Rockets hit Israel after killing of Islamic Jihad man
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
December 17, 2008 - 1:00am

Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza responded to the killing of one of their members by Israeli forces in the Occupied West Bank by firing rockets into Israel on Tuesday. The retaliation by Gaza-based fighters was met with an Israeli air strike on the impoverished territory later in the day.

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Obama and the Israel-Palestine Conflict
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Counterpunch
by Jeff Halper - (Opinion) December 17, 2008 - 1:00am

Writing recently in The Washington Post ("Middle East Priorities," Nov. 21), Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, two former US National Security Advisors, a Republican and a Democrat, declared: "We believe that the Arab-Israeli peace process is one issue that requires priority attention [from the incoming Obama Administration]."

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Extend the truce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Opinion) December 16, 2008 - 1:00am

On Friday, the Gaza cease-fire will officially expire. On the face of it, there should be no doubt about it - the lull has in any case evaporated. Despite the launching of Qassam rockets and mortar rounds, or maybe even because of it, the question of whether to extend the truce or declaratively disavow it arises in full force.

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Hamas says truce in Gaza Strip will end on Thursday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
December 15, 2008 - 1:00am

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip said on Sunday that a troubled Cairo-brokered truce with Israel will not be renewed when it runs out later this week. But a spokesman for outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert insisted his government remained keen to see the six-month-old truce extended beyond Thursday provided Hamas halted rocket and mortar fire against southern Israel.

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Amira Hass returns to Gaza after a two-year absence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - December 12, 2008 - 1:00am

The first thing that captures your eyes, after two years away, is a visual quiet. Gone are the flags of every color (including green) that once flew everywhere; the billboards commemorating shaheeds with their weapons, new ones popping up nearly every day; the large banners emblazoned with slogans. Yes, here and there you still come across a tattered flag or faded sign, old graffiti on the walls, or a smiling Arafat beaming down from a giant poster that no one took the trouble to remove, the colors dulled by time.

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Official: IDF prepared for Gaza op
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ron Ben-Yishai - December 11, 2008 - 1:00am

Eight days before the ceasefire agreement brokered with the militant groups in the Gaza Strip is scheduled to end, and amid non-stop rocket fire, a security source said that "the IDF will execute any operation the political echelon orders." The source further criticized statements made by various cabinet members, saying there was no need for them to publicly call for a Gaza operation, while they choose to take different stands – sometimes opposite stands – in the practical discussions on the matter.

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Barak: Israel will act in Gaza when time and place are right
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Barak Ravid - December 10, 2008 - 1:00am

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday to discuss the future of Israel's policy on the Gaza Strip, after the ongoing cease-fire with Hamas comes to end next week. Just hours before the meeting, a Qassam rocket struck the western Negev, following a two-day lull in fire from Gaza. The prime minister would not allow any details of the meeting to be released to the public, but topics on the agenda included Israel's response to Hamas in light of the militant group's continued violations of the truce.

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Time for an Obama intervention
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by George S. Hishmeh - December 10, 2008 - 1:00am

When the outgoing Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, was in Washington late last month to bid farewell to President George W. Bush, whose term ends on January 20, the two unpopular leaders understandably reminisced about their close relationship, the American leader being considered Israel's closet friend when compared to former American presidents.

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Israel reopens crossings with Gaza to aid, fuel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
December 9, 2008 - 1:00am

Israel has reopened its crossings with Gaza to shipments of humanitarian aid and fuel. International journalists are also being allowed in. The Israeli military says 45 trucks of food and medical supplies are to pass through on Tuesday, along with shipments of cooking gas and fuel for Gaza's power plant. The military says cargo and passenger crossings were reopened because of a lull Monday in attacks by Gaza militants on Israel.

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Olmert: We won't just defend against Gaza terror, we'll attack
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - December 9, 2008 - 1:00am

Outgoing Prime Minster Ehud Olmert on Tuesday threatened that Israel would lash out against Gaza militants in response to ongoing cross-border attacks. "We will never flee from our homes. We won't defend, but will attack - and stop once and for all what threatens our daily lives," he vowed. Olmert made the comments while speaking to schoolchildren during a tour of rocket-battered communities bordering the Gaza Strip.

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