September 17th

Israel?s Political Situation Dims Hopes for Peace Deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Helene Cooper - July 31, 2008 - 8:00pm


WASHINGTON ? The official line in Washington, Jerusalem and Ramallah is that the decision by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel to resign will not affect American efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians before the end of the year. Israeli officials said Thursday that Mr. Olmert could still try to reach a peace pact in his remaining time in office. In Tunisia, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, pledged to work with Mr. Olmert and his successor.


Gaza hospitals strain under pressure of strikes
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak - September 3, 2008 - 8:00pm


A walkout of medical staff throughout Gaza has strained services at hospitals and clinics throughout the territory, the latest in a series of crippling strikes that are deepening bitter divisions between Gaza's militant Hamas rulers and loyalists of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The strike has forced non-complying doctors to pull double shifts and left residents struggling for treatment, adding to the hardships in a territory suffering from international isolation since Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Fatah-allied security forces in June 2007.


Sources: Hamas' inflexibility, Egypt tensions stalling Shalit talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amoss Harel - September 1, 2008 - 8:00pm


Israeli and Palestinian sources seem to agree on one thing: The negotiations for the release of Gilad Shalit are stuck. Israeli security sources involved in the negotiations over the abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier said no significant progress was achieved in recent weeks' talks. The ministerial meeting Sunday to reevaluate the criteria for releasing Palestinian prisoners was meant to send Hamas a message that Israel is willing to show a certain degree of flexibility, the sources said. However, Hamas has taken an even tougher stance, the sources said.


Two Border policemen convicted of manslaughter in killing of Palestinian teen
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
September 1, 2008 - 8:00pm


Two Border policemen were convicted of manslaughter Tuesday for their part in the kidnapping and wrongful death of a Palestinian teen from Hebron in 2002. The two, Shahar Botbeka and Denis Alhazov, were posted in Hebron in 2002 when they along with two other patrolmen abducted several Hebron residents, among them 17-year-old Amran Abu Hamadiya, and took them for a ride in their jeep. They abused the men and beat them with truncheons and rifles. They hurled Abu Hamadiya out of the moving vehicle, causing his death.


Palestinian seriously wounded in Ni'lin
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - September 1, 2008 - 8:00pm


Ayed Sroor, 40, was critically wounded by the IDF early Monday morning when soldiers entered his family's home to arrest his brother in the Palestinian village of Ni'lin, outside of Modi'in Illit. Ni'lin has been the site of numerous anti-fence demonstrations in the last few months, many of which have turned violent. The IDF said Ayed's brother, Aqal Sadeq Sroor, was suspected of throwing a smoke grenade at security forces during one of those demonstration and the IDF had come to his home to arrest him.


Palestinian seriously wounded in Ni'lin
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - December 31, 1969 - 8:00pm


Ayed Sroor, 40, was critically wounded by the IDF early Monday morning when soldiers entered his family's home to arrest his brother in the Palestinian village of Ni'lin, outside of Modi'in Illit. Ni'lin has been the site of numerous anti-fence demonstrations in the last few months, many of which have turned violent. The IDF said Ayed's brother, Aqal Sadeq Sroor, was suspected of throwing a smoke grenade at security forces during one of those demonstration and the IDF had come to his home to arrest him.


Israel on Global High Alert for Kidnapping of Citizens
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Times
by Mel Frykberg - September 1, 2008 - 8:00pm


Israel's Counter Terrorism Bureau, a section of the Prime Minister's Office, has issued an urgent warning to Israelis abroad to be vigilant against possible kidnappings by Lebanese resistance organization, Hezbollah. Although the bureau has specific information about where these possible kidnappings could take place, the warning applied to Israelis traveling abroad in general.


Gaza medical workers go on strike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Jazeera English
September 1, 2008 - 8:00pm


Thousands of doctors in the Gaza Strip have gone on strike in protest at what they say was the politically motivated firing of at least 50 doctors and administrators by the Hamas-run health ministry. Government employees, medical workers and teachers affiliated with Fatah are also participating in the strike, which began on Saturday. "Today we have begun a total strike in the government-run health sector in the Gaza Strip and there is good participation, with 70 per cent taking part," an official in the health workers' union was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.


Palestinian Authority may face damages claim
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
September 1, 2008 - 8:00pm


An Israeli judge says a U.S. court ruling that the Palestinian Authority must compensate the family of a U.S. citizen killed by Palestinian militants is enforceable here. The judgement means the family's lawyers can claim around $117 million dollars from Palestinian Authority assets in Israel. The Palestinians are expected to appeal. Sunday's court ruling was the latest development in a long-running lawsuit filed by relatives of Yaron Ungar, who also holds Israeli citizenship, and his wife Efrat, who were killed by Hamas gunmen in June 1996.


Pro-al Qaeda Fighters Train in Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
September 1, 2008 - 8:00pm


The masked gunmen threw themselves to the ground, rolled over and came up firing their assault rifles at an imaginary target. Jaysh al-Ummah, or the Army of the Nation, a Palestinian Islamist group modelled on the ideology of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda, was training for battle with Israel. "We are coming, Jews," read graffiti daubed on a wall inside its private training base in the Gaza Strip, where Reuters journalists were allowed rare access. "Run, run, take the ground, shoot," Abu Hafss, Jaysh al-Ummah's leader, cried as some 25 gunmen, all clad in black, performed drills.



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