Israel Works On Plan To Cut Power Supplies To Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Dan Williams - October 25, 2007 - 11:29am

Israeli officials prepared a plan on Wednesday to cut power supplies to the Gaza Strip amid rising violence that killed two Palestinian boys after a rocket salvo damaged an apartment building in the Jewish state. We plan to dramatically reduce the two-thirds of power that is supplied by Israel, which will take several weeks," Israeli Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai told Army Radio.

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Activists: Israel Pressuring Ill Palestinians To Be Informers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from McClatchy News
by Dion Nissenbaum - October 25, 2007 - 11:18am

Yasser Hiyya didn't know why he was always so weak and tired until this summer, when doctors discovered a small hole in his heart. Israel gave Hiyya permission to leave the Gaza Strip last month and cross Israeli territory for immediate surgery in the Palestinian-controlled West Bank. But when he arrived at the Israeli border crossing, he learned that there was a catch. In a daylong interrogation, Hiyya said, Israeli intelligence offered him a deal: Tell us about your brother, a wanted militant, and we'll let you enter Israel for the operation you need.

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Clarity From Experienced Public Servants
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star
by Rami Khouri - (Opinion) October 24, 2007 - 2:44pm

It is very refreshing when law, international responsibility and human courage converge in the remarks or actions of a single person. This occurred earlier this month in New Zealand in a talk by Karen Abuzayd, commissioner general of UNRWA, the United Nations agency that provides humanitarian aid and basic social services to Palestinian refugees. She made a few points that are noteworthy precisely because international officials rarely speak with such clarity, moral force and political urgency. I quote her at length for the pertinence of her remarks:

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Hamas And Fatah Both Accused Of Torturing Their Opponents
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Independent
by Donald Macintyre - October 24, 2007 - 2:29pm

Gross and illegal abuses against political opponents – including torture or ill treatment of arbitrarily held detainees – have been repeatedly committed by both Fatah and Hamas since last June, according to Amnesty International.

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In Raid's Wake, Syria Turns Defensive
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Julien Barnes-dacey - October 24, 2007 - 2:23pm

The peace overtures were nuanced and often veiled. But in the months before Israeli jets struck a Syrian military facility in the northeast of the country, Syria had expressed some interest in sitting down with its enemy to the south, Israel, to strike a deal on the status of the disputed Golan Heights. Rime Allaf of Chatham House, a London-based strategic think tank, points to secret negotiations, reported to have been backed by both governments, that became public in January.

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Internal Divisions Make It A Bad Time For Israeli-palestinian Talks
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Baltimore Sun
by Suheir Abu Oksa Daoud - (Opinion) October 24, 2007 - 2:20pm

While Israeli and Palestinian teams seek to iron out conditions for renewed peace talks in Annapolis this fall, deep divisions among the Palestinian and Israeli political leaderships doom any Middle East peace summit to failure.

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Israel Draws Up Plan To Cut Gaza Energy
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Laurie Copans - October 24, 2007 - 2:18pm

Israeli military experts have formulated a plan to gradually cut off electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip in response to ongoing rocket fire from the Palestinian area, defense officials said Wednesday. Israel provides more than half of Gaza's electricity, and any power cutoff is sure to make life more difficult for residents of the already impoverished territory. The move is also certain to draw harsh international condemnation.

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Getting Hamas Strategy Right
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum
by David Dreilinger - (Opinion) October 23, 2007 - 11:24am

The contours of the ambitious new Bush administration strategy for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are beginning to take shape. But not everyone is optimistic about the chances for success. According to supporters of the Bush approach, things are right on schedule. Bilateral consultations between Israelis and Palestinians – like the meeting in Jericho between Abbas and Olmert this past Monday – will start bearing fruit in the coming months, as both parties move past confidence-building steps and start to talk about the outlines of a Palestinian state.

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Israel: Missile Shield Before West Bank Pullout
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
October 23, 2007 - 11:05am

Defense Minister Ehud Barak says Israel must have a missile defense system in place to protect it from Palestinian rocket fire before it could carry out a large-scale pullback in the West Bank, an official said Wednesday. Military experts said it would take between two and a half and seven years to develop a system that would protect Israel from the type of crude rockets that Palestinian militants use.

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Push For Mideast Peace Plan Gains Momentum Ahead Of Upcoming Summit
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jewish Daily Forward
by Nathan Guttman - October 23, 2007 - 11:04am

Israeli officials are giving the first signs that they are preparing for negotiations on a final-status peace agreement with the Palestinians. Both Israelis and Palestinians are readying for an international meeting set to discuss the Middle East conflict in November, but until now the Israelis have been wary of looking at this meeting as an entry point to final-status peace talks.

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