Hamas gov't says no rockets fired from Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
February 26, 2013 - 1:00am

Gaza's Hamas rulers denied Tuesday what they called "Israeli claims" that a rocket was fired into southern Israel. "No known party has claimed responsibility for firing the rocket and we are still following up on the matter," said Ihab Al- Ghussein, head of Hamas government media office.

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Hamas calls on resistance to capture Israeli soldiers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 25, 2013 - 1:00am

Senior Hamas leader Salah al-Bardawil on Sunday urged resistance fighters to kidnap Israeli soldiers at a rally to protest the death of a Palestinian in Israeli custody. Hamas organized two huge rallies in Khan Younis and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip to protest the death of 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat in Megiddo prison. Palestinian officials say an autopsy conducted in Israel showed Jaradat died of extreme torture.

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Hamas bans Fatah official from leaving Gaza: statement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 24, 2013 - 1:00am

Hamas security officers prevented an official from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party from leaving the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, Fatah said in a statement on Sunday. The move is part of finger-pointing between the rival groups over their failure to form a transitional unity government to achieve national reconciliation under the Egyptian-sponsored mediation efforts.

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Gaza court slashes jail term in Italian murder case
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
February 24, 2013 - 1:00am

A Palestinian military court in Gaza on Sunday cut by half the jail sentence of a man involved in the abduction and murder of Italian national Vittorio Arrigoni. An AFP reporter said the tribunal's judge accepted the appeal of former policeman Khadr Faruq Jerim, who last year was convicted of kidnapping Arrigoni, and cut his prison term from 10 to five years. Jerim's lawyer Mohammed Zaqut told AFP that "the conviction was adjusted from abduction for the purpose of murder to abduction for the purpose of holding captive."

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Poll: Large Majority of Palestinians Want Immediate Elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Palestine News Network
February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

A large majority of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank support holding immediate presidential and legislative elections, a new poll published Thursday said. The poll, by the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) and reported by WAFA, said 95% of Gaza residents and 82% of West Bank residents support the holding of immediate legislative and presidential elections.

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Fatah irate at reported indirect Israel-Hamas talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Khaled Abu Toameh - February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

Fatah officials expressed outrage on Wednesday over reports that Hamas and Israel are conducting indirect talks in Cairo. According to the reports, Israeli and Hamas officials who arrived in Cairo recently have been holding indirect talks about consolidating the current cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, which has been in effect since Operation Pillar of Defense ended in November.

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Gaza man self-immolates in government office
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 21, 2013 - 1:00am

A man set himself on fire at a government office in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, wounding himself and four others, witnesses and medics said. The man was seriously wounded after he self-immolated at an office for the Ministry of Social Affairs in Jabalia, witnesses told Ma'an. Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said four others were wounded in the incident, including two female staff members and an elderly man. The wounded were taken to Kamal Udwan Hospital and Shifa Hospital, al-Qidra said.


Tunnel Vision
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Issandr El Amrani - (Opinion) February 20, 2013 - 1:00am

The Egyptian military’s recent flooding of tunnels at the border between Egypt and Gaza is its most aggressive attempt yet to restrict smuggling since Israel imposed a blockade on the Palestinian territory in 2005. Sewage water is reportedly being used to weaken the tunnels’ structure, sometimes trapping smugglers inside.

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Morsi playing Israel’s, US’ game on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Michael Jansen - (Opinion) February 20, 2013 - 1:00am

It is becoming increasingly clear that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is colluding with Israel and the US to shut down the smuggling tunnels that link Gaza to Egypt and account for more than 30 per cent of the goods consumed in the besieged and blockaded coastal strip.

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To Block Gaza Tunnels, Egypt Lets Sewage Flow
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Fares Akram, David Kirkpatrick - February 20, 2013 - 1:00am

The Egyptian military is resorting to a pungent new tactic to shut down the smuggling tunnels connecting Sinai and Gaza: flooding them with sewage. Along with the stink, the approach is raising new questions about relations between Egypt’s new Islamist leaders and their ideological allies in Hamas who control the Gaza Strip.

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