April 5th

Barak to approve development plans for 4 West Bank settlements ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Chaim Levinson - April 4, 2011 - 12:00am Defense Minister Ehud Barak is set to sign off on four settlement development plans, Haaretz learned on Sunday, joining two plans Barak had earlier decided to approve. The plans are for the settlements of Rotem, Eshkolot-Sansana, Halamish-Neve Tzuf, Nofim, and Kiryat Netafim. All of the above settlements were founded following a government decision, and all of their lands are converted state lands. The plans set to be signed will in fact perpetuate the status quo in these settlements, disallowing any new legal construction, making the planned signing more of a symbolic achievement. » Read more

UN Human Rights Council stands by Goldstone Report ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Eldad Yaniv - April 5, 2011 - 12:00am The United Nations Human Rights Council stands by the Goldstone Report despite its author's admission that he now questioned his own findings: UNHRC spokesman Cedric Sapey told Yediot Ahronot Monday that the op-ed written by Richard Goldstone, published in the Washington Post on Friday, expressed the judge's personal opinion and did not represent the other committee members. » Read more

Israel is confusing victimhood with foreign policy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Merav Michaeli - (Opinion) April 5, 2011 - 12:00am In an op-ed piece published in The Washington Post, Richard Goldstone wrote that if he knew then what he knows today, the report would have looked different and that it would have been best had Israel cooperated with him. » Read more

Settlers angry expansion plans exclude Itamar ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yair Altman - April 4, 2011 - 12:00am The Jerusalem Municipality approved Monday the construction of 942 homes in the neighborhood of Gilo, ahead of a meeting between President Shimon Peres and US leaders. The announcement came after settler leaders expressed criticism of the government's new zoning plan for West Bank settlements, which doesn't include Itamar and other settlements. The plans will next have to be approved by the planning and construction committee. The neighborhood is by consensus considered within Israeli territory, but construction there has previously spurred US and international criticism. » Read more

Hamas, Fatah met secretly in Gaza this week: official ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 5, 2011 - 12:00am Officials from rivalrous Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party and the Islamic Hamas movement have met in the Gaza Strip this week in a renewed effort to reach reconciliation, a Hamas official said Tuesday. Ismail Al-Ashqar said representatives from the Hamas and the Fatah had discussed their views on the reconciliation and controversial issues obstructing the restoration of political unity between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the West Bank, where the Fatah-led Palestinian National Authority (PNA) holds sway. » Read more

Fatah investigates allegations on member sending arms to Libya ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 5, 2011 - 12:00am Fatah party said in a statement on Tuesday that it is investigating allegations that one of its senior members has sent weapons to forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. "These allegations are under investigation and the central committee will take suitable measures," Fatah's central committee said in its statement. » Read more

'Israel using int'l climate to abandon two-state solution' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post April 5, 2011 - 12:00am The PLO's Executive Committee on Tuesday accused Israel of exploiting the global climate to abandon the two-state solution, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA. A statement quoted in the report cited the Monday approval of 942 housing units in Jerusalem's Gilo neighborhood as well as the approval of master plans for several West Bank settlements. » Read more

Israeli troops kill Palestinian on Gaza border ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters April 5, 2011 - 12:00am Israeli troops killed a Palestinian man near the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, a Palestinian medical worker and the Israeli military said. An army spokeswoman said the man was a militant and had been spotted in an area Israel has deemed off limits because militants often use it to target military patrols along the fence. "Soldiers identified an armed man near the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip and fired towards him identifying a hit," the spokeswoman said. » Read more

Aharonovitch: Israelis, Palestinians on a collision course ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post April 5, 2011 - 12:00am Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch on Tuesday said that Israel is on a collision course with the Palestinians and cannot allow the threat to expand to the point that it is at Tel Aviv's doorstep, Israel Radio reported. Speaking while on a tour of Sderot, Aharonovitch added that Israel can not quietly accept rocket and mortar fire and that the Palestinians need to be hit hard. Aharonovitch advised Sderot residents to prepare for another round of violent conflict. » Read more

Hamas suspect held in WBank actor killing-Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Mohammed Assadi - April 5, 2011 - 12:00am A top Palestinian security official said police had arrested a member of the Islamist Hamas group over the assassination of award-winning Arab-Israeli actor and director, Juliano Mer Khamis. "One of those arrested is a prime suspect in the killing, he belongs to Hamas and is being interrogated," the official, who declined to be named, said on Tuesday, » Read more