July 16th, 2008

Israeli Troops Abduct 12 Hamas Members In West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) July 16, 2008 - 3:17pm NABLUS, Occupied West Bank: Israeli troops abducted 12 Hamas members in a dawn raid in the Occupied West Bank on Tuesday, a Palestinian security official said, as part of a widening crackdown on the Islamist movement. The troops rolled into the northern city of Nablus in about 40 jeeps and detained 12 members of the movement, including two women and two city council members, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. » Read more

Gaza Siege Batters Women ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Mel Fryberg - July 16, 2008 - 3:16pm GAZA CITY, Jul 16 (IPS) - The siege of Gaza has led to a sharp rise in the number of battered and sexually abused women and children in the Gaza Strip, say members of the Gaza Community Health Programme (GCHP). Manal Awad, director of the women's empowerment project of the GCHP, said reports of domestic violence had been slowly increasing since the outbreak of the second Intifadah (uprising) in 2000 but had spiked dramatically during the siege of Gaza over the last year. » Read more

Israel Targets Hamas Philanthropy ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Inter Press Service (IPS) by Peter Hirschberg - July 16, 2008 - 3:15pm JERUSALEM - Shopping malls. Schools. Medical centers. Charities. Orphanages. Soup kitchens. These are the latest targets in the campaign the Israeli military is waging against Hamas in the West Bank. Israeli military officials have identified Hamas' civilian infrastructure in the West Bank as a major source of the Islamic group's popularity, and have begun raiding and shutting down these institutions in cities like Hebron, Nablus, and Qalqilyah. » Read more

Israel’s Delicate Prisoner Swap With Hezbollah ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Der Spiegel by Ulrike Putz And Holger Stark - July 16, 2008 - 3:14pm The hopes had been high. Just a day earlier, Shlomo Goldwasser, the father of the Israeli soldier Ehud Goldwasser, had held out the possibility that his son, abducted by Hezbollah on the Lebanese border two years ago, might still be alive. But on Wednesday, when Hezbollah fulfilled its part of the much anticipated prisoner exchange involving Goldwasser and the other Israeli soldier abducted in the 2006 raid Eldad Regev, the Islamist extremists were only able to hand over two black coffins. » Read more

The View From Club Med ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Economist July 16, 2008 - 3:12pm AMID exceptionally tight security, and beneath the magnificent glass roof of the Grand Palais, the leaders of 43 European and Mediterranean countries met in Paris on Sunday July 13th to launch a new club: the Union for the Mediterranean. For President Nicolas Sarkozy, who will co-chair the new grouping, along with Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, the summit provided a chance to reassert French diplomacy and to grab a part in the quest for Middle East peace. With careful orchestration, both Syria's Bashar Assad and Israel's Ehud Olmert sat at the same table. » Read more

July 15th

Back To Constructive Chaos ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons by Zvi Barel - July 15, 2008 - 3:18pm A miracle happened. Egypt--not the United States, a European state or an international organization, let alone the Arab League--weaved a negotiated agreement between Israel and Hamas. What has changed? » Read more

Ramallah Readies For Obama Visit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh - July 15, 2008 - 3:17pm Palestinian Authority officials on Monday welcomed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's plans to visit Ramallah next week, saying they would brief him on the situation in the PA territories and the status of peace talks with Israel. The officials, however, warned that Obama's meeting with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, slated for July 23, did not mean that the Palestinians favor Obama over his Republican rival John McCain. » Read more

Israeli Army Arrests 8 Palestinians In Nablus ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (kuna) July 15, 2008 - 3:15pm The Israeli Army arrested 8 Palestinians in Nablus, Tuesday, who Israel claims are affiliated with Hamas Movement. Palestinian security sources said Israeli forces arrested the former head of a charitable society in the city, Dr. abdulhaleem Al-Hanbali, after storming his house and also arrested two members of Nablus Municipality, Kholoud Al-Masri and her husband and Husam Qataloni and his son. A Nabuls Municipality statement said Israeli forces arrested 6 members out of a staff of 15 and claim they are affiliated with Hamas. » Read more

Palestinian Officials To Washington Amid Low Expectations For Peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Kuwait News Agency (kuna) July 15, 2008 - 3:12pm Palestinian negotiators arrive to Washington on Tuesday to hold talks with US officials in what could be a last bid to overcome the stalemate in a peace process that seems out of reach before the end of the year. "The meeting in Washington is to talk to the Americans about what can be achieved before President George W. Bush leaves office," said the Director of Middle East Democracy at Brookings Tamara Cofman Wittes in an interview with KUNA. » Read more

Eu Raps Israeli Settlements After Med Union Summit ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters by Jeffrey Heller, Paul Taylor - July 15, 2008 - 3:09pm The European Union criticised Israel on Monday for what it called continued settlement activity on Palestinian land, while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was still in Paris after a Euro-Mediterranean summit. A statement issued by the French EU presidency said the 27-nation bloc was "deeply concerned" by an Israeli decision to issue a call for tenders for new housing units in Arab East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. "This decision serves to undermine the credibility of the ongoing diplomatic process," the EU statement said. » Read more