Defiant Hamas Says It Can Outlast Israel as Gaza Strip Smolders
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
by Saud Abu Ramadan, Jonathan Ferziger - December 31, 2008 - 1:00am

Amid the smoldering ruins of European-built ministries demolished by air raids, Hamas leaders say they are confident of their ability to outlast the Israeli military onslaught in the Gaza Strip. “Our people are willing to pay the price and resist this brutality,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said in a telephone interview from Gaza. “Israel will eventually weaken, and the popularity of Hamas will only grow.”

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Behind closed doors, U.S. seeks Israel exit strategy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Paul Richter - December 31, 2008 - 1:00am

While publicly declaring strong support for Israel, the Bush administration is increasingly nervous about the 4-day-old campaign in the Gaza Strip and is urging its ally to settle on a timetable and exit strategy, say foreign diplomats and Middle East experts close to the discussions. U.S. officials are concerned that the campaign could drag on without destroying Hamas, and might even bolster support for the militant group -- just as the 2006 Israeli campaign in Lebanon strengthened Hezbollah, they say.

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Behind Gaza Operation, An Uneasy Triumvirate
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Griff Witte - December 31, 2008 - 1:00am

Three Israeli leaders met in secret Friday to review the plan of attack, according to a government spokesman. The targets had been selected, the warplanes readied. Clear skies were forecast over the Gaza Strip. Hours later, Israeli forces began an aerial assault against the Hamas movement that caught nearly everyone by surprise.

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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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Hamas is hoping for an IDF ground operation in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - December 30, 2008 - 1:00am

Three days into Operation Cast Lead, Israel is proposing a diplomatic exit. A ground operation likely looms in an effort to increase the pressure on Hamas. At the same time, however, others argue that the air force is close to exhausting its target bank, so if Hamas can be brought to accept a cease-fire on terms convenient to Israel in the near future it would be better to do so. Hamas intensified its rocket and mortar fire at Israel Monday. It is starting to recover from the initial shock of the assault, and the bad weather is helping to protect its launching crews from Israeli aircraft.

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Civilians suffer as missiles fly in Gaza and Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Richard Boudreaux, Ahmed Burai - December 30, 2008 - 1:00am

Reporting from Ashkelon, Israel, and Jabaliya Refugee Camp, Gaza Strip -- Pierced by an Israeli missile, the mosque exploded at 1 in the morning, crushing the Balousha family's flimsy metal roof next door. Anwar Balousha awoke on the floor, covered by rubble, and heard moans from the bedroom next to his. Neighbors crawled over a collapsed wall and pulled him, his wife and four of their nine children to safety.

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‘Prepare to be bombed’: calls mark the start of psychological campaign in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by James Hider - December 30, 2008 - 1:00am

As the bombs rocked Gaza City, the telephone in the apartment where Mohammed was holed up with eight members of his family rang. When he picked it up, he heard a recorded voice similar to the automated sales pitches used by telemarketing companies.

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'It's About Time': Satisfaction in Israel Over Gaza Assault
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
December 30, 2008 - 1:00am

ASHKELON, Israel — In southern Israeli towns and cities, anxiety from the casualties inflicted by missiles from Gaza are mixed with satisfaction that Israel's military is trying to settle the score with their militant tormentors. Four Israelis were killed, including a soldier, and two seriously wounded Monday in rocket barrages, some deeper into Israel than ever before. A woman was killed when a missile crashed into a bus stop in the city of Ashdod, 23 miles from Gaza, the farthest Hamas militants have fired to date. Another woman was killed in a village next to Gaza.

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Battered Hamas stands to gain in stature
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Orlando Sentinel
December 30, 2008 - 1:00am

For anyone watching the plumes of smoke rising from Gaza in recent days, Hamas dominates the television news and newspaper headlines. It is not only the publicity, but the status conveyed on Hamas as the Palestinians' principal resistance. Its secular rival, Fatah, sits on the sidelines, marginal to the violence unfolding in Gaza, from which Hamas effectively expelled it at gunpoint in the summer of 2007.

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No light at the end of the tunnel!
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam
by Hassan Khadr - December 30, 2008 - 1:00am

If the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel did not exist today, most of the population of the Gaza Strip would have already been pushed into Sinai. And, if the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel did not exist today, most of the population of the West Bank would have already been driven onto the East Bank of the Jordan River. Therefore, those existing peace treaties have in fact been the best guarantee to avoid the mass expulsion of Palestinians.

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