing only under heavy pressure.

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Hamas is a threat to the Palestinian cause
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Richard Cohen - (Opinion) June 29, 2010 - 12:00am

It's a pity that Israel, while substantially loosening its grip on Gaza, will continue to enforce a blockade when, with just a little imagination, it could insist on a deal with the activists once again steaming its way: You can proceed to Gaza if, once you get there, you demand that Hamas cease the persecution of women, institute freedom of religion, halt the continuing rocketing of Israel, release an Israeli hostage, ban torture and rescind an official charter that could have made soothing bedtime reading for Adolf Hitler. This may take some time.

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MESS Report / Hamas doesn't have Gazans' best interests at heart
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Blog) June 29, 2010 - 12:00am

This story will probably not receive much coverage by the international media. This story is not a matter of black and white, "David versus Goliath" – there aren’t bad Israelis versus good Palestinians. What there is, however, is more proof that the Hamas government doesn’t really have the Gaza residents' best interests at heart, while the Palestinian Authority too cares more about money than Gazans' interests.

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Gaza banks to close following forced cash withdrawal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Monetary Authority and the Banking Association in Gaza made a joint call to close all financial institutions at 11am on Monday, in anger over a forced withdrawal by Hamas police the day before. The statement said Gaza government police had stolen cash from the Bank of Palestine, though Gaza leaders said the withdrawal was based on a local court ruling, overturning the PMA decision to freeze the accounts of a local charity.

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Militants set fire to U.N. summer camp in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Mohammed Assadi - June 28, 2010 - 12:00am

Masked Palestinian gunmen set fire to a U.N.-run summer camp in Gaza on Monday, officials and witnesses said, the second time in recent weeks that militants have attacked a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) children's camp in the Hamas-controlled territory. About 25 militants stormed the recreation facility and assaulted security guards before setting the building on fire, U.N. spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said. In May, gunmen set a building on fire after accusing the United Nations of promoting immorality in the Islamist-ruled enclave.

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Family of Captured Israeli Soldier Press for Deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Dina Kraft - June 27, 2010 - 12:00am

The family of Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who has been held captive by Hamas in Gaza for four years, began a march to Jerusalem on Sunday aimed at pressing the government to make a deal for the soldier’s release. “We won’t wait any longer in our home,” said Noam Shalit, the soldier’s father, as the march began. He said Israel’s leaders “have to put an end to this sad saga.” The march began two days after the fourth anniversary of Sergeant Shalit’s capture and a week after Israel relaxed a blockade against Gaza that had been imposed in part to press for his release.

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Israeli President Shimon Peres: U.S. and other powers must engage Hamas on peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Janine Zacharia - June 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's president and elder statesman, Shimon Peres, urged the United States and other world powers this week to engage with Hamas in order to persuade the Islamist group to renounce violence and prepare for peace with Israel.

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