Gaza, Stripped
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New Republic
by Dennis Ross - (Opinion) February 12, 2008 - 7:15pm

In the wake of Hamas blowing up the border fence between Egypt and Gaza the images of Palestinians from Gaza streaming across the border into Egypt were unsettling to the Israelis, Egyptians, Palestinian Authority, and Bush Administration. Only Hamas benefited from the images. In breaking down the wall sealing the Sinai from Gaza, Hamas seemed to liberate Palestinians besieged in Gaza and outmaneuvered all those trying to build pressure on it to change its behavior.

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Palestinian Questions Peace Progress
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Anne Gearan - February 12, 2008 - 7:15pm

The U.S.-backed Palestinian prime minister said Monday that time is running short to demonstrate progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks President Bush launched to fanfare last fall. "Unless there is tangible progress in the period immediately ahead" on a list of pledges made by Israel, "I think, honestly, it would require that we begin to really call this for what it is," Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said. Fayyad did not write off the peace effort, but said there is good reason for skepticism.

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Israeli Casts Doubt On Pact This Year
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Steven Erlanger - February 12, 2008 - 7:13pm

A senior Israeli minister said Monday that his country hoped to reach agreement with the Palestinians on a “declaration of principles” for peace by the end of the year, but not on a detailed peace treaty.

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The Us Helps Itself By Helping Palestine
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Samir Abdullah - February 12, 2008 - 7:13pm

In his final State of the Union address, US President George W. Bush said he believed that a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal would be a reality by the end of his term. Despite the optimism that his remarks generated in the Palestinian government, the goal of reaching a Palestinian-Israeli agreement by the end of 2008 - which Bush set at the Annapolis summit last year and again during his visit to Ramallah last month - remains subject to question, and this is a matter that merits immediate attention.

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Hamas Leaders Go Into Hiding As Israel Plans Targeted Killings
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Barak Ravid, And Avi Issacharoff, Haar And News Agencies - February 11, 2008 - 9:42pm

Leaders of the ruling Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip have scaled back their public appearances and stepped up other security measures, fearing Israeli assassination attempts in response to a wave of Palestinian rocket attacks on southern Israel, Hamas officials said Monday. The Israel Defense Forces and the Shin Bet internal security service are preparing to step up assassinations against key Hamas figures in the Gaza Strip in response to the continued Qassam rocket attacks against Sderot.

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Palestinians Still Reject Hamas Actions In Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Angus Reid Global Monitor
February 11, 2008 - 9:39pm

The vast majority of Palestinians continue to think negatively of Hamas’ forceful takeover of the Gaza Strip last year, according to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research. 72 per cent of respondents oppose the group’s actions, down two points since December.

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Rice To Mideast Next Week To Push Peace Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
February 11, 2008 - 9:37pm

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories next week to push peace talks stalled amid escalating violence, Palestinian officials said on Sunday. Rice "will visit us within the coming days and she will try to push the negotiations," Ahmed Qorei, the former prime minister heading the Palestinian team in the revived Middle East peace talks, told journalists.

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Analysis: Is Gaza Blockade A Legitimate Tool Of War?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Robbie Sabel - (Opinion) February 11, 2008 - 9:30pm

The British foreign secretary issued a carefully crafted statement this Friday expressing "concern" at reports that Israel had reduced electricity supplies to Gaza and called on Israel to "reverse its decision" and to "fulfill its obligations under international law." The statement also "condemned" the suicide attack in Dimona and called upon the Palestinians to stop rocket attacks against "innocent civilians."

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Palestinian Divisions Serve No One
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) February 11, 2008 - 9:24pm

Palestinians themselves are first and foremost to blame for the breakdown in their internal relations and the split between Fateh and Hamas and the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This is especially true of the fierce military clashes in Gaza that led to this division between the two major Palestinian factions and the two main areas of Palestinian territory.

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Opportunity In Sight For A Peaceful Offensive On Defiant Sides
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Raghidadergham.com
by Raghida Dergham - (Opinion) February 8, 2008 - 7:52pm

On the Lebanese and Palestinian fronts surface indicators of a new and beneficial impetus, one that requires responsible assessment of the available opportunities and courage to adopt peaceful offensive strategies. The UN Undersecretary Nicholas Michel spoke about the impossibility of using Lebanon's international tribunal - aimed at punishing the parties involved in political assassinations in Lebanon - in any political tradeoff. These are extremely important words as they coincide with the UN commitment to end the era of impunity.

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