Hamas stuck between peace talks and the IDF
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Yaakov Katz - (Analysis) September 16, 2010 - 12:00am

Hamas is on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand it has made a strategic decision to increase its terror attacks against Israel – 10 rockets were fired into Israel on Wednesday – in order to torpedo the peace talks between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. On the other hand, Hamas does not want to go too far with its attacks, to the point that Israel will feel compelled to send two IDF divisions into Gaza and carry out Operation Cast Lead II.

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Israel kills Palestinian in strike on Gaza tunnel, after day of rocket and mortar fire
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli aircraft bombed a smuggling tunnel under the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt on Wednesday, killing a Palestinian, witnesses said. The attack came hours after Gaza militants stepped up rocket and mortarfire on southern Israel, in an apparent attempt to scupper Middle East peace talks. Witnesses in the southern Gaza town of Rafah said the Israeli air strike killed a tunnel worker and wounded two other people. The Israeli army confirmed the attack.

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Israelis, Palestinians already broaching tough topics in talks, envoy says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Glenn Kessler - September 15, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli and Palestinian leaders are delving very quickly into some of the most difficult issues dividing them, the U.S. special envoy to the region said in an unusually upbeat report Wednesday, even as Israeli fighters bombed a smuggling tunnel and Palestinian militants launched mortar rounds into southern Israel.

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No injuries in Palestinian mortar attack on Israeli kindergarten
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Dave Bender - (Analysis) September 8, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian militants in northern Gaza fired a mortar into a nearby Israeli kibbutz community Wednesday morning that slammed down between kindergarten classrooms. The shell, which caused slight damage but no casualties, failed to trigger an early-warning system meant to detect rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled area.

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Medics: Israeli airstrike injures 42 in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli warplanes targeted the home of a senior Hamas military leader in the central Gaza Strip early Monday leaving 42 civilians injured, medics said. Al-Qassam Brigades leader Alla Ad-Danaf's home in Deir Al-Balah was destroyed along with five others by a missile from an Israeli F16 fighter jet, military medical services coordinator Adham Abu Salmiyya told Ma'an. At least 42 civilians were injured as a result, he added, with wounds ranging from slight to moderate.

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What will Hamas do if direct Mideast peace talks take off?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff - August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

The impression from the weekend's events was that neither Israel nor Hamas was interested in escalating the situation, and both are looking for ways to lower the flame and restore the unofficial cease-fire on the Gaza Strip border since the end of Operation Cast Lead about a year and a half ago. On Friday a Grad Katyusha rocket fired from Gaza landed in Ashkelon, causing no injuries. It is not clear who was behind the firing. It is reasonable to assume it was not Hamas but one of the rogue organizations in the Gaza Strip identified with World Jihad or Al-Qaida.

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Hamas attacks: A bid to scuttle direct talks?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Liam Stack - August 2, 2010 - 12:00am

Israel and forces loyal to the militant Hamas government that controls Gaza exchanged fire this weekend, with Palestinian rockets hitting southern Israel and Israel responding with multiple airstrikes across the territory. On Friday, Palestinian rockets damaged a building in the Israeli city of Ashkelon. Israel retaliated with airstrikes against densely populated areas of Gaza City and Rafah, injuring scores and killing Hamas military commander Eissa al Batran.

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Gaza rocket ends quiet year for Ashkelon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Douglas Hamilton - July 30, 2010 - 12:00am

Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a rocket into Ashkelon on Israel's Mediterranean coast on Friday, blowing out the windows of an apartment block and damaging parked cars in a residential area of the city. No one was injured in the blast. But the attack ended over a year of calm for the city closest to the enclave ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement and it was likely to trigger a military response by Israel.

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Israel: Rocket defense system ready to go
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Mark Lavie - July 20, 2010 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — A system that can shoot down incoming rockets has passed its last tests and will be ready for deployment in a few months, Israel's Defense Ministry said Monday. If effective, it could have far-reaching strategic implications for Israel's battle against militant groups on its borders. The "Iron Dome" system uses sophisticated radar to track incoming rockets, intercepting and destroying them far from their targets. It is the only anti-rocket system of its kind in the world, according to experts.

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Israeli warplanes target 3 sites in Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 1, 2010 - 12:00am

Israeli aircraft shelled two locations in the southern Gaza Strip and one in the north Thursday morning, damaging the already destroyed Yasser Arafat International Airport, a residential area, and an empty field. Eyewitnesses said at least two F16 warplanes were involved in the operation, and one Gaza City resident said a strike targeted the Abu Jerad area, damaging several homes.

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