IDF war games predict look of Gaza ground operation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Uri Blau - December 30, 2008 - 1:00am

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi believes that any occupation of Gaza by the army must end as soon as possible, according to an officer who participated in discussions and war games related to such an operation. At the same time, however, Ashkenazi fears that if the operation ends too quickly, the IDF will only have to go back into the Gaza Strip later. The officer added that Ashkenazi seeks to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians, but recognizes that this cannot be prevented completely.

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Gaza Toll Hits 300 in 3rd Day of Israel Strikes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Taghreed El-Khodary, Isabel Kershner - December 29, 2008 - 1:00am

GAZA — In a third straight day of deadly air strikes against the emblems and institutions of Hamas on Monday, Israeli warplanes pounded targets in Gaza including the Interior Ministry while the Israeli Army declared areas around the beleaguered enclave a “closed military zone.” The attacks brought the death toll in Gaza to more than 300, according to Palestinian medical officials.

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Israel says Gaza assault 'war to the bitter end'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Matti Friedman - December 29, 2008 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel obliterated symbols of Hamas power on the third day of what the defense minister described Monday as a "war to the bitter end," striking next to the Hamas premier's home, and devastating a security compound and a university building.

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Food and Medical Supplies Grow Scarce in the Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Islam Abdel Kareem, Sudarsan Raghavan - December 29, 2008 - 1:00am

NIR AM, Israel -- The family of Um Shadi al-Bardaweel did not sleep. The Israeli airstrikes and the explosions, the sirens and the screams of strangers outside their house near the Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip kept them awake into the predawn hours Sunday. At the first light of dawn, the mother of five sent her son to the bakery to buy bread. Hundreds of Palestinians had the same idea, joining a never-ending line. "There's no food in the market," Bardaweel explained in an interview with a reporter. Her son did not return until nightfall.

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Palestine's Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Mustafa Barghouthi - December 29, 2008 - 1:00am

Palestine's Guernica and the Myths of Israeli Victimhood The Israeli campaign of 'death from above' began around 11 am, on Saturday morning, the 27th of December, and stretched straight through the night into this morning. The massacre continues Sunday as I write these words.

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Israeli Attacks in Gaza Strip Continue for Second Day
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Taghreed El-Khodary - December 28, 2008 - 1:00am

GAZA — Israeli airstrikes against Hamas facilities in Gaza continued for a second day on Sunday and the death toll rose to more than 280 as Israel retaliated for rocket fire from the area with its most severe campaign against Palestinian militants in decades. The Palestinian groups again launched barrages of rockets and mortars into Israel on Sunday, extending their reach further than ever before, and the Israeli government approved the emergency call up of thousands of army reservists in preparation for a possible ground operation.

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Israel Strikes Gaza Day After Truce Expires
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
December 20, 2008 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- An Israeli airstrike against a Palestinian rocket squad killed a militant Saturday, the first death in Gaza since Hamas formally declared an end to a six-month truce. Palestinians fired 10 rockets and at least 23 mortar shells from Gaza into Israel, causing some property damage but no casualties, the Israeli military said. An Israeli airstrike at one of the rocket squads in northern Gaza killed a militant, said the army and Palestinian medics.

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Hamas declares Israel truce over
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
December 19, 2008 - 1:00am

As the ceasefire expired at 0400 GMT, Hamas issued a statement blaming Israel which had not "respected" the truce. Israel's foreign ministry spokesman said the militants, who control Gaza, "had chosen violence over truth". The Egyptian-brokered deal began on 19 June but has been tested regularly by Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel and Israeli operations in Gaza. Hours after the announcement, Palestinian television carried pictures of militants conducting exercises.

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Gaza militants launch more retaliatory strikes on Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
December 18, 2008 - 1:00am

Gaza fighters on Wednesday continued their retaliation for the killing of a member of a Palestinian resistance group on Monday, firing rockets into the Zionist state. Two people received shrapnel wounds and three cars were damaged as one of 15 rockets fired at southern Israel struck outside a supermarket in the city of Sderot, the army said. Israeli forces immediately launched an air strike in northern Gaza, hitting a rocket launcher that was about to fire, a military spokeswoman said.

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Rockets hit Israel after killing of Islamic Jihad man
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
December 17, 2008 - 1:00am

Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza responded to the killing of one of their members by Israeli forces in the Occupied West Bank by firing rockets into Israel on Tuesday. The retaliation by Gaza-based fighters was met with an Israeli air strike on the impoverished territory later in the day.

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