Abbas: Hamas opposes elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 14, 2013 - 1:00am

Fatah leader President Mahmoud Abbas says elections will be the basis to end the division, but that Hamas opposes a vote "at this stage." "An agreement has been reached with Hamas that we form a unity government to be headed by me, then we have parliamentary elections and Palestinian National Council elections three months after the Central Elections Commission is ready for elections," Abbas said at a meeting in Ramallah with newly-elected mayors and a delegation of senior PA officials.

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Hamas officials make first ever visit to EU country
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 13, 2013 - 1:00am

A delegation from Hamas arrived Wednesday in Bulgaria in the first visit by officials from the Palestinian Islamic movement to a EU country. In a statement, Hamas' parliamentary bloc described the visit as "unprecedented." The EU classifies Hamas, which controls the Palestinian enclave of Gaza Strip, as a terrorist organization.

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'Egypt security forces nix Hamas office in Cairo'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Ariel Ben Solomon - February 13, 2013 - 1:00am

Egyptian security forces rejected a Muslim Brotherhood request to establish a Hamas office in Cairo after it had left its Damascus headquarters, according to Egyptian security sources quoted by Iraqi paper Azzaman on Tuesday. The security sources were quoted as saying that they put national security considerations first, especially now when Egypt is facing unrest and the new office could lead to further disturbances.

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Fatah, Hamas to meet in Cairo Feb. 19, official says
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 12, 2013 - 1:00am

Fatah and Hamas will meet in Cairo on Feb. 19 to continue reconciliation talks, a Fatah official said Tuesday. Sakhr Bseiso told Ma'an that the factions will meet under Egypt-mediation a day after the Central Elections Commission has finished updating the election register in Gaza. The rival factions met in Cairo to discuss reconciliation over the weekend, but reached no agreement on the formation of a unity government or on a revision of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

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Israeli forces arrest Hamas-affiliates across West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 12, 2013 - 1:00am

Israeli forces launched multiple arrest raids overnight Monday against Hamas affiliates in the West Bank, Hamas sources and locals said. Hamas leader Rafat Jamil Nasif, 45, was detained in Tulkarem in an arrest raid on his home, sources in the Islamist movement said. Nasif's family were forced to stand outside in the cold while sniffer dogs searched his home. Musab al-Ashqar, Abdullah Ismail al-Khalil and Ammar Jihad Ameir, students at al-Khadouri university, were also arrested in Tulkarem, together with the local Imam's son Qitad Amar Bidawi.

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Hamas to demolish 75 houses built on public lands
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
February 12, 2013 - 1:00am

Members of the Abu Amrah family in Gaza City demonstrated Tuesday in front of offices of the Palestinian Legislative Council protesting a decision by the Hamas-run government to demolish 75 houses belonging to the family in the al-Rimal neighborhood. The government says it decided to demolish the houses because they were illegally built on public lands. The demolition is scheduled to be conducted Wednesday morning.

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PA Employees in Gaza Key to Reconciliation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Al-Monitor
by Omar Shaban - (Editorial) February 11, 2013 - 1:00am

In response to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, the Palestinian Authority (PA) took several measures, all of which — according to their claims — aimed to render the Hamas government’s task of running the Gaza Strip impossible, and to push it to quickly be exposed and collapse.

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Hamas: Egypt destroying Gaza smuggling tunnels by flooding them
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Jack Khoury - February 11, 2013 - 1:00am

The Egyptian army has been destroying smuggling tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Sinai, said Palestinians who build them. The Egyptians have been flooding them, they said.

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Hamas: Egypt imposed travel restrictions on Gazans
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
February 10, 2013 - 1:00am

 

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For Hamas, new light on the horizon
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Mkhaimer Abu Sada - (Opinion) February 8, 2013 - 1:00am

Hamas, the militant political movement that has ruled Gaza since 2007, has emerged from the latest round of fighting with Israel with its regional status significantly enhanced. At the same time, the movement faces new questions about its ability to take advantage of the diplomatic opportunities that it has gained. Hamas’ forceful response to Israel’s military operation in Gaza in November, which included landing rockets near Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, demonstrated its commitment to its core value of steadfastness.

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