Turkey May Indict Senior Israeli Officers Over Deadly Gaza Flotilla Raid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Rick Gladstone - May 23, 2012 - 12:00am

A prosecutor in Turkey has prepared indictments and recommended life sentences for four senior Israeli officers over the killing of nine activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla forcibly intercepted by Israeli commandos two years ago, Turkish news services reported Wednesday. The indictments, which have not been formally approved by the Turkish judiciary, could further strain relations between Turkey and Israel, which were once close but which deteriorated badly after the flotilla raid on May 31, 2010.

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UN Rights Office Says Gaza Death Sentences Unlawful, Urges Hamas to Halt Planned Firing Squad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
April 20, 2012 - 12:00am

GENEVA — The U.N.’s human rights office says three men recently sentenced to death in the Palestinian territory of Gaza were executed unlawfully. A spokesman for U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says the men didn’t have regular access to lawyers and were tried by a military court despite being civilians. Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva that the death sentences carried out by hanging April 7 also weren’t approved by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as required by law.

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3 Gaza children burned to death due to energy crisis, Hamas blames Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly - April 3, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement on Monday held Israel responsible for the death of three children from central Gaza Strip, who were burned to death on Sunday night, when a candle ignited their room as they were sleeping amid a severe crisis of electricity and fuel in the coastal enclave. Ismail Haneya, the deposed premier of Hamas rule in the enclave, who participated in the funeral of the three children from the town of Deir el-Ballah, told reporters that Israel, which keeps a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip, is responsible in the first place for the tragedy.

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Red Cross delivers fuel to Gaza hospitals
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
April 2, 2012 - 12:00am

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it has begun distributing emergency fuel supplies to hospitals in the Gaza Strip. The 150,000 litres (33,000 gallons) of diesel would help 13 public hospitals maintain essential health services for the next 10 days, the ICRC said. Immediate action had to be taken to prevent further deterioration of the fuel and electricity crisis, it added. Gaza's only power plant closed eight days ago because of a lack of fuel.

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A country of walls: an interview with Talal Okal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
(Interview) March 29, 2012 - 12:00am

BI: What do the conditions in the Sinai peninsula have to do with you and others in the Gaza Strip? Okal: The border that separates Sinai in Egypt and the Gaza Strip is the only border that is open for our use. The town of Rafah [where the main crossing is located] is actually split across the border between the two sides and many of Egyptian Rafah's residents are relatives of those who live on the Gaza side of the town. The connections there are extensive. Moreover, the tunnel network operating out of Gaza opens onto the Sinai.

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Hamas holds dozens of drivers in Gaza power crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - March 26, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Police in Hamas-ruled Gaza have detained dozens of taxi drivers for allegedly spreading "rumors" about the territory's worst power crisis in years, officials said Monday, The detentions, which began over the weekend, signaled that the Islamic militant Hamas is increasingly concerned about the political fallout from crippling shortages of fuel and electricity. Authorities did not explain what got the drivers in trouble, beyond saying the "rumors" had to do with the energy crisis.

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Gazans blame Hamas for energy crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Elior Levy - March 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Social justice? The recent energy crisis in Gaza has enraged many of the Strip's residents, who are now launching a new campaign on Facebook, calling to hold a general strike on Thursday. The campaign organizers are calling on all drivers, business owners, schools and universities to strike as an act of protest in the face of a growing rift between Gaza and the West Bank, and the deepening electricity and fuel crisis.

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Small Amounts of Israeli Fuel Entering Gaza, Only Barely Easing Power Crisis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
March 23, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Small amounts of Israeli fuel were trucked into the Gaza Strip on Friday, slightly easing an energy crisis provoked by a cut-off of Egyptian fuel, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. The shipment however did not meet Gaza’s total energy needs for even one day, one official said, and the territory still lacks a reliable fuel supply. Gaza’s fuel pinch highlights the difficulties its cash-strapped, internationally isolated Hamas rulers face in administering the territory.

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Egypt's rulers resist Muslim Brotherhood's push to open Gaza border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
March 21, 2012 - 12:00am

The Muslim Brotherhood aims to open the Egyptian border with Gaza to commerce, a shift that would transform life for Palestinians there but which is hitting resistance from Egyptian authorities reluctant to change a longstanding policy. The biggest party in Egypt's new parliament, the Islamists are not yet in government but have been seeking ways to ease the impact of restrictions imposed by Israel and Egypt on what passes in and out of the territory run by Hamas, an ideological offshoot of the Brotherhood.

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Israel lets aid into Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yoav Zitun - March 13, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel’s Ministry of Defense has decided to leave border crossings between Gaza and Israel open despite ongoing rocket attacks, in order to allow a flow of goods and aid delivered from Israel to the people of Gaza. Following the decision, the Kerem Shalom crossing remained open on Monday even though three mortar shells fired from the Gaza Strip landed on the Palestinian side of the crossing. During the latest round of fighting in the Gaza region, approximately 50 rockets aimed at Israel landed in Palestinian territory.

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