February 4th

Hamas official to 'Post': Deal likely this week ATFP World Press Roundup Article from by Brenda Gazzar, Yaakov Katz, Tovah Lazaroff - February 3, 2009 - 1:00am A top Hamas official told The Jerusalem Post late on Monday that he believes an Egyptian-mediated cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas is likely to be reached by Thursday. Ahmed Youssef, the Gaza-based deputy foreign minister and former political adviser to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said he had not yet heard back from a Hamas delegation in Cairo, which was scheduled to meet Egyptian officials about a cease-fire proposal. But he said he was optimistic that a cease-fire agreement was imminent. » Read more

Barak okays new West Bank settlement in return for evacuation of illegal outpost ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - February 4, 2009 - 1:00am Defense Minister Ehud Barak has agreed to approve the establishment of a new settlement in the Binyamin region in return for settlers' agreement to evacuate the illegal outpost of Migron. The Migron settlers will move into the new 250-house settlement after leaving the illegal one they built on private Palestinian land. Today there are 45 families living in Migron, with only two living in permanent housing and the rest in trailers. » Read more

Hamas police 'seize aid for Gaza' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News February 4, 2009 - 1:00am A UN spokesman said policemen raided a UN warehouse on Tuesday after officials refused to hand over the aid to a Hamas-controlled ministry. The UN said it was the first time its aid had been confiscated by Hamas. It condemned the action and demanded the goods be immediately returned. Hamas denied its men had taken any aid. UN spokesman Christopher Gunness said Hamas police took 3,500 blankets and over 400 food parcels. The Hamas Social Affairs Minister in Gaza, Ahmed al-Kurd, denied that members of the Islamist movement had removed aid from a UN building. » Read more

ICC takes first step toward Gaza war-crimes probe ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) February 4, 2009 - 1:00am The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Tuesday he would determine whether there was such a legal entity as a Palestinian state, a precursor to a possible probe of war crimes in Gaza. Having received a request from the Palestinian National Authority to investigate the recent Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said: "My work is now to analyze this in accordance with [international] law." » Read more

February 3rd

The Palestinian revolution of rising expectations ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Ellis Weintraub - (Opinion) February 2, 2009 - 1:00am Israelis will head to the voting booths on February 10, and polls indicate that Likud will have a strong showing. Such a scenario will see Binyamin Netanyahu ushered back into the position of prime minister. Immediately, the issue of the West Bank settlements will come to the forefront as he deals with the Obama administration's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell. » Read more

Kingdom asks Palestinians to be realistic ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Arab News by Abdul Ghafour - February 3, 2009 - 1:00am Saudi Arabia yesterday urged the Palestinians to adopt a new and realistic concept of resistance that would realize their unity, strengthen their legitimate organizations, protect their lives and properties and ensure their legitimate rights. The Council of Ministers, chaired by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, also emphasized the need to strengthen Arab unity and cautioned against certain countries that hide their regional ambitions under the cover of supporting Arab and Muslim causes. » Read more

The PLO: The Authority and the Program ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Dar Al-Hayat by Abdullah Iskandar - February 2, 2009 - 1:00am The voices that were raised in Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian factions, in support of the PLO as an authority for Palestinians, indicate that Khalid Meshaal's proposal is nothing at best but a political escalation pending the Egyptian-brokered dialogue. Perhaps it is a trial balloon to test renewed old attempts to ruin the organization's credibility and restore the Palestinians' authority and independent national project to their previous state some decades ago, before the PLO gained Arab, then international, recognition as the sole legitimate representative of Palestinians. » Read more

No rush to talk with Abbas, Hamas says ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Khaled Yacoub Oweis - February 3, 2009 - 1:00am Hamas will not push for Palestinian reconciliation talks if President Mahmoud Abbas insists on the supremacy of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Islamist group said yesterday. In a statement, a high-level Hamas official accused Abbas of siding with Israel during its invasion of Gaza and seeking to "return on Israeli tanks" to govern the territory. Abbas on Sunday rejected a call by Hamas to replace the PLO with an organization less dominated by his allies and said recognizing the primacy of the PLO in representing all Palestinians was a condition for dialogue. » Read more

Gaza war crimes probe mulled ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Aaron Gray-Block - February 3, 2009 - 1:00am The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor in The Hague has launched a "preliminary analysis" to establish whether Israel committed war crimes in its offensive in the Gaza Strip, the prosecutor said on Tuesday. Documents also showed that the Palestinian National Authority has recognised the jurisdiction of the ICC, in a move designed to allow investigations of alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories. The ICC prosecutor's office said it had received 210 communications from individuals and non-governmental organisations regarding events in Gaza. » Read more

From Gaza to Jerusalem: the impact of war on the Israeli election ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Peter Beaumont - (Editorial) February 3, 2009 - 1:00am Out of Gaza and across the border to the sound of rocket fire. A handful of hours later I am at the Hebrew University for a lecture by Gershon Baskin, one of Israel's most prominent peace activists, who is describing his attempts to open a channel of communication between Israel's leaders and Hamas. » Read more