December 3rd

Hebron settlers brace for forceful evacuation ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) by Michael Blum - December 3, 2008 - 1:00am Hundreds of Israeli settlers and supporters prepared on Wednesday to battle a forceful eviction after Israel declared a closed military area around a house in Hebron, occupied in defiance of a court order. The military decree followed violent protests on Tuesday involving settlers and their far right-wing supporters who hurled rocks at Palestinians, security forces, homes and cars and desecrated Muslim tombstones. » Read more

The slow death of Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian by Andrea Becker - November 24, 2008 - 1:00am

It's grim in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent by Anne Penketh - (Blog) December 3, 2008 - 1:00am I met Karen AbuZayd, the head of UNRWA, when she was sitting in the basement dining room of a trendy London hotel beside a mirror on which an artist has written in gold letters: "this is shit."It is understandable that Mrs AbuZayd, whose UN agency looks after the welfare of Palestinian refugees, did not wish to be photographed in front of the art work. But the message on the mirror aptly sums up the dramatic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, as she was the first to point out. » Read more

Israel convicts top Palestinian ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News December 3, 2008 - 1:00am An Israeli military court has convicted the Speaker of the Palestinian parliament of being a member and officer of an illegal organisation. Abdel Aziz Dweik belongs to the Hamas movement, which controls Gaza. He has been in prison since his arrest by Israeli forces in 2006 and will be sentenced at a later date. Dozens of Palestinian legislators were arrested by the Israeli army in 2006. Thirty lawmakers remain in Israeli custody. They were detained following the capture by Hamas-allied militants of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. » Read more

Israel: Airstrike Kills 2 in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times by Isabel Kershner - December 3, 2008 - 1:00am An Israeli airstrike aimed at a militant squad in southern Gaza killed two Palestinian youths on Tuesday, and a militant was shot and killed in the West Bank when he tried to elude arrest. Palestinian medical officials said the two killed in Gaza were brothers, ages 15 and 17. An Israeli military spokesman said the target was a squad that had fired a mortar shell 20 minutes earlier. The armed wing of Hamas said it fired eight mortar shells at Israeli forces on Tuesday. » Read more

December 2nd

IDF troops shoot and kill wanted Palestinian during raid in Nablus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Avi Issacharoff - December 1, 2008 - 8:00pm Israel Defense Forces soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian militant during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus on Monday, the IDF said. Such killings have become less frequent in the West Bank since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas launched a security campaign with U.S. backing. An IDF spokesman said troops entered Nablus to arrest a wanted man. When the militant attempted to get away, the troops fired warning shots and then fired at his lower body, the spokesman said. "He was hit and was transferred to an Israeli hospital, where he died of his wounds," he said. » Read more

Obama mulls ex-ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, as special Mideast envoy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - December 1, 2008 - 8:00pm President-elect Barack Obama is considering the appointment of Daniel Kurtzer, former American Ambassador to Egypt (1997-2001) and Israel (2001-2005), to become his administration's presidential envoy to the Middle East, a senior Israeli diplomatic source said this week. Obama's decision to appoint a special envoy reporting to him directly, rather than to the secretary of state, indicates that the president-elect attaches special importance to the regional peace process. Reportedly, several of Obama's advisers recommended the appointment. » Read more

Haaretz journalist Amira Hass arrested for illegal stay in Gaza ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Tomer Zarchin - November 30, 2008 - 8:00pm Haaretz correspondent Amira Hass was detained by Sderot police last night for having entered the Gaza Strip without a permit. By order of the army, Israeli journalists have been barred from entering Gaza since the abduction of soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006. Hass was stopped by soldiers at the Erez Checkpoint, on the Gaza-Israel border, as she was returning to Israel from the Strip. Upon discovering that she had no permit to be in Gaza, the soldiers transferred her to the Sderot police. » Read more

Israel: Economic surge in W. Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Yaakov Katz - November 30, 2008 - 8:00pm Unprecedented military coordination and a sincere effort by the Palestinian Authority to crack down on Hamas has led to a unique economic surge in the West Bank in the past year, according to an internal Defense Ministry report obtained on Monday by The Jerusalem Post. Prepared by the IDF's Civil Administration, the report cites a three percent drop to 16% in Palestinian unemployment since the beginning of the year. In addition, the report cites a 24% increase in Palestinian average daily wages, up from NIS 70 in 2007 to NIS 86.9. » Read more

Israeli strike kills 2 in Gaza after mortars fired ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters December 1, 2008 - 8:00pm An Israeli air strike killed two Palestinians on Tuesday in the southern Gaza Strip, where mortar bombs were fired at Israel earlier, witnesses and hospital officials said. The Israeli army confirmed the air strike in the town of Rafah, which wounded two people, and said militants had launched six mortar bombs across the border. Witnesses and hospital officials said two Palestinians were killed in the Israeli attack. Relatives said both were civilians and one was aged 15. Hamas, an Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, said one of its members was wounded in the incident. » Read more