PA urges Israel to hand over oxygen machines
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 21, 2010 - 12:00am

The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health appealed Wednesday to Israel to deliver seven oxygen machines donated by a Norwegian development agency that were seized by Israeli officials en route to hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza. Heath Minister Fathi Abu Moghli delivered a second letter of appeal to donor countries and organizations, calling for "urgent intervention" for the medical supplies to be delivered to hospitals in the occupied Palestinian territories.

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EU envoy urges Israel to open Gaza borders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
July 20, 2010 - 12:00am

Lady Ashton urged the international community to pressure Israel to end the blockade. She is the most senior Western official to go to Gaza since Israel partly eased curbs on goods entering the territory. Israel tightened its blockade in 2007 after the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of Gaza. Lady Ashton did not have any official meetings with Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls Gaza. Its authority is not recognised by the EU, Israel or the US, who describe it as a terrorist organisation.

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In diverting Libya aid ship, Israel implements lessons from Gaza flotilla raid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - July 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel ducked a sea clash with a Libyan-backed aid ship bound for Gaza with a combination of diplomacy and deterrence, applying some lessons from the fatal intercept of a Turkish ship that left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead and increased Israel's international isolation.

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Southern Gaza crossing to expand
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Among the goods brought into Gaza on Thursday, officials said, were pebble aggregates to be used for expanding the Kerem Shalom crossing facilities. The expansion comes in line with Israeli announcements that under the new terms of the siege on Gaza, crossings facilities would be upgraded.

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Trapped by Gaza Blockade, Locked in Despair
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Michael Slackman - July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

The women were bleary-eyed, their voices weak, their hands red and calloused. How could they be expected to cook and clean without water or electricity? What could they do in homes that were dark and hot all day? How could they cope with husbands who had not worked for years and children who were angry and aimless? Sitting with eight other women at a stress clinic, Jamalat Wadi, 28, tried to listen to the mental health worker. But she could not contain herself. She has eight children, and her unemployed husband spends his days on sedatives.

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Libyan Gaza-bound aid ship enters Egyptian port
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Yusri Mohamed - July 14, 2010 - 12:00am

A Libyan-chartered ship carrying aid for Palestinians reached an Egyptian port on Wednesday after altering its course following a warning from Israel's navy not to head to the blockaded Gaza Strip. An Egyptian official said the Moldovan-flagged Amalthea arrived in El Arish, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast about 45 km (27 miles) south of the border with Gaza, in mid-evening and would begin unloading cargo.

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Israel failed in ship interception planning-reports
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Ori Lewis - July 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel's military failed to prepare adequately for what turned into a deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, according to findings of a military inquiry quoted by the Israeli media on Monday. The official report into the May 31 incident, in which nine pro-Palestiniam Turkish activists were killed, was set to be released later in the day by a military commission led by Giora Eiland, a retired Israeli general.

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Libya's Qaddafi latest to challenge Israel's Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - July 12, 2010 - 12:00am

Six weeks after Israeli commandos killed nine pro-Palestinian activists to prevent a Turkish aid ship from reaching the Gaza Strip, tensions are on the rise as a Libyan-sponsored vessel sets out to challenge Israel's naval blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory. Backed by a charity headed by the son of Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi, the ship Amalthea is carrying a cargo of 2,000 tons of food. Organizers say the plan is to reach Gaza within the coming days.

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For peace to succeed
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
(Opinion) July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is in the US doing his best impression of a statesman. All it would take for peace to happen, he keeps on saying, is for the Palestinians to sit down across the table from him and talk directly.

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Israel's list of banned goods into Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 8, 2010 - 12:00am

Below is the official statement issued by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories on 6 July 2010 and a list of goods barred from entry into Gaza. Israel and the PA established joint-teams, as a part of the expansion of the land crossings' operation, and immediate steps were carried out in order to improve the efficiency of their operation. These include modifications of the infrastructure on both sides of the crossing, extending the operating hours of the crossings and augmenting the manpower.

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