Israel planning thousands of new homes in East Jerusalem ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Analysis) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am For the first time since Har Homa was established, during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first term, in the late 1990s, a new Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem is slated for building. On Tuesday a reparcelization plan was published for Givat Hamatos, in south Jerusalem. The plan calls for building 2,610 residential units, one third of them as part of an expansion of the Palestinian village of Beit Safafa, on the southern border of the capital. » Read more

Abbas in France to shore up support for Palestinian statehood ATFP World Press Roundup Article from CNN (Analysis) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet his French counterpart Friday to discuss the Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations. France is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. His arrival in France comes at the conclusion of a three-country Latin American tour intended to shore up support for the bid. Abbas made the bid for the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state last month, a move Israel says is premature without direct talks that address its longstanding security concerns. » Read more

IDF commander opposes cutting PA funds ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Yitzhak Benhorin - October 13, 2011 - 12:00am Judea and Samaria Division Commander Brigadier-General Nitzan Alon, cautioned it would be a mistake to cut off financial aid to the Palestinian Authority over its push for statehood, in an interview to the New York Times on Wednesday. Alon believes the United States Congress' decision to halt all funding to the PA due to their bid for recognition at the United Nations will lead to regional instability. » Read more

Hamas court issues death sentence to three Gazans: rights group ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Zhang Xiang - October 13, 2011 - 12:00am A Hamas military court in the Gaza Strip sentenced to death three residents of the enclave after they were convicted of betrayal and terrorism, a Gaza-based rights group said Thursday. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said in a press release that the Hamas court made the ruling two days ago against two Palestinians convicted of terrorism and the other one convicted of betrayal. » Read more

Fayyad: PA won't collapse without donor aid ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 13, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Monday downplayed fears his government would collapse without donor aid. The Ramallah premier said the PA's efforts to build state institutions over the last three years had contributed to significantly reducing the government's dependence on foreign aid. "We have become a state that is capable of providing services to citizens with higher and and more advanced quality than independent states do. This has been admitted by all," Fayyad said at a ceremony to honor staff of the Ministry of Public Works. » Read more

Red Cross discussing role in Shalit exchange with Hamas, Israel ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Alertnet by Stephanie Nebehay - October 13, 2011 - 12:00am The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has offered to play a neutral intermediary role in the exchange of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for Palestinian prisoners and is in talks with both Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers, an ICRC spokesman said on Thursday. "We are talking to both sides about our offer. We have offered our services as a neutral intermediary to both sides," ICRC spokesman Marcal Izard told Reuters in response to an inquiry. » Read more

Transfer of freed Palestinian prisoners 'begins Tuesday' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 14, 2011 - 12:00am One of the groups involved in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit said Thursday that the transfer of some 450 Palestinian prisoners will begin Tuesday. Spokesman Abu Mujahed of the Popular Resistance Committees said Thursday that as soon as the detainees are released, officials will check each one to make sure they are among those listed in the deal. Once the prisoners are checked, the factions holding Shalit will release him too. » Read more

Behind the scenes: How the Schalit deal came about ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - (Analysis) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am The main breakthrough came in July. After five years of negotiations, Hamas forwarded a letter to Israel in which, for the first time, it outlined its final terms for a prisoner swap for Gilad Schalit. Three months earlier, David Meidan, a former senior Mossad operative, had been appointed chief mediator to the Schalit talks by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Upon receiving the letter, he immediately got to work. » Read more

Prisoner swap deal with Israel serves Hamas interests ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua by Emad Drimly, Osama Radi - (Analysis) October 14, 2011 - 12:00am Five years after the indirect talks with Israel to reach a prisoner swap deal, observers believe that the timing of hammering out the deal to release 1,027 prisoners for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is apparently calculated by the Hamas movement to serve its interests. As the deal to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners was declared on Tuesday, the leaders of the Islamic movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, described the deal "a great victory." » Read more

Gilad Shalit deal boosts Hamas, but also reveals group's weaknesses ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor by Joshua Mitnick - (Analysis) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am Hamas is hoping for a boost in domestic popularity after securing the freedom of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for returning Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, but many also see the historic deal as a sign of the Islamic militant group’s recent vulnerability. » Read more