Suspects of torching UN summer camp detained: Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas authorities arrested a number of people suspected of torching a UN-run summer camp in Gaza City earlier this week, the interior ministry of deposed Hamas government announced Tuesday. The suspects are being interrogated, a statement sent to reporters by the ministry said. There has been no more information about the number of the detainees or the group they are affiliated to. Ihab Al-Ghussein, the ministry's spokesman, told Xinhua that he can't reveal more before the questioning is over.

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Hamas faces dilemma on way to reconciliation, talks with Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Fares Akram - May 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Unlike its Islamic rivals who control Gaza, the West Bank-based Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has settled on the U.S.-proposed indirect peace negotiations with Israel in parallel with adopting non-violent resistance against Jewish settlement activities. In Gaza, Hamas, which took over the coastal enclave by force in 2007, has been maintaining a ceasefire with Israel since the end of Gaza war last year; neither allowing other factions to fire rockets into Israel nor encouraging peaceful demonstrations against Israel's attempts to enforce a buffer zone along its borders with Gaza.

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Gaza aid agencies urge Israel to ease Gaza access restriction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
May 25, 2010 - 12:00am

Humanitarian aid agencies urged on Monday the Israeli government to ensure full and unfettered access into and out of the Gaza Strip for materials and exports necessary for the revival of the agriculture and fishing sectors in Gaza. "Maintaining agricultural livelihood and local food production in Gaza depend on the opening of border crossings," Philippe Lazzarini, UN acting humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, told a news conference in Gaza on behalf of several humanitarian aid agencies.

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Harsh jail rules for Hamas prisoners threaten riots, Israel warned
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - May 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas officials yesterday warned that new legislation before the Israeli parliament that seeks to worsen conditions for Hamas prisoners detained in Israeli jails could spark prison riots that might spill over into the streets. Human rights organisations also condemned the legislation, which cleared a major hurdle on Sunday when it passed a ministerial committee and received the support of the Israeli government.

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Transcript: Shimon Peres
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Wall Street Journal
(Interview) May 24, 2010 - 12:00am

In an exclusive interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Peres said Israel's survival as a Jewish state depended on its ability to conclude a two-state peace deal with the Palestinians. Below is an edited transcript. The Wall Street Journal: Where should we begin?

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Australia expels Israeli diplomat over Mabhouh hit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
May 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Australia has expelled an Israeli diplomat after a probe revealed Israel was behind the forging of four Australian passports linked to the murder of a Hamas operative in Dubai, various media outlets reported Monday. Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told parliament that Israel's conduct was "not the actions of a friend," the British Broadcasting Corporation reported.

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Hamas: We caught Egyptian spy in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ali Waked - May 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas' Interior Minister Fathi Hamad on Monday revealed that security forces recently arrested a senior Egyptian officer that infiltrated into the Gaza Strip in order to collect information on its residents and the Hamas government. Hamad added that the officer "was intending to perform other tasks," on which he did not elaborate.

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Babylon & Beyond
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Maher Abukhater - May 24, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas announced Monday its decision to boycott the municipal elections slated for the West Bank on July 17, citing the fact that holding elections at this time will only increase the Palestinian division. The Palestinian faction, which controls the Gaza Strip, also said that arrests and harassment of its West Bank members does not make it possible for it to participate in the elections.

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No Worries, Israel Insists, Defense Drill Is Just a Drill
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - May 23, 2010 - 12:00am

As Israel embarked on a large-scale civil defense exercise on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to reassure Israelis and some jittery Arab neighbors that the nationwide drill was not meant to signal a deterioration in security or an imminent war. “This is a routine exercise that has been scheduled for some time,” Mr. Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. “I would like to make it clear that it is not the result of any exceptional security development. On the contrary, Israel aspires towards calm, stability and peace.”

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Gaza assailants vandalize UN summer camp
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman
by Rizek Abdel Jawad - May 23, 2010 - 12:00am

Armed assailants in black masks burned and vandalized a U.N. summer camp site Sunday and left behind three bullets next to written death threats against U.N. officials — the latest escalation of tensions between Islamic extremists and U.N. representatives in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Also Sunday, a U.N. agency reported that three-quarters of the damage inflicted on Gaza by Israel's war against Hamas more than a year ago has not been repaired or rebuilt. The report warned that the international community is being increasingly sidelined in Gaza because of Israel's blockade of the territory.

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