Hamas: Don't Rule Out More Border Breaches
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
February 11, 2008 - 9:28pm

"Don't rule out the possibility of hoards of Palestinians bursting through the borders of Israel and Jordan just like they did at the Rafah border crossing into Egypt," Hamas's deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk warned on Saturday. In an interview with Qatari newspaper Ayam, Marzouk said that Hamas would carry out suicide bombings "as required," and insisted that Israel could not break the spirit of the Palestinian people.

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Israel’s Secret Success
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Daniel Gavron - (Opinion) February 11, 2008 - 9:16pm

SOMETHING strange is happening to us Zionists in the 60th year of the state of Israel: we are repudiating our astonishing success. If in the 1880s (the start of Zionist settlement in what is now Israel) or in 1948 (the War of Independence) or even in 1967 (the Six-Day War) somebody had said that one day virtually the entire world, including all the Arab nations, would accept the existence of the State of Israel in 78 percent of the land of Israel, he would have been regarded as either idiotically optimistic or clinically insane. That, however, is where we are today.

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Open The Rafah Crossing
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
(Editorial) February 8, 2008 - 7:55pm

Following a brief and sporadic hiatus, the cycle of violence recently resumed on both sides in the Gaza Strip. During the past three days, Israel killed at least 16 Palestinians, and heavy barrages of rockets slammed into Sderot and other communities bordering Gaza in response to Israel's retaliation for the suicide bombing in Dimona. The Israel Defense Forces used ground and air forces in the northern and southern Gaza Strip.

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Ticking Bomb
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel And Avi Issacharoff - February 8, 2008 - 7:53pm

Despite the closing of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt yesterday, it seems that the next attack, kidnapping or suicide bombing carried out by a Palestinian group against Israelis, in Sinai or the southern Negev, is just a matter of time. With the border remaining completely open for 12 days, it is difficult to estimate the amount of arms and munitions that were brought into the Strip.

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Usip Report: Ten Pieces Of Advice For #44
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by M.J. Rosenberg - (Opinion) February 8, 2008 - 7:48pm

The latest news from the region is that once again the Israelis are reducing the supply of electricity to Gaza, in response to increased Hamas attacks in Israel. The cutbacks come despite the fact that the policy of punishing the general population has been repeatedly tried and failed, and despite a strong warning from the Bush administration. 

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Israel To Intensify Strikes If Rocket Fire Continues
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post
by Ellen Knickmeyer - February 8, 2008 - 7:41pm

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak threatened Thursday to intensify military operations in the Gaza Strip if fighters continue using the Palestinian territory for rocket attacks on southern Israel. Earlier in the day, Israeli troops supported by tanks, artillery and fighter jets raided Gaza, killing six Palestinian gunmen, according to Palestinian and news service accounts.

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Mideast Envoy Blair Says Pa Starting To Abide By 'road Map'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
February 7, 2008 - 7:21pm

The Quartet's Middle East envoy Tony Blair said Thursday that Palestinian security forces had significantly improved and were starting to carry out their part in the long-stalled "road map" peace plan. The former British prime minister, now the envoy for the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators which include the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations, urged Israel to respond by easing travel and trade restrictions imposed on the Palestinians in the West Bank.

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Israel Plans Egypt Border Fence
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bbc News
February 6, 2008 - 7:56pm

The measure was agreed by a security cabinet meeting following the temporary breach of the Gaza-Egypt border, when thousands left Gaza unchecked. Plans for a fence were dropped years ago because the multi-million dollar price tag was deemed too expensive. Israel was struck by its first suicide bombing for more than a year on Monday. Initial speculation that the assailants were Gazans who arrived via the largely unguarded 230km (150-mile) Egyptian border was quashed on Tuesday when Hamas movement said the attackers had come from the occupied West Bank.

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Running In Place From Lebanon To Dimona
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) February 5, 2008 - 7:36pm

The suicide bombing in Dimona and the ongoing Qassam rocket fire on Sderot reveal that the "running in place" did not begin and end with the Second Lebanon War. The Winograd Committee asks how it is possible for a war that lasted more than a month to have ended with neither a diplomatic nor military victory. The war against Hamas has been going on for more than seven years, but victory seems about as close as the diplomatic horizon.

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Us Condemns Suicide Bombing In Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
February 5, 2008 - 7:23pm

The United States on Monday condemned the suicide bombing that killed a woman in Israel, saying it underscored the need to make progress on the Middle East peace process launched in November. The White House also called on the Palestinian Authority to crack down on terrorism and criticized the Islamist movement Hamas for backing such attacks.

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