Israel Lets Some Foreigners Leave Gaza as Bombing Continues
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Taghreed El-Khodary, Isabel Kershner - January 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli warplanes pounded Hamas targets in Gaza for a seventh day on Friday while Israel allowed hundreds of foreigners, many of them married to Palestinians, to leave the enclave, raising fears here that Israel was planning to escalate its week-old campaign. Tensions spread to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where Palestinian anger at reports of civilian casualties in Gaza seemed to be translating into at least a temporary increase in popular sympathy for Hamas.

»

Israel destroys Hamas homes, flattens Gaza mosque
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
January 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel destroyed the homes of more than a dozen Hamas operatives and bombed one of its mosques on Friday, the seventh day of a blistering offensive in Gaza and the day after a deadly strike killed a prominent Hamas figure. In what appeared to be a new Israeli tactic, the military called at least some of the houses ahead of time to warn inhabitants of an impending attack. In some cases, it also fired a sound bomb to warn away civilians before flattening the homes with powerful missiles, Palestinians and Israeli defense officials said.

»

Fighting in dense Gaza brings child casualties
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
January 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Samar Hamdan ran weeping through the street, trying to touch the body of her dead 11-year-old brother during a funeral procession in this northern Gaza town. Just a day before, the 15-year-old girl's two sisters were also buried, victims of the same strike from an Israeli missile. As Israel steps up its attacks on the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated spots on Earth, children are paying the price. "In this crowded strip, everything is beside everything else," said Karen Abu Zayd, a top U.N. official in Gaza.

»

Why Israel Is Bombing Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Ephraim Sneh - January 1, 2009 - 1:00am

When demands are made of Israel to halt its military activities in Gaza, a brief historical reminder is in order. In September 2005, Israel vacated Gaza, dismantled all the settlements in the Gaza Strip and did not leave a shred of a presence there.

»

Thousands of Gazans near Rafah displaced by IAF bombing of tunnels
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - January 1, 2009 - 1:00am

Rafah residents came to the realization on Tuesday that the air force has adopted a new method for destroying weapons smuggling tunnels in the town. On Monday, the military fired 10 missiles which are believed to have destroyed 10 tunnels. Palestinians say IAF drones fired seven missiles on Tuesday at the same number of tunnels. The buzz of the drones and the shrieking missile fire interspersed with the exploding bombs were heard all day and all night. A total of 12 ordnances were counted on Tuesday, though 12 explosions were not heard.

»

Israel's Punishing Assault on Gaza Continues for Sixth Day
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Sudarsan Raghavan, Griff Witte - January 1, 2009 - 1:00am

A top Hamas leader and several members of his family were killed Thursday in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, as Israel pressed its offensive for a sixth day and a Hamas rocket destroyed part of an apartment building in the Israeli port city of Ashdod.

»

Israel tries diplomacy to explain fighting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI)
January 1, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel turned to diplomacy to try to explain its operation in Gaza Thursday amid reports that a Hamas military commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

»

Israel's Attacks On Gaza Deepen Palestinian Rift
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Griff Witte - January 1, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip has exacerbated the deep divisions between Palestinians who want to make peace with Israel and those who support Hamas's militant struggle against the Jewish state. The fractures are stark in the West Bank, where sympathy for Hamas appears to be rising in the streets even as the territory's leaders suppress pro-Hamas demonstrations and blame the Islamist movement for the breakdown of a six-month truce with Israel.

»

Hamas accuses senior Palestinian aides of spying for Israelis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Ben Lynfield - January 1, 2009 - 1:00am

Hamas has accused senior aides of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, of spying for Israel, underscoring an intensification of Palestinian infighting even in the face of Israel's bombardments in the Gaza Strip.

»

Gaza attack strengthens Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Media Line
by Joseph Mayton - January 1, 2009 - 1:00am

Rarely do Egyptian demonstrations see thousands of people take to the streets. But, put together anti-Israeli and anti-government sentiments spearheaded by the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, and the result is the country's largest street action since the first anniversary of the American invasion of Iraq in 2004. With Israel vowing a "long" siege against the Gaza Strip, there are concerns that the already strong opposition Brotherhood could become even stronger in the face of Israel's military action against Palestinians.

»


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017