Hamas: PA cabinet shuffle 'superficial'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 15, 2011 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Authority cabinet shuffle is a "superficial change with no hint of reform," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Monday. PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad handed his cabinet's resignation letter to President Mahmoud Abbas following an early morning cabinet meeting Monday. Barhoum said the move was a weak attempt to legitimize upcoming elections in the West Bank.

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Democracy Is Coming Again to Palestine -- Hamas Permitting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by David Miller - February 13, 2011 - 1:00am

More than five years after the Hamas movement was swept into power in an upset election victory, the Palestinians will going back to the polls again – or not. The Palestinian Authority (PA) said last week it planned to hold municipal elections this summer and on Saturday announced that it would also conduct voting for president and parliament by September. But Hamas immediately said it would refuse to participate, a stance experts said precludes the prospect of elections for now.

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Hamas militant escapes from Egypt prison, arrives in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, announced on Saturday that one of its militants managed to escape from an Egyptian prison and arrived at his home in Gaza. The movement said in a leaflet emailed to reporters that Ayman Noofal, who has been in an Egyptian prison for three years had managed to flee and had arrived at his home in Gaza on Saturday evening. "Ayman Noofal kissed the soil of Gaza after being kidnapped in the Egyptian prisons for three years," said Hamas statement.

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4 mortars hit south; car damaged
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Shumlik Hadad - February 7, 2011 - 1:00am

The Color Red rocket alert system was sounded Tuesday morning in Gaza vicinity communities, followed by a loud blast caused by a mortar shell which exploded in a parking lot in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. The mortar shell, fired from the northern Gaza Strip, damaged one car. A second mortar landed in a nearby field and damaged a hose. There were no reports of injuries. About three hours later, the Color Red alert system was activated once again and two more explosions were heard in the area. There were no reports of injuries.

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Fatah official calls for revolt in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Major General Tawfiq At-Tirawi, former director of the PA general intelligence and Fatah Central Committee member called Wednesday in a statement for the people of Gaza to rise up in revolt against the Hamas government. The people of Gaza, he said, should take their cue from Egypt and call for the end of the "dictatorship that restricts their freedoms." At-Tirawi's statement is widely believed to be a response to the new group on the social networking site Facebook, Preparation for the Dignity Revolution, which calls for a mass rally in Gaza City on 11 February.

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What Egypt's unrest could mean for Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

As Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's grip on power slipped this week, Israelis and Palestinians are sizing up what a change in government in Cairo may mean for the Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority officials fear the empowerment of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt might prompt Cairo to ease access to Gaza, and help Hamas consolidate its rule there.

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Palestinians argue over elections as reconciliation efforts stuck
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly - February 3, 2011 - 1:00am

Leaders of various Palestinian political factions argued on Thursday over when to hold new presidential and legislative elections on the Palestinian territories, as efforts to achieve a reconciliation between rival Fatah and Hamas had been stalled for more than three years.

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Police in Gaza break up Egypt solidarity rally
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Police in the Gaza Strip shut down a demonstration Monday in support of the uprising in Egypt. Activists said six women and eight men were arrested at a park in Gaza City, where a few dozen demonstrators had gathered. The women were released after a few hours. It was not immediately clear when the men were freed because they were separated, one of the protesters said. Asmaa Al-Ghoul, a Gaza-based journalist and writer, was among those detained.

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Hamas worried upheaval in Arab world will spill into Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - February 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Gaza police disperse rally showing solidarity with Egyptian protesters; several thousand join Facebook group calling for a protest against Hamas rule in the Strip. Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip are concerned about the effects of the upheaval in the Arab world, as Facebook messages call on Gaza residents to demonstrate against Hamas rule on Friday.

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Hamas rejects local elections under division
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Wang Guanqun - February 2, 2011 - 1:00am

Islamic Hamas movement on Wednesday said it boycotts any local elections as long as split in the Palestinian territories remains in place. A statement by Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, rejected the West Bank-based government's announcement that municipal elections would be held in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Moreover, the statement described the government, led by Salam Fayyad, as "illegal," adding that the elections "will be null and their results unrecognized if they were held without agreement and under the split."

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