Israel: 980 Palestinians slated for release
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 30, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel will release 980 Palestinians in exchange for a soldier captured in 2006, its State Attorney's Office said Sunday. The office said Hamas will select 450 names and Israel will choose the rest. The announcement came after an activist group petitioned the country's Supreme Court against a swap deal, according to the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

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Report: German mediator arrives in Gaza for fresh Shalit talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff, Tomer Zarchin - November 30, 2009 - 1:00am

The German mediator involved in negotiations for the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit arrived in Gaza on Monday to relay Israel's answer to Hamas' demands in the talks, the Al-Arabiya TV network reported. According to the report, the mediator was to meet with Hamas representatives later Monday, but the Islamist militant group would only respond to the Israeli offer after consultations between its leaderships in Gaza and Damascus.

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Hamas influence in Gaza is growing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - (Opinion) November 30, 2009 - 1:00am

What can we learn from the state's response Sunday to a High Court of Justice petition demanding the publication of which Palestinian prisoners would be freed in exchange for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit? Not much.

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One Palestinian Prisoner Could Change the Balance
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS)
by Jerrold Kessel, Pierre Klochendler - (Analysis) November 30, 2009 - 1:00am

The political timing is definitely ripe. This week a major residual source of tension between Israelis and Palestinians may just be about to be resolved - if German mediation finally overcomes last-minute hitches to the long-awaited exchange - a thousand Palestinian prisoners for the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. It's not yet certain that the prisoner exchange will go through. Nor is it clear who among the 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails will be part of the deal.

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Israel to Recruit More Building Inspectors to Enforce a Freeze on West Bank Construction
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner - November 29, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel’s defense minister, Ehud Barak, instructed his staff on Sunday to recruit dozens of new building inspectors to supervise the government’s temporary construction freeze in West Bank settlements, while some settler leaders vowed to defy the building ban. Mr. Barak’s hurried efforts and the settler threats illustrated both the government’s seriousness and the difficulty it could face in carrying out its decision to halt new housing starts in the settlements over the next 10 months.

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UN chief stresses importance of creating Palestinian State
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
November 29, 2009 - 1:00am

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday expressed concern over the deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian talks and stressed the importance of creating the right conditions for the two sides to build sufficient mutual trust to resume negotiations. "It is vital that a sovereign State of Palestine is achieved," the UN chief said in a message marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which is observed annually on Nov. 29.

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Diplomacy 101
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
(Editorial) November 27, 2009 - 1:00am

We were thrilled when President Obama decided to plunge fully into the Middle East peace effort. He appointed a skilled special envoy, George Mitchell, and demanded that Israel freeze settlements, Palestinians crack down on anti-Israel violence and Arab leaders demonstrate their readiness to reach out to Israel. The Israelis have refused to stop all building. The Palestinians say that they won’t talk to the Israelis until they do, and President Mahmoud Abbas is so despondent he has threatened to quit. Arab states are refusing to do anything.

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If Mahmoud Abbas steps down, Hamas official next in line
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - November 27, 2009 - 1:00am

If Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of the mainstream Fatah party makes good on his threat to resign, the man constitutionally assured his post is from the rival Hamas faction. His name is Aziz Dweik, a leading member of Hamas who was released from Israeli prison this summer after being held for three years.

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Half-Truths Dim Chances for Renewing Mideast Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner - November 26, 2009 - 1:00am

In recent years, the international community has made one central demand of Israel and one of the Palestinians to create conditions for a two-state solution: Israel must stop building settlements on land the Palestinians want for their state, and the Palestinians must dismantle terrorist networks and end violent attacks on Israelis.

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Abbas: Obama doing nothing for peace
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
November 25, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday accused US President Barack Obama of doing "nothing" to achieve peace in the Middle East. Speaking to Argentinian newspaper Clarin, Abbas said he hoped that Obama would "take a more important role in the future." He went on to say that the Palestinian people were awaiting US pressure on Israel, "so that it respects international law and takes up the Road Map," stressing that the peace process could not be restarted without a halt to settlement construction.

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