Israeli Strike Kills 2 in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - January 18, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces on Wednesday attacked a group of suspected Palestinian militants believed to have been planting a bomb along Gaza's border with the Jewish state, the Israeli military said. Palestinian officials said two people were killed and two wounded. Gaza's militant Hamas rulers said the victims were all civilians and said it held Israel responsible, raising the prospect of a new exchange of attacks across the volatile border.

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UN: Gaza blockade – collective punishment
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Yitzhak Benhorin - January 18, 2012 - 1:00am

WASHINGTON - The United Nations' submitted its annual report on the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories on Wednesday, painting a grim picture that includes food insecurity, isolation, violence and failing health and education services – all courtesy of the Israeli "occupation." The report, which was presented during a Security Council session upon the Palestinians' request, asserted that the number of civilian casualties rose by more than 30% in Gaza and the West Bank compared to 2010.

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Israel Still Occupies and Isolates Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Dimitris Bouris, Stuart Reigeluth - (Opinion) January 17, 2012 - 1:00am

A kidnapped soldier has been returned for over a 1,000 Palestinians but Tel Aviv continues to fall back on the fact that Hamas is still in power. Three years ago, Israel was carrying out Operation Cast Lead that took the lives of over 1.500 Palestinians in Gaza. The official reason for the Israeli invasion was to recover a soldier; the intended purpose was to remove Hamas; the result was wanton destruction that "this time we went too far", according to Israeli columnist Gideon Levy.

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Medics: Israeli Fire Injures 2 in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
January 13, 2012 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces fired on the central Gaza Strip early Friday injuring two people, medics said. Medical services spokesman in Gaza Adham Abu Salmiya told Ma'an that two people were moderately injured after forces shelled east of al-Bureij refugee camp shortly after midnight. The injured were transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, he said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said forces opened fire after they "saw a number of suspects approach the security fence and tamper with the ground suspiciously."

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A year of preparation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Imad Al-Frangi - (Interview) January 11, 2012 - 1:00am

bitterlemons: Hamas seems to have many things to look forward to in 2012. Do you agree?

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No free pass for Israel, Hamas in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Sari Bashi - (Opinion) January 11, 2012 - 1:00am

As an expert in occupation law and the legal status of Gaza, I read with interest Hillel Neuer’s op-ed (“Hamas says Gaza ‘not occupied’; UN disagrees,” January 5) equating continued recognition of the occupation of Gaza with what he terms “Palestinian helplessness.” Neuer calls upon the United Nations to adopt a position reportedly articulated by a Hamas official, namely that Israel’s occupation of Gaza has ended.

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Of course Gaza is still occupied
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from NOW Lebanon
by Hussein Ibish - (Opinion) January 10, 2012 - 1:00am

It never ceases to amaze how much leaders of Hamas and the Israeli far-right agree about. But the latest iteration of this bizarre de facto alliance is a real doozy: alone in the world, they both say the Gaza Strip is not occupied by Israel. Part of the Israeli right has been trying to claim that the occupation of Gaza has been over since Ariel Sharon pulled Israeli forces out of the interior of Gaza in 2005. The then-prime minister accurately described this as a “unilateral redeployment,” not a “withdrawal.”

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On anniversary of Gaza war, we will remember IDF soldiers who destroyed Palestinian families
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) January 3, 2012 - 1:00am

On the third anniversary of the Cast Lead onslaught, we remember the anonymous soldiers who fired on a red car, in which a father, Mohammed Shurrab, and his two sons were returning home from their farm lands. It is not fair that the officer who then served as GOC Southern Command of the Israel Defense Forces, Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, will be the only one remembered on this anniversary. Indeed, the list of fighters who should be mentioned and recalled is long.

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Moving closer to Gaza war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Ron Gilran - (Opinion) January 1, 2012 - 1:00am

Tensions in southern Israel remain high after the Air Force targeted an Islamic Jihad cell Friday as it prepared to fire a rocket into Israel, the latest incident in a string of tit-for-tat attacks in recent days.

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Israeli campaign: Ariel Sharon's stroke was 'curse of Gaza disengagement'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Ophir Bar-Zohar - December 22, 2011 - 1:00am

Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke in January 2006 came about because of his role in disengagement from Gaza, according to a campaign to be launched on December 31 by an extreme right-wing religious party, Eretz Yisrael Shelanu.

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