U.N. Chief Urges Israel to Halt Attack on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Isabel Kershner, Michael Slackman - January 16, 2009 - 1:00am

CAIRO — As the war in Gaza entered its 21st day with the quest for an elusive truce resuming in Cairo and Washington, a top exile leader of the Hamas militant group battling Israel’s onslaught rejected Israel’s terms for a cease-fire and urged Arab states to support its resistance. In a speech broadcast across the Arab world and widely followed in the Middle East and elsewhere, Khaled Meshal, the senior leader in exile of Hamas, told an unusual Arab gathering in Doha, Qatar, that “I assure you: despite all the destruction in Gaza, we will not accept Israel’s conditions for a ceasefire.

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Israeli 'phosphorous shells' incinerate 1,000s of tons of UN food as Gaza starves
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Scotsman
by Ibrahim Barzak, Ben Lynfield - January 16, 2009 - 1:00am

ISRAELI shells set ablaze a food warehouse at UN headquarters in Gaza yesterday, destroying tons of emergency rations intended for needy Gaza civilians, a senior UN official said. A pall of black smoke rose from the UN compound, visible across Gaza City. Flour spilled on the ground and mixed with soot as Palestinian firefighters tried to douse the flames. "The main warehouse was badly damaged by what appeared to be white phosphorus shells," UN humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes said at a news briefing in New York.

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Think of Gaza as a prison – and all becomes clear
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Oren Yiftachel - (Opinion) January 15, 2009 - 1:00am

Let us start with the current sad irony: the invasion and destruction of Gaza is being carried out by an ousted Israeli government, and actively supported by a defeated US administration. Yet, the two outgoing governments are colluding against a democratically elected government of Palestine. Further, instead of sanctioning Israel for placing Gaza under siege for the last two years, and for occupying Palestine for the last four decades, the world has imposed sanctions on the Hamas government. Gazans are being punished twice: by occupation, and for their resistance.

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How Not to Make Peace in the Middle East
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Review Of Books
by Hussein Agha, Robert Malley - January 15, 2009 - 1:00am

1. Foreign affairs had no more than a small part in Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and the Middle East peace process only a fraction of that. Yet the sorry prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians make a break with past US policy on this matter imperative, regardless of the new administration's priorities.

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UN headquarters in Gaza hit by Israeli 'white phosphorus' shells
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times
by Sheera Frenkel - January 15, 2009 - 1:00am

The main UN compound in Gaza was in flames today after being struck by Israeli artillery fire, and a spokesman said that the building had been hit by shells containing the incendiary agent white phosphorus. The attack on the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) came as Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, arrived in Israel on a peace mission and plunged Israel's relations with the world body to a new low.

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Refugees surge raise concerns of a broader Gaza war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Taghreed El-Khodary, Sabrina Tavernise - January 13, 2009 - 1:00am

GAZA: Growing numbers of Palestinians are fleeing their homes for makeshift shelters in schools, office buildings and a park as the Israeli Army continues to press its military campaign deeper into the city of Gaza. According to the United Nations, about 30,000 people are living in schools it sponsors, and an estimated 60,000 have fled to the houses of relatives. The figures represent a small part of Gaza's 1.5 million population but have doubled in the past four days, UN officials said, raising concerns about the humanitarian impact of a broader war.

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Everything is complicated, but nothing is impossible
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hamida Ghafour - January 13, 2009 - 1:00am

The roads from Cairo to the northern Sinai peninsula are patrolled by Egyptian police and intelligence officers and many checkpoints have been set up along the way since Israel began its attack on the Gaza Strip. At the Rafah crossing on the border between Egypt and Gaza, the Egyptians are allowing through only convoys of medical aid, and accepting Palestinians injured by Israeli attacks. In Cairo the wail of ambulances continues day and night as the wounded are taken to local hospitals for treatment.

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Groups say Israel failed to plan for the safety of Gaza civilians
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from McClatchy News
by Ahmed Abu Hamda, Shashank Bengali - January 13, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel's offensive in Gaza has forced as many as 90,000 Gazans to abandon their homes, and thousands more may soon have to flee in search of safety, humanitarian aid organizations said Monday. For civilians caught in the crossfire between Hamas militants and Israel's military, however, there's no escape to safety abroad and no sure sanctuary in Gaza. Some families have had to move repeatedly to escape the violence.

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Israeli troops, militants battle in Gaza suburb
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak, Matti Friedman - January 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli troops battled Palestinian gunmen in a suburb of Gaza City Sunday in one of the fiercest ground battles so far as Israel's military inched toward Gaza's population centers. A top Israeli defense official said Hamas has been badly hurt by the offensive in Gaza - especialy by the deaths of senior militants and shortages of ammunition - but predicted that the group would fight on. The group "is not expected to raise a white flag," military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told the Israeli Cabinet Sunday.

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A big shudder on the wing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) January 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Around two weeks after the start of fighting in Gaza, there are only vague reports on Israel's success in damaging Hamas' terrorist infrastructure. On the other hand, statistics on the harm done to civilians accumulate. More than 800 Palestinians have been killed and around 3,000 have been wounded, an overwhelming majority of them from air strikes. According to UN figures, half of those killed are civilians, and half of the civilians killed are women and children.

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