Hamas | The American Task Force on Palestine

Hamas planning to resume efforts against IDF in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Blog) March 11, 2011 - 1:00am

Hamas militants in the West Bank have resumed their efforts to kill Israeli soldiers or civilians and abduct their bodies, Palestinian and Israeli security sources have told Haaretz. The sources said Hamas activists believe they cannot keep Israeli hostages out of the Shin Bet and Palestinian Authority's reach for long. So they plan to kill them, abduct and bury the bodies, then negotiate returning them to Israel.

Rival factions snub Hamas unity offer
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal al-Mughrabi - March 10, 2011 - 1:00am

Hamas has presented what it described as a new Palestinian unity initiative, a move widely seen as an attempt to pre-empt any public pressure for change in the territory it runs while revolt flares in the Arab world. The proposal, raised with several factions at a meeting late on Wednesday, called for a unified leadership to handle Palestinian affairs until the Palestine Liberation Organisation is restructured to include Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group.

Gaza Strip's Hamas leader reshuffles Cabinet
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 10, 2011 - 1:00am

The Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip reshuffled his Cabinet on Thursday, naming the first foreign minister for the isolated militant-run Palestinian territory. Hamas said Ismail Haniyeh's move was unrelated to the unrest rocking the Arab region, but it is likely to be seen as an effort by the hard-line movement to convey a more open image to the outside world. For the first time since the group's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, there is a Hamas foreign minister. Haniyeh appointed Mohammed Awad to the post. Awad will also keep his job as planning minister.

Hamas: Gazans will turn Knesset into Tahrir Square
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 8, 2011 - 1:00am

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar told an audience in Sudan on Monday that the people of Gaza would triumph over the Israeli occupation and "raise the banner of Islam" over Jerusalem. Speaking at the eighth conference of the Iran-funded International Institute for Jerusalem, Zahhar said his party would "not quit until the banner of one God is raised over the occupied Islamic lands and injustice is lifted," a Hamas-linked website said.

Hamas Draws Fire from NGO, Journalists for Media Crackdown
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by David Miller, Arieh O'Sullivan - March 8, 2011 - 1:00am

Even as the Palestinian Authority launched a campaign to have Hamas removed from international lists of terror organizations, journalists and a human rights group are accusing the Islamic movement of harassing journalists and restricting books and newspapers in the Gaza Strip. Human Rights Watch, a New York-based non-governmental organization, on Monday urged Hamas to immediately lift any book ban and also to stop barring newspapers that support Fatah, a rival movement which leads the Palestinian Authority (PA), from being distributed in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza: Hamas Takes $500,000 From Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 3, 2011 - 1:00am

All banks in the Gaza Strip temporarily shut down on Thursday after men affiliated with the ruling group Hamas forced a local branch to cash some $500,000 in checks. Gaza bankers said Hamas sent the police to confiscate the money from a branch of the Palestine Investment Bank. They said the police were accompanied by members of a committee Hamas had appointed in 2009 to oversee the Palestine Investment Fund, which is run by the rival Palestinian government in the West Bank.

Gaza banks shut down after Hamas confiscation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - March 3, 2011 - 1:00am

All banks in the Gaza Strip temporarily shut down on Thursday after Hamas-affiliated men forced a local branch to cash some $500,000 in checks. Gaza bankers said the ruling Hamas militant group sent police to confiscate the money from a branch of the Palestine Investment Bank. They said the police were accompanied by members of a committee Hamas had appointed in 2009 to oversee the Palestine Investment Fund, which is run by the rival Palestinian government in the West Bank.

Salaam Fayyad offers 'pragmatic' olive branch to Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - March 1, 2011 - 1:00am

If nothing else, Salaam Fayyad is reasonable, a trait that befits a man who is a trained economist and has spent more of his life in academia than politics. Which is why after more than four years of bitter infighting between Hamas and Fatah, the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority last month invited the Gaza Strip's Islamist rulers to join a national unity government.

Hamas govt urges children not to study Holocaust
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 1, 2011 - 1:00am

Gaza government officials on Tuesday urged school children to leave classrooms if human rights lessons included information about the Holocaust. The Hamas-led government said it would do everything it could to prevent children being taught about the Holocaust in UNRWA schools in the Gaza Strip. It accused the UN agency of overstepping its humanitarian and relief role. UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness explained that human rights education has been part of the agency's curriculum in schools across the region since 2002. In Gaza, the agency runs 228 schools, educating over 200,000 children.

PA: Israel assassination probe 'making excuses for murder'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 28, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority on Monday slammed an Israeli investigation which found the killing of 13 civilians in Gaza during an assassination was not a disciplinary offense. In July 2002, Israeli forces dropped a one-ton bomb on the Gaza City home of Hamas leader Salah Shehadeh, killing 13 civilians including his wife, daughter and eight other children. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appointed a committee of military generals to probe the killings after a rights group petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court demanding an investigation.

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