Israel counted food needs in Gaza blockade
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
by Amy Teibel - October 17, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military calculated the number of calories Gaza's residents would need to consume to avoid malnutrition during a sweeping blockade imposed on the Palestinian territory between 2007 and mid-2010, according to a document the Defense Ministry released under a court order. Critics claim the document is evidence that Israel limited food supplies in order to put pressure on Hamas, the violently anti-Israel militant group that seized power in the coastal strip in mid-2007.

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Qatar invites bids to reconstruct Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
October 3, 2012 - 12:00am

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The Qatari government on Tuesday invited tenders for four construction projects, in the first stage of a $254 million project to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip. Qatar's ambassador to Gaza Muhammad al-Imadi is heading a committee overseeing the work. Consultants have been invited to submit designs for a city to be named after Sheikh Hamad Ben Khalifa al-Thani.

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Ayalon calls on donor states to cut off Palestinian Authority funding
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Times of Israel
by Gabe Fisher - September 23, 2012 - 12:00am

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called for international donors to halt funding to the Palestinian Authority, alleging that much of the money is ultimately used to support terrorism.

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EU pledges extra 100 million euros for PA
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 14, 2012 - 12:00am

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -- The European Union will double its aid for Palestinian development and the Palestinian Authority to 200 million euros in 2012, the EU executive said on Friday. The development aid will be focused on water, sanitation and support for refugees. A further 100 million euros aid credits unspent last year will be also spent in 2012, the European Commission said in a statement.

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Protests continue in West Bank as Israel unlikely to amend economic deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
September 10, 2012 - 12:00am

RAMALLAH, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli official on Monday ruled out that Israel would accept the Palestinians' request to modify Paris protocol that regulates economic relations between the two sides, as public sectors went on strike in the West Bank to protest the rising cost of living.

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News Analysis: Palestinians' second UN bid a cry for economic aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - September 10, 2012 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian National Authority ( PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday announced that he will -- once again -- seek United Nations recognition for Palestine as a non-member state. Last year, Abbas asked the UN to upgrade the status of Palestine from non-member entity to non-member state, and to recognize it as a state under occupation along the post-1967 war lines.

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Palestinians slipping deeper into poverty -UN
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Robert Evans - September 6, 2012 - 12:00am

GENEVA, Sept 5 (Reuters) - The United Nations UNCTAD agency issued a gloomy outlook for the Palestinian economy on Wednesday, arguing that tougher Israeli policies and settlement expansion were pushing the occupied territories and Gaza deeper into poverty. The situation had been aggravated in 2011 by a sharp drop in foreign aid, which for years provided a vital support, dimming any hope for an upswing even in the longer term, a report from the trade and development body said.

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Palestinian PM hails $100 million in Saudi aid
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP)
July 16, 2012 - 12:00am

"Prime minister Salam Fayyad and the Palestinian people thank... King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz after he instructed the Saudi finance ministry to transfer $100 million to the Palestinian Authority treasury at the request of president Mahmoud Abbas," Fayyad's office said. The money, the office added, would "support the Palestinian Authority and assist them in overcoming the financial crisis they are suffering from".

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Palestinians in cash crunch, say donors came through with $466 million of $1.2 billion pledged
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
July 11, 2012 - 12:00am

The Palestinian finance minister says his self-rule government is facing its worst financial crisis in years because donor countries have paid only $466 million of $1.2 billion promised this year. The Palestinian Authority, which administers 38 percent of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, depends on foreign funding, in part because of Israeli restrictions and a bloated public payroll.

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West Bank faces cash crisis after $100m IMF request is rejected
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
by Hugh Naylor - July 3, 2012 - 12:00am

Palestinians in the West Bank are facing more financial hardship after a plan to borrow US$100 million (Dh367m) was rejected because they have no state of their own. The plan called for Israel to borrow the money from the International Monetary Fund and then turn it over to the Palestinian Authority to prevent its financial collapse. The PA would repay the loan to Israel, which in turn would repay the IMF.

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