Israel closes sole oil and gas terminal on Gaza border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Erin Cunningham - December 7, 2009 - 1:00am

The population of the Gaza Strip is facing an acute cooking gas shortage this winter, after a unilateral Israeli decision in October to permanently close the sole oil and gas terminal between the coastal Palestinian territory and the Jewish state. The Nahal Oz crossing has been shut down for "security reasons," an official with the Israeli coordination office for the Gaza Strip said, adding that it will only act as "a backup" when the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south is too congested.

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Controversy over draft UN resolution on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
November 4, 2009 - 1:00am

The UN General Assembly is likely to vote in support of a UN report alleging war crimes in Gaza on Wednesday, but experts say that, if not properly worded, the resolution could close off options for further action on the matter.

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ANALYSIS / Israel preparing public for a new war in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avi Issacharoff - (Analysis) November 4, 2009 - 1:00am

Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, director of Military Intelligence, announced Tuesday that Hamas launched a rocket some 60 kilometers into the sea, apparently as an experiment. Such a rocket, if fired from the northernmost point of the Gaza Strip, could strike the southern cities of the Gush Dan area - including Rishon Letzion, Holon and Bat Yam - and possibly reach as far as Tel Aviv itself.

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U.S. House backs resolution to condemn Goldstone Gaza report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid - November 4, 2009 - 1:00am

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday condemned a UN report that accuses Israeli forces and Palestinian militants of committing war crimes in Gaza early this year as irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy. With a 344-36 vote, the House passed a nonbinding resolution that urged President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to oppose unequivocally any endorsement of the report. Twenty-two representatives voted present.

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A misguided resolution - US Rep. Brian Baird
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
by Brian Baird - (Opinion) November 4, 2009 - 1:00am

Before US House members vote on H.Res. 867, regarding the UN Goldstone report on the Gaza conflict, there are a few questions worth asking. First, why are we bringing this resolution to the floor without ever giving former South African Constitutional Court Justice Richard Goldstone a hearing to explain his findings?

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MI chief: Hamas missiles can strike Tel Aviv
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jonathan Lis - November 3, 2009 - 1:00am

Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip possess in their military arsenal a missile that is capable of striking Tel Aviv, the army's top military intelligence officer told a parliamentary panel in Jerusalem on Tuesday. The head of Military Intelligence for the Israel Defense Forces, General Amos Yadlin, told the Knesset foreign affairs and defense committee on Tuesday that Hamas has recently tested a missile capable of reaching targets at a distance of 60 kilometers.

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Interview: How Salam Fayyad plans to save the Palestinian dream
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Ilene Prusher - (Interview) November 2, 2009 - 1:00am

Palestinian elections are scheduled to be held in less than three months, but the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Salam Fayyad, isn't concerned about running for office. Rather, he's set his sights on a longer-term platform: establishing a Palestinian state by 2011 – a goal he outlined recently in a clear, well-organized booklet titled "Palestine: Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State."

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Israel's missed opportunity
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Richard Goldstone - (Opinion) October 21, 2009 - 12:00am

Five weeks after the release of the report of the fact-finding mission on Gaza, there has been no attempt by any of its critics to come to grips with its substance. It has been fulsomely approved by those whose interests it is thought to serve and rejected by those of the opposite view. Those who attack it do so too often by making personal attacks on its authors' motives and those who approve it rely on its authors' reputations.

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Senior Shin Bet official: Hamas completely lost Gaza war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel - October 21, 2009 - 12:00am

A senior official in the Shin Bet security service argues that Hamas failed militarily during Operation Cast Lead and did not achieve any of its aims. According to the official, the group's battle doctrine was proved hollow and failed to cause any real damage to Israel. This is the first assessment of its type published by a senior Shin Bet official since the end of the Gaza offensive nine months ago. The report was published on the Web site of a major research institute based in the United States.

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Israel’s Fear of the Goldstone Report
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Bilal Hassen - October 20, 2009 - 12:00am

The Palestinian and Arab public campaign against the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) withdrawal of the request to discuss Judge Richard Goldstone’s report and to transfer it to the UN Security Council or the International Court of Justice in The Hague had a number of various outcomes. A negative outcome is that it weakened the PA’s reputation and status, and even destabilized its internal status, especially after it was heavily criticised by its own apparatuses and cadres.

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