Hamas: Explosion In Beit Lahiya Preparation For ‘quality’ Attack ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Ali Waked - June 13, 2008 - 5:10pm Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades confirmed Friday that the operatives who died in Thursday's explosion in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya were making last-minute preparations for a “special mission”, a Hamas codename for a “high-quality” attack. According to the statement, the dead were operatives of a special Hamas unit. The organization promised that its people will “continue following in the path of those killed.” » Read more

Idf Removes 10 Roadblocks In Mount Hebron Vicinity ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Erfat Weiss - June 13, 2008 - 5:08pm The IDF decided Friday to remove 10 road blocks near southern Mount Hebron, as way of easing the restrictions placed on Palestinians in the West Bank. The decision was made after a security assessment held by the defense establishment. Ninety road blocks have been removed across the west back in recent months.

Haniyeh: Israel Refuses To Reopen Rafah In Truce ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post June 13, 2008 - 5:07pm Israel has refused to include the reopening of the Rafah border crossing in a possible Gaza truce agreement, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Thursday. Haniyeh told reporters in the Strip that the opening of the crossing was an essential component of any agreement. "Any agreement must include a timetable for the opening of the Gaza crossings and a list of goods that can be transferred through them," he said. » Read more

Israeli Forces Attack Palestinian Demonstrators Against Barrier Wall ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (kuna) June 13, 2008 - 5:06pm RAMALLAH, June 13 (KUNA) -- Israeli forces attacked two Palestinian peaceful protests against the Israeli-built barrier inside the West Bank, injuring many people. In the Al-Masara Town south of Beit Laham, five Palestinians were injured after Israeli forces attacked a peaceful protest. Organizers of the march against the barrier, said that the people in the march containing Palestinians and foreigners as well as Israelis, were beaten with batons injuring five Palestinians in the process. » Read more

Palestinians Bombard Israel After Blast Kills 7 ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Hisham Abu Taha - June 13, 2008 - 5:04pm GAZA CITY, 13 June 2008 — Palestinian gunmen bombarded southern Israel yesterday after a Hamas commander’s house in northern Gaza was blown up in a blast that killed seven people, including a four-month-old baby. The attacks started immediately after the explosion which Palestinian medics said wounded 51 people, among them women and children, in and around the two-story building. The Israeli military said nearly 50 rockets and mortar rounds were fired from the Gaza Strip following the explosion, which Hamas blamed on the Jewish state. » Read more

Gaza Fighters Bombard Israel After Deadly Blast ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) June 13, 2008 - 5:03pm GAZA CITY (AFP) - Palestinian fighters bombarded southern Israel on Thursday after a Hamas commander’s house in northern Gaza was blown up in a blast which killed seven people, including a four-month-old baby. The attacks started immediately after the explosion which Palestinian medics said also wounded 51 people, among them women and children, in and around the two-storey building. » Read more

Middle East Peace Deal Possible In 2008: Bush ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) June 13, 2008 - 5:02pm PARIS (AFP) US President George W. Bush said Friday he was confident that a Middle East peace deal was possible in 2008, as he delivered the keynote speech of a farewell trip to Europe. "I firmly believe that, with leadership and courage, a peace agreement is possible this year," Bush said at the Paris headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. © 2008 Agence France-Presse

Israel Oks 1,300 East Jerusalem Homes ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Washington Times by Amy Teibel - June 13, 2008 - 5:01pm Israel announced plans Friday to build 1,300 more homes in east Jerusalem, further angering Palestinians who warned ongoing construction threatens efforts to work out a peace deal by the end of the year. The announcement by Israel's Interior Ministry brought to more than 3,000 the number of homes Israel has approved for construction on land that Palestinians want for a state since the renewal of the U.S.-supported peace talks late last year. » Read more

Israeli Settlers’ Attack On Palestinian Family Captured On Video ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Arthur Bright - June 13, 2008 - 4:56pm A Palestinian family's brutal beating by Israeli settlers has been captured on video and aired just a week before the UN Security Council is set to consider a resolution condemning construction of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. The BBC reports that the video, recorded last Sunday, shows four men attacking an elderly shepherd, his wife, and his nephew after the four told the shepherd to move his flock, which was grazing near the settlement of Susia in the West Bank. The BBC describes the film, which is available on its website: » Read more

Year On, Fayyad Aims To Change Palestinian Mindset ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Wafa Amr - June 13, 2008 - 12:39pm When he was named to lead a government reeling from civil war in Gaza, those Palestinians who had even heard of Salam Fayyad mostly saw him as an obscure, expatriate technocrat with little feel for their troubles. Now, a year after President Mahmoud Abbas made Fayyad prime minister in place of a Hamas leader he accused of staging a coup in the Gaza Strip, the former World Bank and IMF official is reaching out for grass roots support with a message of change. » Read more