All three Gaza Strip border crossings open Monday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
August 31, 2009 - 12:00am


Israeli authorities decided to open all three border terminals with the Gaza Strip on Monday for commercial shipments and humanitarian aid, according to Palestinian crossings official Raed Fattouh. Fattouh said 87 to 97 trucks of merchandise would be delivered to the Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Meanwhile, the Nahal Oz crossing will be open for fuel and cooking gas deliveries, he said. The crossings official added that the Karni terminal, which is usually closed, would operate for trucks loaded with wheat and animal feed on Monday.


West Bank's Economic Recovery Hangs on Mobility
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
August 27, 2009 - 12:00am


The economy of the West Bank and Gaza is forecast by the World Bank to grow by 5 percent this year, 6.5 percent in 2010 and 7.5 percent in 2011. But it's hardly the talk of Wall Street. The Palestinian economy cratered in 1999 and is still clawing its way back up the graph. Per capita GDP dropped from around $1,500 (926 pounds) in 1999 to just over $1,000 last year. So the notion that the West Bank is some kind of world-class recession beater, as Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal, has people here shaking their heads.


Palestinian Authority to Stop Financing Gaza Strip
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Asharq Alawsat
by Kifah Zaboun - August 5, 2009 - 12:00am


Authoritative sources in the Fatah movement have asserted to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Palestinian leadership has decided to stop all the funds it pays to the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian Authority's [PA] budget apart from the salaries of its own employees.


Interview with Bassem Khoury
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Middle East Progress
(Interview) July 14, 2009 - 12:00am


Q: Mr Khoury, as Minister of National Economy, you obviously have your work cut out for you. Where will you start? A: My first priority has been to draft a 100 day plan for the Ministry. I presented this plan to the Prime Minister on 2 June. The plan has been approved and work has already begun. Q: What are the main priorities set out in the plan?


Gaza to Get $21.5 Million From World Bank to Rebuild
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bloomberg
by Gwen Ackerman - July 14, 2009 - 12:00am


The World Bank pledged an additional $21.5 million for Palestinian Authority operations in the Gaza Strip, including the reconstruction of areas damaged during an Israeli military offensive in December and January. The funds will be administered by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s staff under assessment by the bank, which has encouraged donors to channel funds through the Palestinian Authority’s budget and Central Treasury Account.


World Bank to give Palestinians $33.5m. in aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Tovah Lazaroff - July 14, 2009 - 12:00am


The World Bank on Tuesday announced plans to spend an additional $33.5 million on Palestinian infrastructure initiatives, including $21.5 million for six Gaza projects. The new aid was announced in the morning at a signing ceremony in Ramallah attended by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad and Dina Abu Ghaida, the World Bank acting country director for the West Bank and Gaza (WBG).


Children risk their lives in Gaza’s blockade-busting tunnels
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jordan Times
by Patrick Moser - July 13, 2009 - 12:00am


Anwar, 15, can’t read or write, but says he’s good at tunnel work. He needs a new job as Israeli planes bombed his workplace, one of hundreds of smuggling tunnels on Gaza’s border with Egypt. His rough voice and tough looks belie his young age, but his small, wiry body is what makes him a perfect candidate for the job. And, like thousands of other children in the impoverished and war-shattered Gaza Strip, his family badly needs the money. The job is comparatively lucrative, with children getting up to $30 for a 12-hour shift.


Gaza industries struggle to rebuild
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Heather Sharp - June 26, 2009 - 12:00am


One of the building's corners stands on a precariously buckled concrete pillar. But the small assembly line swishes on in the middle of the vast room, spitting out blue-wrapped ice lollies. Al-Wadiya group, Gaza's largest food manufacturer, suffered extensive damage during Israel's 22-day military operation in January. But six months later, recycled scrap metal covers a gaping hole, and the factory is making ice-cream again. Just. Before the conflict, Chairman Yaser al-Wadiya employed 276 people to make 127 food products. Now 45 employees produce only four items.


What have we gained?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Hadas Ziv - June 24, 2009 - 12:00am


The blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip has been in place for two years, and who can even remember its aims by now? How did Palestinian civilians become the target of Israel's defense establishment?


Palestinian fishermen hemmed in
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Omar Karmi - May 25, 2009 - 12:00am


At the helm of his fishing vessel, Naheth Abu Ameera, 49, apologised for not being able to show his guests a haul. By way of explanation he reached down and picked out a tiny sardine from the net strewn on the side of the deck. “This is what we got this afternoon. We’ll have to wait until tonight to get any kind of catch.” Even then, however, the skipper did not expect a good haul. Ever since Israel’s war on Gaza ended on Jan 22 and Gaza’s 3,500 fishermen could take to the sea again, the Israeli navy has restricted fishing to within three nautical miles (approximately 5.5km) of shore.



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