Hamas leader accuses Israel of holding up Shalit deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff, Jack Khoury - November 25, 2009 - 1:00am

Prisoner swap talks between Hamas and Israel have hit a snag over some of the top militants the Islamic group wants freed in return for Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, and a deal is unlikely in the coming days, Hamas officials said Wednesday. Israel is objecting to some of the names put forward by Hamas, a senior official of the militant group familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. He said the German mediator shuttling between the sides has presented an alternative list of names provided by Israel, and Hamas leaders are studying it.

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Hamas leaders in Syria for '24 critical hours'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
November 25, 2009 - 1:00am

The next 24 hours will be critical in terms of the prisoner exchange deal with Israel, senior Hamas sources told Arab media on Wednesday morning. The organization's leaders, who left Cairo on Tuesday evening, are meeting in the offices of Hamas' political bureau in Damascus to decide whether to accept Jerusalem's latest offer.

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Two Hamas fighters killed in explosion
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 24, 2009 - 1:00am

Two Palestinian operatives affiliated to Hamas’ armed Al-Qassam Brigades were killed and four others injured in a home-explosion near the Karni border crossing with Israel on Tuesday, local sources reported. The home, in the Ash-Shuja’iyya neighborhood of Gaza City, was destroyed, though it was unclear what caused the explosion. The two killed were identified as Ahmad Abu Ghaniyya and Muhammad Nawati, according to the director of the ambulance and emergency services in Gaza, Muawiyah Hassanein.

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Abed Rabbo: Hamas would form pact with Satan
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 24, 2009 - 1:00am

Senior PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo assailed Hamas on Tuesday morning, accusing the group of plotting to “ally with the devil” in order to weaken the Palestinian Authority (PA). The criticism comes amid media reports that Hamas is poised to conclude a deal with Israel that would involve the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a soldier held by guerrillas in Gaza. Both Fatah and Hamas prisoners would be released.

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Prisoner Swap Deal Stalled Over One Detainee
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Saleh Al-Naeimi, Nazar Majli - November 24, 2009 - 1:00am

The prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel hinges upon one prisoner that Hamas insists is added to the hundreds of other Palestinian prisoners who will be released in exchange for the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Asharq Al Awsat has learned.

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Israel air strikes in Gaza: Will Hamas rocket truce hold?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Erin Cunningham - November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli warplanes carried out air strikes against targets across the Gaza Strip Sunday morning, just one day after Hamas announced it had reached an agreement with all Gaza-based militant factions to halt rocket fire into the Jewish state.

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Hamas at a Loss
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - (Opinion) November 23, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian President [Mahmoud Abbas] announced that Hamas secretly negotiated with Israel on the establishment of a provisional Palestinian State, until Mahmoud al-Zahar, a [senior] member of the Hamas Political Bureau denied this with a vehemence that we have become all too familiar with.

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Israel conducting secret talks with Hamas, Abbas says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
November 20, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that Israel is currently conducting secret negotiations with Hamas. In an interview with the BBC in Arabic, Abbas said that the talks between Israel and Hamas revolved around a Palestinian state with temporary borders. The Palestinian president reiterated his criticism against Israel, saying that Jerusalem wasn't truly interested in peace, adding that "Washington isn't pushing Israel enough to advance the peace process."

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Why is Hamas keeping a low profile in the West Bank?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Omran Risheq - (Opinion) November 17, 2009 - 1:00am

A question one hears frequently among Palestinians these days is why Hamas Movement, a group some view with suspicion and others with sympathy, has become nearly invisible in the West Bank. Certainly Hamas has suffered a series of security blows in the last few years. Israel arrested roughly a thousand Hamas members, including elected delegates of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), following the capture of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006.

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Hamas rejects PA’s UN move for statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News
by HIsham Abu Taha - November 17, 2009 - 1:00am

Hamas rejected Monday a Palestinian suggestion to seek UN Security Council support for unilaterally declaring a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Such a declaration would have no meaning and was merely an attempt by the rival Palestinian camp of President Mahmoud Abbas to pretend it had an alternative to faltering peace negotiations, other than armed struggle, said Hamas, which is ruling Gaza.

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