Israel threatens 'no restraint' if Hamas keeps retaliating
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
December 8, 2008 - 1:00am

Israel threatened tougher action against rocket fire from the Gaza Strip on Sunday as the territory's sole power plant again shut down in the face of a crippling blockade. Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he has told security chiefs to draw up contingency plans for military action against militant groups in Gaza, although there have been no deaths as a result of the rocket and mortar fire of the past week - and Israel initiated the latest flare-up with a deadly invasion of the enclave in early November.

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World Bank warns of possible Gaza bank collapse
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
December 6, 2008 - 1:00am

The World Bank said on Saturday that Israel's tightened blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip had created cash shortages that could lead to the collapse of banks in the impoverished Palestinian territory. Also sounding an alarm, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the spiraling Gazan crisis risked bolstering Palestinian militants who have alternative supplies of cash and contraband thanks to smuggling tunnels from neighboring Egypt.

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More aid to enter blockaded Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
November 25, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel has permitted limited aid and fuel deliveries into the Gaza Strip, which it has closed to virtually all supplies for the past three weeks. Gaza's only power plant, which is in urgent need of spare parts, is to restart at reduced capacity. Shortages and power cuts in the territory have led the UN to describe conditions there as the "worst ever". Israel says the tightening of the Gaza blockade is a legitimate response to rocket fire by Palestinian militants.

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Palestinians line up for dwindling cash in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - November 24, 2008 - 8:00pm

Local banks in Gaza, under pressure from Israeli sanctions, are running out of cash and desperate Palestinians lined up at branches Monday hoping to pull money out of frozen accounts. But most banks have sharply curtailed withdrawals over the past two weeks and some have posted signs telling customers they cannot take out any more money. The U.N. stopped distributing cash handouts to Gaza's poorest last week. Economists and bank officials are warning that tens of thousands of civil servants will not be able to cash paychecks next month.

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'Humanitarian crisis looming in Gaza’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
November 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday urged the international community to act immediately to end the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, warning that a humanitarian crisis with a devastating impact is looming in the enclave. He called for breaking the Israeli siege on the strip to allow in badly needed humanitarian assistance. King Abdullah made his remarks yesterday during a business lunch hosted by French Ambassador to the Kingdom Denys Gauer, attended by EU ambassadors.

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Gazans despair over blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Aleem Maqbool - November 19, 2008 - 8:00pm

"People in Gaza are waiting in lines for almost everything, and that's if they're lucky enough to find something to wait for," says Bassam Nasser, 39. An aid worker in Gaza City, he, like so many others there, including the UN relief agency, says living conditions are the worst he has ever seen in the strip. "People queue for two or three hours for bread, but sometimes there's no cooking gas or flour, so no bread. "People wait in line for UN food handouts, but sometimes there aren't any. The suffering is reaching every aspect of life."

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Israel Renews Blockade Of Gaza Crossings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
November 17, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israel resealed border crossings with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, blaming continued rocket fire at its towns, despite warnings from world aid groups of looming shortages of food and fuel in the coastal territory. Israel had allowed 33 truckloads of supplies into Gaza for the first time in two weeks on Monday, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas he would not permit a humanitarian crisis to develop there.

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Hamas fires long-range rockets at Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Abed Shana - November 13, 2008 - 8:00pm

Hamas Islamists fired long-range rockets at a southern Israel city on Friday after an Israeli air strike on their Gaza stronghold in the 11th day of skirmishes that threaten a five-month-old truce. The armed wing of the Islamist group said it fired five Grad rockets, the longest-range weapon it has used against the Jewish state. Israel said they hit Ashkelon, north of Gaza on the Mediterranean coast, with no casualties.

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Lock maker Assa Abloy to move West Bank plant
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
October 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

Sweden's Assa Abloy AB, the world's largest lock maker, said Tuesday it would move a production plant from an Israeli settlement in the West Bank after being criticized by human rights groups. The announcement followed a critical report by the Church of Sweden, aid group Diakonia and SwedWatch, a nonprofit group that monitors the conduct of Swedish businesses. The report said Assa Abloy disrespects international humanitarian law by conducting business in occupied territory.

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Palestinian Economy: From Bad to Wretched
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arabic Media Internet Network
by Ramzy Baroud - September 28, 2008 - 8:00pm

The numbers are grim, whether in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian economy is in one of its most wretched states, and the disaster is mostly, if not entirely manmade, thus reversible.

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