US's Dayton Views PA-US Security Coordination, Denies US Targeting HAMAS
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Ayyam
by General Keith Dayton - (Interview) October 26, 2008 - 8:00pm

Interview with General Keith Dayton, the US security coordinator, by Abd-al-Ra'uf Arna'ut; Dayton: These Are the Objectives of My Task, Truth of What I Did in Gaza [Arna'ut] You are very well known in the Palestinian arena, but few people actually know what you do. What do you specifically do?

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Palestinians Host First International Soccer Game
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
October 26, 2008 - 8:00pm

Palestinians may not have a state, but now they have a way to express their national pride -- through soccer. On Sunday, the national team hosted an international match for the first time, in the West Bank's only regulation-size stadium. Located in a West Bank suburb of Jerusalem, the stadium was renovated with the help of FIFA, soccer's governing body, and other donors. Thousands watched the friendly game against Jordan, and the crowd roared as Palestinian forward Ahmed Kashkash scored several minutes after kickoff. Jordan tied early in the second half. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.

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Israelis say Hamas man acknowledged plan to take another soldier prisoner
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
October 26, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israeli security forces have apprehended a Hamas operative whom they say planned to capture Israeli soldiers and smuggle them into the Gaza Strip to be used in future prisoner swaps, the army said on Sunday. An army spokesman said Israeli troops and intelligence agents arrested Gamal Abu Duabah, a 21-year-old Gaza resident, on September 21 after he attempted to infiltrate Israel from Egypt.

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Settlers vandalise Arab graves
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
October 25, 2008 - 8:00pm

Jewish settlers have gone on a rampage in the West Bank, vandalising a Muslim cemetery and threatening Israeli troops. Settlers from the Harat al-Jabari neighbourhood in the city of Hebron were responding on Sunday to the dismantling a West Bank outpost by the Israeli army. Four settlers were arrested, including one for allegedly injuring a policeman and two who are suspected of trying to set fire to police cars, police officials said. Settlers also slashed the tyres of two dozen Arab-owned cars and sprayed paint on Muslim graves, the Israeli military said.

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Bitter harvest: peace hopes wither in orchards of violence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Sydney Morning Herald
October 23, 2008 - 8:00pm

AT around 10am last Saturday, Abed Hashalmoun, 45, a Palestinian news photographer who lives in the West Bank city of Hebron, followed a group of Israeli and international peace activists on an exercise to help local Palestinian farmers harvest their annual olive crop. Hashalmoun was accompanied by his brother Nayef, 55, a photographer for the Reuters news agency, and several other Palestinian journalists and television news crews.

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Palestinian group says Israelis killed 68 children in Gaza in year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Rory McCarthy - October 20, 2008 - 8:00pm

A prominent Palestinian human rights group says it has found evidence that 68 children were killed in the Gaza Strip in the 12 months to June this year as a result of "disproportionate and excessive lethal force" by the Israeli military.

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Hamas grip on Gaza is complete
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
October 19, 2008 - 8:00pm

Hamas' control of the Gaza Strip is now virtually complete. Since the summer, the Islamic militants have sil-enced and disarmed their remaining opponents, filled the bureaucracy with their supporters, and kept Gaza's economy afloat, even if just barely, despite a 16-month-old international embargo and border blockades by Israel and Egypt. With nothing in sight to weaken Hamas' grip, the political split between Gaza and the West Bank -the two territories meant to make up a future Palestinian state - looks increasingly irreversible.

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Hamas could halt talks on Israeli soldier: official
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - October 19, 2008 - 8:00pm

Hamas could halt talks on the release of an Israeli soldier seized in a cross-border raid and now being held in the Gaza Strip if Egypt does not free one of its leaders, a Hamas official said. Soldier Gilad Shalit was abducted by militants from an Israeli army base in June 2006. In exchange for his release, Hamas has demanded that Israel sets free hundreds of prisoners it holds. It also wants Egypt to release Ayman Nofal, a senior Hamas military operative arrested in Egypt on suspicion he was planning to attack targets there. Egypt has been trying to mediate a prisoner swap.

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Palestinian youth shot dead by Israeli forces
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
October 16, 2008 - 8:00pm

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian and wounded another early on Thursday near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian emergency services reported. Abdul Aziz Beerat, 20, was killed when Israeli soldiers in a jeep opened fire in the village of Kafr Malik, northeast of Ramallah, the sources said. Another man, who was not identified, was shot in the back and taken to hospital, where his condition was listed as serious.

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Some Good News for a Change
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by M.J. Rosenberg - October 16, 2008 - 8:00pm

In Sherlock Holmes stories, the dog that didn't bark is considered significant. That is not true when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where only bad news is considered news. It is now four months since the Egyptian-brokered Israeli-Hamas cease-fire went into effect. According to Alex Fishman, the security-minded Yediot Achronot military correspondent, the "agreement has resulted in an almost complete cessation of Kassam rocket fire" on Sderot and other Israeli towns.

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