Violence escalates along Gaza-Israel border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Statesman by Amy Teibel - December 21, 2010 - 1:00am The Israeli air force hit seven suspected militant sites in the Gaza Strip in an unusually large operation early Tuesday, and Palestinian militants retaliated by sending a rocket crashing down near a kindergarten in southern Israel. Gaza health official Adham Abu Salmia said three Palestinians were wounded in the airstrikes. A 16-year-old girl told Israel Radio she was slightly wounded by shattered glass in the rocket blast. » Read more

Kindergarten near-miss highlights Gaza risks ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet December 21, 2010 - 1:00am A rocket fired from Gaza exploded near an Israeli kindergarten on Tuesday as cross-border violence surged in the approach to the two-year anniversary of Israel's war in the Hamas Islamist-run enclave. No one was hurt at the preschool but a teenage girl in a nearby building was cut by flying glass in the shower. "We were lucky," said Ilan Goldsmith, community manager at Kibbutz Zikim, just north of the Gaza Strip. "It exploded at quarter to eight this morning, the exact time when parents are bringing their children in ... 28 children." » Read more

PA court convicts Salfit man of treason ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 21, 2010 - 1:00am The Court of First Instance in Nablus on Monday sentenced a 39-year-old man to ten years of penal servitude after he was found guilty of treason. The unidentified man, from the village of Bidya in the Salfit district, was detained on 3 June 2008. For the prosecution, attorney Khalil Salama said the court found evidence submitted was sufficient to convict the man of treason.

Fatah: Would never ask occupation for help ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency December 21, 2010 - 1:00am Israeli general intelligence chief Yuval Diskin perjured himself during a June 2007 meeting with US officials, Fatah leaders said in a statement on Tuesday, after comments made by the chief were revealed by WikiLeaks. One day after leaked cables were made public by WikiLeaks, of a meeting between Diskin and US officials where the former told diplomats that following the Hamas take over of Gaza, Fatah officials had asked for Israeli assistance to "attack Hamas," noting he believed the party left ruling the West Bank was "desperate." » Read more

Wooing the Gods of the Peace Process ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Foreign Policy by Aaron David Miller - December 21, 2010 - 1:00am If the peace process gods have a sense of humor (and history), sometime around next summer -- the 11th anniversary of Bill Clinton's failed Camp David summit -- another Democratic president's peace initiative will be tested. » Read more

Poll finds Palestinians afraid to criticize authority ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times by Maher Abukhater - December 21, 2010 - 1:00am A Palestinian public opinion poll published Monday in the West Bank city of Ramallah found out that only a quarter of the Palestinians in the West Bank believe they can criticize the Palestinian Authority. In the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, the record was even worse as less than a fifth of the Palestinians there believed it is possible to criticize Hamas rule of the coastal enclave. » Read more

Aid groups say they, not Hamas, are thwarted by Israeli restrictions on Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Post by Janine Zacharia - December 21, 2010 - 1:00am Despite recent moves by Israel to ease construction in the Gaza Strip, restrictions on building materials are hampering international humanitarian efforts while doing little to impede the Hamas-led government they are designed to weaken, aid and nongovernmental groups say. Israel says the limits on cement and other imports are intended to prevent misuse by Hamas. But the Islamist militant group has ready access to construction materials through smuggling tunnels along the border with Egypt. » Read more