Gaza govt urges ministry against torture ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Tuesday night that he had designated his Minister of the Interior to reinforce rules against torture, following an outcry over the death of a detainee earlier in April. "There is good treatment of inmates in our prisons," Haniyeh said in a statement, adding that following concern from rights organizations, the minister would again instruct all security departments and interrogators about Gaza's prohibitions on the use of torture. » Read more

Hamas urged to 'come clean' on dead detainee ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Authorities in the Gaza Strip should order a criminal investigation into the death of a man who died five days after Hamas security officials arrested him, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. Relatives of Adel Razeq, a 52-year-old father of nine, say that when security officials arrested him on April 14, they did not present a warrant and took him away under false pretenses. When his brother examined the body, it was badly bruised and appeared to have broken bones, he says. » Read more

Palestinian security fire near Israeli patrol ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Palestinian national security forces fired toward Israeli military vehicles in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian security sources said. There were no reports of injury in the incident, which came as military jeeps pulled up near the Palestinian security building at the northern entrance of Tulkarem, the sources said. The governor of Tulkarem, Dalal Dweikat, denied any fire toward Israeli forces saying only that a Palestinian security officer misfired a single bullet in the same area as an Israeli patrol passed. "Things are calm and there are no developments," he said. » Read more

PNA probes reports on Palestinians held in Guantanamo ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 27, 2011 - 12:00am The Palestinian National Authority is looking into reports that a number of Palestinians are held in the U.S.-run prison in Cuba, Palestinian Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Eissa Qaraqe said Tuesday. The minister told Voice of Palestine Radio that the PNA will contact the International Committee for the Red Cross about the reports that Palestinians from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are detained in Guantanamo prison. » Read more

Not resolving the Palestinian issue will fuel violence in Middle East: Jordan's king ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Jordanian King Abdullah II said Tuesday that not finding a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue will increase violence and exacerbate instability in the Middle East, the state-run Petra news agency reported. Calling for intensified efforts by the United States and the international community to realize tangible progress in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Abdullah II underlined the need to remove obstacles against resuming the peace process. » Read more

Israel denies report on Netanyahu's proposed peace initiative ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua April 26, 2011 - 12:00am An alleged meeting between Israel's chief peace negotiator Yitzhak Molcho and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, in which details of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's diplomatic initiative were reportedly discussed, had never taken place, Netanyahu's bureau clarified in a statement issued Tuesday. "No secret meeting was held and reports regarding its content are clearly baseless," the statement read. » Read more

Netanyahu fell into the Palestinians' diplomatic trap ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Aluf Benn - (Opinion) April 27, 2011 - 12:00am The third intifada is inevitable. It will erupt if the United Nations recognizes a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders because the decision will not be implemented automatically, and the Palestinians will go to war to demand their sovereign rights and to expel the Israel Defense Forces and the settlers from their territory. It will also erupt if the United Nation is deterred from declaring independence for Palestine or hedges its decision in an attempt to placate Israel. » Read more

U.S.: Peace with Israel essential to future of Egyptian people ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Natasha Mozgovaya - April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Over half of the Egpytian public want to scrap the existing peace deal with Israel, according to a new survey undertaken by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. The poll measured attitudes in Egypt three months after the start of the uprising in Cairo. The U.S. State Department said in response to the survey that "the Egyptian army has pledged to uphold international agreements forged by Egypt, including the 1979 peace agreement with Israel." » Read more

Haaretz WikiLeaks exclusive / Poverty in Israel not that severe, Israel Bank chief told U.S. ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Ofer Aderet - April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer told the U.S. Embassy in 2006 that poverty rates have been diminishing despite a report that found that a quarter of Israelis were living below the poverty line, according to a diplomatic cable recently released by WikiLeaks. » Read more

Report: New Gaza flotilla postponed ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews by Itamar Eichner - April 27, 2011 - 12:00am Pro-Palestinian activists organizing the next Gaza flotilla said Tuesday they are having a hard time recruiting activists, vessels and crew members. Apparently many fear a confrontation with the Israeli naval commandoes after eight Turks and one Turkish-American died during an IDF raid last May onboard the Mavi Marmara, according to reports making their way to the political echelon in Jerusalem. The sea convoy was set to sail to the Gaza Strip in late May, the first anniversary of the raid, but it could be delayed, partly because it clashes with Turkish election campaigning. » Read more