Israeli Troops Push Into Gaza City in Day of Fierce Fighting
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Ethan Bronner, Steven Erlanger - January 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Israeli troops pushed into a heavily populated area of Gaza City from the south early on Sunday in what the army and locals described as fierce fighting. In Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the nation that Israel is “getting close to achieving the goals it set for itself,” but that “more patience, determination and effort is still demanded.” Speaking during the regular Sunday cabinet meeting, Mr. Olmert gave no time frame for the conflict but said that Israel “must not miss out, at the last moment, on what has been achieved through an unprecedented national effort.”

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Israel warns Gaza residents of 'new phase' of offensive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Rushdi Abu Alouf, Richard Boudreaux - January 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel's aircraft pounded Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday and scattered leaflets warning of an escalation in attacks, but there was no sign that its forces had begun a major advance on the militant group's urban strongholds. A senior Hamas commander and seven members of a Palestinian family were among those killed on the 15th day of Israel's thundering air and artillery assault, which also damaged a hospital. Palestinian militants fired 15 rockets into Israel, wounding three people.

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Evolving talks over Gaza ceasefire
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
January 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Gaza truce talks have shown little outward sign of progress, with Israel seeking guarantees Hamas will be prevented from rearming and the Islamist group demanding Israel first pull out and reopen border crossings. Egyptian officials have sought to mediate between the two sides, which refuse to talk to each other directly. A Hamas delegation is now in Cairo. Israel planned to send senior defense official Amos Gilad on Monday. Based on interviews with diplomatic and political sources, here are the main issues being discussed in the talks: ANTI-SMUGGLING MEASURES

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Security cabinet: Israel to continue Gaza offensive to pressure Egypt
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Amos Harel, Avi Issacharoff, Barak Ravid, Yoav Stern - January 11, 2009 - 1:00am

The security cabinet decided Friday to continue Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, but not expand it at this stage. In the coming days Israel will focus its military and diplomatic efforts on pressuring Egypt to work toward the Israeli and international demand to deploy an international force to combat smuggling from Egypt to Gaza.

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Israel says Egypt should have Gaza border role
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
January 11, 2009 - 1:00am

Israel said on Sunday the job of stopping arms smuggling from Egypt to the Gaza Strip should be done by Egyptian forces and rejected the idea of an international force. European and Israeli diplomats have said an international force is part of a package mediators are trying to put together to end a more than two-week-old Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that is designed to stop Palestinian rocket attacks.

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Victory elusive for both Israel and Hamas
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Luke Baker - (Analysis) January 11, 2009 - 1:00am

When the firing eventually stops in the Gaza Strip, the question of "who won?" will hang heavily over the death and destruction. Neither Israel nor Hamas will be able to answer it with any certainty or immediacy. Israel says it launched its offensive on Dec. 27 to put a stop once and for all to Hamas's firing of rockets and mortars over the border into southern Israeli towns and cities. That objective, at least, has been stated very clearly.

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Israeli forces pound targets, draw near Gaza City
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ibrahim Barzak, Josef Federman - January 10, 2009 - 1:00am

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces pounded dozens of targets and edged closer to Gaza City on Saturday while southern Israel came under renewed rocket fire after one of its quietest nights in the two-week offensive against Hamas. In the day's bloodiest incident, an Israeli tank shell landed outside a home in the northern Gaza town of Jebaliya, killing nine people as they sat outside in their garden. Separately, a woman was killed by an Israeli airstrike in the southern town of Rafah.

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For Arab Clan, Days of Agony in a Cross-Fire
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Taghreed El-Khodary, Isabel Kershner - January 10, 2009 - 1:00am

GAZA — Israel’s attack has razed buildings and upended families in much of crowded Gaza. But few neighborhoods suffered more than Zeitoun, a district of eastern Gaza City. And few families felt the wrath of the Israeli military more than the Samounis.

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Gaza Strip tunnels prove daunting for Israel
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Jeffrey Fleishman, Peter Spiegel - January 10, 2009 - 1:00am

Reporting from Washington and Rafah, Egypt — Some of them are said to be big enough to accommodate railroad cars. They may reach a depth of 60 feet, and are reported to be equipped with cables and electric motors that move food, fuel -- and probably some of the heaviest rockets that Hamas aims at Israel. They also are one of the main reasons fighting is continuing in the Gaza Strip.

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Report: PA seen coming back to Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from United Press International (UPI)
January 10, 2009 - 1:00am

GAZA, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Diplomats are proposing that the Palestinian Authority be brought in to govern the area of the Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt, sources say. The proposal has come up as part of a peace initiative pushed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, which calls for an immediate cease-fire to be followed by talks on securing the Gaza-Egypt border and reopening its crossings, The Times of London reported Saturday without naming sources.

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