Hamas Emboldened By Israel-hezbollah Prisoner Swap
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - June 30, 2008 - 5:08pm

Hamas militants holding an Israeli soldier said Monday they would stick to their tough demands in negotiations over his release, emboldened by the high price Israel is paying in a planned prisoner swap with Hezbollah. The declaration could complicate Israel's efforts to bring Sgt. Gilad Schalit home after two years in captivity. Israel agreed Sunday to free Samir Kantar, a Lebanese convicted in a grisly 1979 attack, along with other prisoners and bodies of Lebanese fighters, in exchange for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers.

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Israel Reopens Gaza Border, Hamas Looks To Truce
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-mughrabi - June 30, 2008 - 5:05pm

Israel reopened three of its border crossings with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Sunday following a halt to Palestinian cross-border shelling attacks that had strained an Egyptian-brokered truce, officials said. An Israeli military spokesman said Sufa commercial crossing, the Nahal Oz fuel-transfer deport and the Erez border terminal for travelers resumed operations at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT), with some restrictions in force.

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Israel's Prisoner Swap With Hezbollah: Too Risky?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Joshua Mitnick - June 30, 2008 - 4:59pm

In an epilogue to the Lebanon war two summers ago, Israel's cabinet on Sunday approved a prisoner swap with Hezbollah to recover two soldiers whose kidnapping along the Lebanese border sparked six weeks of cross-border fighting. The deal involves trading Samir Quntar – a Lebanese member of a Palestinian militant group responsible for the killing of an Israeli father and daughter in a 1979 terrorist attack – for Israeli soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, who were abducted in 2006 and have probably been killed, say Israeli officials.

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Hezbollah and Israel agree to a controversial prisoner swap (1) (3). Israel reopens three of the Gaza crossings that were shut down in response to rocket fire last week (2). Palestinian Prime Minster Salam Fayyad signs a deal with the World Bank to finance three major utility projects in Gaza, which are on hold due to the Israeli blockade (4). The ceasefire continues in Gaza, though few are optimistic about how long it will last (6) (8). An Israeli settlement on South Mount Hebron welcomes ten new families, despite talk of a freeze on settlement expansion (11).

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