July 27th

In shift by Egypt, president meets Hamas leader
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Tom Perry - July 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Gaza Islamist leader Ismail Haniyeh met Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Thursday in an official visit that signalled a big shift in Cairo's stance toward the Hamas movement after the election of a Muslim Brotherhood head of state in Egypt. A Palestinian official said the head of Egyptian intelligence had promised measures to increase the flow of fuel supplied by Qatar to Gaza via Egypt and needed to ease the small Palestinian territory's power shortages. The sides had also discussed increasing the flow of Palestinians across the border.

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Palestinian cash crisis getting worse: minister
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Karin Laub - July 26, 2012 - 12:00am

The cash-strapped Palestinian self-rule government is finding it harder each month to stay afloat, its finance minister said in an interview Thursday. The Palestinian Authority is struggling with its worst financial crisis in years, in part because key donor countries, including the U.S. and some Arab states, have so far not sent aid they promised for 2012.

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Factions maintain presence in Syria
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Most Palestinian factions have remained in Syria, with the exception of Hamas whose leaders have relocated, officials in Syria said Thursday. Most Hamas leaders have fled Syria despite the movement's insistence that it was not seeking to move its politburo from Damascus. Only some local Hamas leaders in refugee camps remain, local officials told Ma'an. Meanwhile, leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Fatah and Islamic Jihad stayed in Syria amid the bloody 16-month uprising against President Bashar Assad, the officials say.

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Palestinians in Syria get pulled into civil war
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ben Hubbard - July 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Like other communities sucked into Syria's widening civil war, the Yarmouk neighborhood in Damascus has seen death and destruction. Soldiers and snipers have gunned down demonstrators. Some protesters have taken up arms to fight back. But there's one key difference: Most of Yarmouk's residents are not Syrian citizens. They are Palestinian refugees.

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Israel's top court delays evacuation of settlement
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
July 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Israel's Supreme Court on Friday delayed by at least three weeks the scheduled evacuation of an unauthorized West Bank settlement outpost that has become a symbol of settler defiance. The court said it has scheduled another hearing for the state to argue its case against the evacuation on Aug. 21, after previously ordering the Migron outpost be dismantled by Aug. 1.

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July 26th

NEWS: UN officials express concern about the PA financial crisis and the economy in Gaza. The World Bank says the Palestinian economy is unsustainable given Israeli restrictions and a combination of reliance on foreign aid and reduced international assistance. A PA official says the economy is unlikely to be fixed this year. Gaza Christians say they fear for the future of their small community. Israeli and foreign tourists are gathering in the occupied Golan Heights to watch fighting across the border in Syria. Iran accuses Israel itself of being behind the terrorist attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. Hamas denounces PA plans for municipal elections in the West Bank. Pres. Abbas says Palestinians and the Arab League will decide on September 6 what, if anything, they will do at the UN. The PA says it has finished restoring Gaza's only power plant. Israel's Interior Ministry says there are now more than 350,000 Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, but Peace Now says the figures are inflated. PM Fayyad is reportedly suing a Fatah parliamentarian for defamation. A joint Israeli-Palestinian concert scheduled for the Mount of Olives is canceled because some Palestinians claimed it would have been an act of “normalization.” The world Jewish population is enjoying an unexpected revival, according to the Economist. Forces loyal to Syrian Pres. Assad bomb a hospital in Damascus' Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp. COMMENTARY: Donald McIntyre interviews Fayyad. Settler leader Dani Dayan says the international community should abandon the two-state solution, without clearly specifying any alternative. Aluf Benn says DM Barak is the only Israeli leader who could challenge PM Netanyahu. Douglas Bloomfield says Dennis Ross has a 12 point plan to improve conditions for peace. The Forward says it's irrelevant that Mitt Romney is visiting Israel while Pres. Obama has not done so during his term of office. Oren Kessler says Romney is trying to poach votes from Obama by going to Israel. Jonathan Schanzer says Hamas is growing in regional strength as the PA suffers under a financial crisis. Aaron David Miller says if Obama is reelected, there will be a very tense relationship with Netanyahu.

Syrian army 'bombs Palestine Hospital'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday bombed a hospital in Damascus' Yarmouk refugee camp, Palestinian sources told Ma'an. 

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East Jerusalem concert nixed after claims of "normalization"
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
July 26, 2012 - 12:00am

The UN Middle East envoy announced on Wednesday the postponement of a concert planned for East Jerusalem, after Palestinian objections to the perceived act of "normalization".

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Sources: Fayyad sues lawmaker
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
July 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is suing a Palestinian lawmaker who claimed the premier had enlisted a British firm to provide his security, Ma'an learned Wednesday.

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Settlers celebrate passing 350,000 mark; Peace Now says figures are inflated
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Raphael Ahren - July 26, 2012 - 12:00am

Jewish settlers in the West Bank have crossed the 350,000 mark this year, according to new Interior Ministry figures.

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