Israel hits UN school, nears major Gaza towns
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak, Steve Weizman - January 6, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli forces edged closer to Gaza's major population centers on Tuesday and attacked new sites, including a U.N. school, taking more civilian lives after ignoring mounting international calls for an immediate cease-fire. A Palestinian rocket attack wounded an Israeli infant. The United Nations said three civilians were killed in the airstrike on its school, where hundreds of people from a Gaza City refugee camp had gone to seek shelter from Israel's blistering 11-day offensive against the Hamas militant group.

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Gaza civilian death toll rises steeply
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rory McCarthy, Chris McGreal - January 6, 2009 - 1:00am

The civilian death toll in Gaza increased dramatically today, with at least 12 members of an extended family, including seven young children, killed in an air strike on their house in Gaza City while the bombing of two United Nations schools being used as shelters took 13 lives. The bodies of the Daya family were pulled from the rubble of a house in Gaza City's Zeitoun area after it was hit by two Israeli missiles. The dead included seven children aged from one to 12 years, three women and two men. Nine other people were believed to be trapped in the rubble.

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French President Sarkozy: Deal on Gaza truce 'not far away'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
January 6, 2009 - 1:00am

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Tuesday a deal for a cease-fire between Israel and the Gaza Strip was "not far" away. "I'm convinced that there are solutions. We are not far from that. What is needed is simply for one of the players to start for things to go in the right direction," he told reporters during a visit to French United Nations peacekeepers in south Lebanon. Sarkozy said he was returning to Sharm el-Sheikh to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to work out the details of a peace plan.

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U.S. must act now in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Charlotte Observer
by David Price - (Opinion) January 6, 2009 - 1:00am

For observers of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict committed to a peaceful and lasting two-state resolution, the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza brings the temptation to throw one's hands in the air in despair. Mistaken assumptions and lessons left unlearned seem to guide each of the protagonists down a course antithetical to the long-term interests of both Israelis and Palestinians.

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Mideast political conundrum: Settlement expansion is a threat to peace negotiations
In Print by Ziad Asali - The Washington Times (Opinion) - January 6, 2009 - 1:00am

The renewed violence between Israel and Hamas, in which 1.5 million innocent Palestinians are caught, is yet another definitive demonstration that there is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel will not be able to secure its future, normalize its relations with the region and live in peace without an agreement with the Palestinians; Palestinians will not achieve liberation and independence without an agreement with Israel.

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Righting a Wrong for the Sake of the People of Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed - January 5, 2009 - 1:00am

There is a clear difference between the 1.5 million people that make up the population of the Gaza Strip, and the few hundred which comprise the leadership and activists which fill the Hamas movement's ranks. Whatever differences one might have with the movement, one must realize that Gaza is not Hamas; and that the Gaza Strip is not owned by the Hamas movement, and its people are not Hamas soldiers, yet it is being punished in place of the movement.

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Will Israel never learn from its mistakes?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
January 5, 2009 - 1:00am

The Israeli military’s ground incursion into the Gaza Strip is a tragic but unsurprising development in the current conflict, with the ostensible goal of stopping the rocket fire into Israel. An aerial bombardment was never going to be enough to eliminate the highly mobile rocket teams employed by Hamas and other militant groups based in Gaza. But because the escalation of violence was so readily apparent, the continued refusal of the United States to allow a UN Security Council mandated ceasefire to pass is inexcusable.

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Israel tightens grip on Gaza, fights off ceasefire pressure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
January 5, 2009 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY (AFP) — Israeli warplanes carried out intensive raids on Hamas targets on Monday as ground troops surrounded Gaza's main city, while Israel faced mounting diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire. The senior Hamas leader in Gaza promised "victory is coming" for the Islamist group, but Israel's defence minister said "we have hit Hamas hard" while insisting the operation to halt Hamas rocket attacks would continue.

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CNN NEWSROOM TRANSCRIPT EXCERPT: Crisis between Gaza and Israel deepens
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN
January 5, 2009 - 1:00am

Aired January 5, 2009 - 09:00 ET HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Two huge stories and the world is watching this morning. Sirens well and explosions thunder in Gaza. The crisis with Israel deepens. And in Washington, an incoming president and his new challenges. Barack Obama gets to work today on the nation's lousy economy. New details on his plans and what they could mean to you. Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Today is Monday, January 5th and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM…. Joining us now from Washington, Dr. Ziad Asali. He's with the American Task Force on Palestine.

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Hamas 'to attend' Cairo truce talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
January 5, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian group Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, has announced it will send a delegation to Egypt for ceasefire negotiations as diplomatic efforts to end the fighting in Gaza intensified. Ayman Taha, a Hamas official told the Reuters news agency on Monday that a group would head to Cairo "answering an Egyptian invitation to hold discussions". Taha did not say whether the delegation would include Hamas members from Gaza or exiled leaders.

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