Gaza border violence in March
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

The following is a summary of reports on projectile fire, gunfights, air strikes and artillery fire in the Gaza border area since the beginning of March. 1 March Armed wings of Hamas and PFLP claim fire at Israeli forces in northern Strip. Witnesses say Israeli fire injures 22-year-old Gaza man in southern Strip. Israeli military says soldiers did not fire back at factions operating in south, AFP reports force used new "antitank" interception system. 2 March Witnesses say Israeli force enters southern Gaza under gunfire. No injuries reported. Israeli military denies fire.

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A small war is starting along Gaza border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Blog) March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

While the headlines are focusing on the Katsav trial, the protests in Syria and the implications of the earthquake in Japan, a small war has been going on for a week now along the Gaza border. Israeli communities near the border are receiving a daily dose of mortars and rockets, and the Israel Air Force has been attacking Gaza. What began as a local escalation is steadily transforming into a broader conflict that the sides will apparently have difficulty stopping, though it's doubtful either side has an interest in reaching that point.

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The sanctity of the soaring Qassam
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amira Hass - (Opinion) March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

The Hamas authorities once again forgot that the neighbor/occupier to its east is crazy. Fact: Over Shabbat, Hamas' military wing fired more than 50 mortar shells at Israel. Or perhaps it didn't forget: Perhaps it merely thought the Palestinian people in Gaza were ready for another high-tech Israeli onslaught, for another Israel Defense Forces video game in which children playing on a roof are identified as lookouts and sentenced to death.

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Thousands of Palestinians bury eight Gazans killed in Israeli air raids
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Saud Abu Ramadan, Emad Drimly - March 23, 2011 - 12:00am

Thousands of mourners on Wednesday buried eight Palestinians, including three children and an old man, who were killed in two Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday in eastern Gaza city, calling for taking revenge on Israel. The mourners carried the bodies on their shoulders from Shiffa Hospital in the city and marched along Gaza city's main street. They prayed on the bodies at al-Omari Mosque, then headed to Gaza cemetery to bury the victims. Militants fired into the air vowing for revenge.

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Israeli artillery, strike injure 2 east of Gaza City
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
March 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli artillery fire and a drone strike injured two Palestinians Tuesday in separate incidents east of Gaza City, after a night of heavy shelling on the Strip that injured 18. Shortly before 10 a.m. artillery fire injured one man in the Ash-Shuja'iyya neighborhood, just after witnesses reported Israeli vehicles penetrating the Gaza Strip in the area.

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Air Force strikes in Gaza; 'children hurt'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Elior Levy - March 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Palestinian sources in Gaza said Israeli aircraft bombed a number of targets in the Hamas-ruled territory late Monday night. At least 17 people, among them seven children and two women, were injured in the air raids, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Adham Abu Salmia said. The IDF has yet to confirm or deny the report.

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4 Palestinian civilians and 4 militants killed by Israeli fire in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Janine Zacharia - March 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Eight Palestinians, including four civilians and four militants, were killed Tuesday in two separate Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian spokesmen said. Israeli officials said the strikes were a response to the most serious escalation in rocket and mortar fire from the coastal territory since the 2009 Israeli offensive that sought to end such attacks.

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Netanyahu says Israel ‘regrets’ hitting Palestinian civilians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
March 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he regretted the accidental killing of four members of a Palestinian family in their Gaza home by Israeli tank fire. Netanyahu in a statement Tuesday from the Prime Minister's Office emphasized that the shooting was in response to fire by Hamas at Israeli citizens.

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Arab League condemns Israeli attacks on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
March 22, 2011 - 12:00am

The Arab League (AL) condemned on Tuesday the latest Israeli aggression against the Palestinians, calling international community to intervene to halt the attacks. After an extraordinary meeting of permanent delegates, the pan- Arab body urged in a statement the United Nations and the Quartet to shoulder the responsibility to halt constant aggression. "The Palestinian cause and people's rights are a top priority for all the Arab states and the AL until the declaration of an independent state according to the 1967 borders and Jerusalem as its capital," said the statement.

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GAZA STRIP: Israel tank shells kill three Gaza children, one man
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Ahmed al-Dabba - March 22, 2011 - 12:00am

Several Israeli tank shells landed Tuesday at a playground in Gaza City, killing three children and their grandfather and injuring 12 other children and women, hospital sources and witnesses said. Eyewitnesses said that seven tank shells slammed a playground where children were playing soccer, adding two other shells crashed through the ceiling of a nearby house, injuring six women.

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