U.S. to give $900 million in aid to Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from International Herald Tribune
by Helene Cooper - February 24, 2009 - 1:00am

The Obama administration intends to provide some $900 million to help rebuild Gaza after the Israeli incursion that ended last month, administration officials said Monday. In an early sign of how the administration plans to deal with Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls Gaza, an official said that the aid would not go to Hamas but would be funneled through nongovernmental organizations.

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Kerry and 2 U.S. Representatives Visit Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Taghreed El-Khodary - February 19, 2009 - 1:00am

Three congressional Democrats, including Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, visited Gaza on Thursday, saying they wanted to see for themselves the destruction caused by Israel’s war last month and assess the area’s needs. They were the first American government officials to visit this Palestinian coastal strip run by Hamas in more than three years and the first American legislators to come here since 2000, according to a spokeswoman for the American Consulate in Jerusalem.

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Key prisoners at center of Israeli-Hamas negotiations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - February 19, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel on Wednesday increased pressure on Hamas to free Gilad Shalit, the soldier held by the Gaza militants, by saying it would not agree to a long-term cease-fire deal, open borders into the coastal strip, or release the 1,000 prisoners that Hamas wants freed until they know he is coming home. The Israeli Security Cabinet's stance angered Egyptian mediators and Hamas officials who say a prisoner swap, which appeared imminent, should be a separate issue from truce talks.

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Israel links Gaza deal to soldier's release
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Adam Entous - February 18, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel decided Wednesday against lifting its border blockade of the Gaza Strip until Hamas agreed to the release of a captured Israeli soldier, putting a longer-term ceasefire proposal by Egypt on hold. The unanimous decision by outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet raised the stakes in delicate negotiations over Hamas demands that Israel free up to 1,400 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the soldier, Gilad Shalit.

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Israel launches air strikes on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-Mughrabi - February 18, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli warplanes struck a number of sites in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, causing some damage but no casualties, Palestinian residents and Hamas security officials said. Residents said one air strike targeted tunnels which run under the Egyptian border at the town of Rafah that militants use to smuggle arms into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Another hit an already bombed security compound in the town of Khan Younis. An Israeli army spokesman said the warplanes had hit seven tunnels and one other target in Gaza.

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Critics aside, Israeli officials see successes in Gaza operation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA)
by Leslie Susser - February 16, 2009 - 1:00am

A month after the Gaza war, with Kassam rockets continuing to fall in southern Israel, many skeptical Israelis are questioning whether the war achieved anything. Since the cease-fire on Jan. 18, militiamen have fired nearly 50 rockets and mortars at civilian targets in the Gaza periphery. Israel has retaliated with targeted assassinations and airstrikes against smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egyptian border.

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Israel Takes Control of More West Bank Land
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
February 16, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel has taken control of a large chunk of land near a prominent West Bank settlement, paving the way for the possible construction of 2,500 settlement homes, officials said Monday, in a new challenge to Mideast peacemaking.

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Hamas 'set for truce with Israel'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
February 13, 2009 - 1:00am

A long-term truce between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel may be announced within days, Hamas officials said in Cairo. Border crossings would reportedly be re-opened and a ceasefire would be called for 18 months under the Egyptian-brokered deal. Israel and Hamas called unilateral truces at the end of Israel's offensive against Gaza last month. US envoy George Mitchell recently urged the sides to extend their ceasefire. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to Thursday's announcement by Hamas officials.

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Hamas said ready to sign deal on Shalit release
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
February 13, 2009 - 1:00am

Hamas is prepared to sign a deal next week for the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit as part of a long-term truce agreement between Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Arabic daily Al-Hayat reported on Friday. According to the report, Hamas will cement the truce within the next few days and finalize the deal to free Shalit by Wednesday. Palestinian sources told Al-Hayat that Shalit, who was captured by Hamas-allied militants in a 2006 cross-border raid from Gaza into southern Israel, would be freed in exchange for 1,000 Palestinians jailed in Israel.

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Israel air strike hits Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
February 13, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel has launched an air strike in Gaza, killing one Palestinian and wounding at least one other, medical officials said. The strike hit close to the town of Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza. The men were on a motorcycle when they were hit by fire from an Israeli drone, Palestinian security officials said. The strike came hours after officials from Hamas - which has internal control of Gaza - said they expected a truce with Israel to be announced in days. The Israeli military said the men had been planning an attack into Israel, the Associated Press reported.

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