Israel Strikes Before an Ally Departs
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Scott Shane - January 4, 2009 - 1:00am

For nine days, as European and United Nations officials have called urgently for a cease-fire in Gaza, the Bush administration has squarely blamed the rocket attacks of the Palestinian militant group Hamas for Israel’s assault, maintaining to the end its eight-year record of stalwart support for Israel. Mr. Bush, in his weekly radio address on Saturday, said the United States did not want a “one-way cease-fire” that allowed Hamas to keep up its rocket fire, and Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday echoed the point, declaring that only a “sustainable, durable” peace would be acceptable.

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Is the Real Target Hamas Rule?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - January 4, 2009 - 1:00am

EREZ CROSSING, on the Israel-Gaza border — As Israel’s tanks and troops poured into Gaza on Saturday, the next phase in its fierce attempt to end rocket attacks, a question hung over the operation: can the rockets really be stopped for any length of time while Hamas remains in power in Gaza? And if the answer is determined to be no, then is the real aim of the operation to remove Hamas entirely, no matter the cost?

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Invasion Offers Benefits but Also Risks to Both Sides
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from
by Sudarsan Raghavan, Griff Witte - January 4, 2009 - 1:00am

In the first eight days of Israel's battle against Hamas, the conflict was fought from the air, with Israeli fighter jets striking from the skies on targets in Gaza, and with Hamas firing unguided rockets with the hope they would land on Israelis living in cities as far as 25 miles away.

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Why Israel went to war in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Chris McGreal - January 4, 2009 - 1:00am

It is a war on two fronts. Months ago, as Israel prepared to unleash its latest wave of desolation against Gaza, it recognised that blasting Hamas and "the infrastructure of terror", which includes police stations, homes and mosques, was a straightforward task.

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The New Meaning of an Old Battle
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Steven Lee Myers - January 3, 2009 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON — In unleashing a series of punishing attacks in Gaza last week, Israel clearly aimed to hand Hamas a defeat from which it could not recover anytime soon. The campaign may succeed, experts here and in Israel say, but it could also backfire. Either way, the political consequences could reverberate throughout the Middle East, all the way to Iran, and help determine the ability of President-elect Barack Obama to pursue his stated goals of calming the Middle East through diplomacy.

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Palestinians' factional split deepens over Gaza conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux, Ashraf Khalil - January 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Reporting from Ramallah, West Bank, and Jerusalem — Israel's week-old assault on the Gaza Strip has widened the rift between Palestinians who back the search by moderate leaders for a peace accord with the Jewish state and those drawn to Hamas' call for armed struggle. The breach was on display Friday in the West Bank as the territory's U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority leadership, striving to contain rising anger over the death toll in Hamas-ruled Gaza, sent police to put down pro-Hamas demonstrations.

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Gaza: Caught Between Butchery and Trade!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Tariq Alhomayed - January 3, 2009 - 1:00am

The brutal killings currently taking place in the Gaza Strip are saddening. It is also saddening that the Gaza Strip is being betrayed on two fronts; on one front by Israeli brutality, and on the other by countries that are exploiting Hamas and the Palestinian cause in order to serve their own interests in our region including a misleading media campaign.

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Reflections on the Israeli holocaust in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from IkhwanWeb
January 3, 2009 - 1:00am

The virtual holocaust Israel is now waging against the Gaza Strip is taking its toll on innocent civilians. The shocking scenes speak for themselves. The gruesomeness transcends reality; it exceeds by far the most eloquent of words. Gaza-2008-9 is very much like Dresden-1945. And as Dresden was annihilated by the RAF toward the end of the Second World War, the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza are being decapitated and thoroughly terrorized by the Israeli army, the Wehrmacht of our time.

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Israel kills third Hamas leader since start of Gaza offensive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Yoav Stern - January 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel Air Force warplanes stepped up airstrikes on the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, bombing more than 40 Hamas targets over the course of the day and killing the third senior Hamas official since Israel's aerial assault began last Saturday. Abu Zakaria al-Jamal, a commander of the Hamas armed wing, died of wounds sustained in an airstrike overnight. On Saturday morning, Israel Radio quoted a spokesman for the Hamas military wing as saying it had repelled an attempt by Israel Defense Forces soldiers to infiltrate the Shajaiyeh section of Gaza City.

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Israel aims to cripple Hamas, warn other foes: experts
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
January 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel has thousands of troops massed for a ground offensive on Gaza that would aim to deal a hammer blow to Hamas and re-establish Israel's military credentials with its other foes, experts said. After Israel's 2006 war in Lebanon, widely condemned as a fiasco, this campaign has been scrupulously prepared and few experts believe Hamas can halt the waiting army. The number of troops and tanks along the 60 kilometre (37 mile) border is a military secret but Israeli leaders say the force is ready and local media say the assault is imminent.

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