Amnesty says Israel ‘wantonly’ destroyed Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National
July 2, 2009 - 12:00am

Amnesty International said today that Israel inflicted “wanton destruction” in the Gaza Strip in attacks that often targeted Palestinian civilians during an offensive in December and January in the Hamas-run enclave. The London-based rights group, in a 117-page report on the 22 days of fighting, also criticised movement Hamas for rocket attacks on Israel, which it called “war crimes”.

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Amnesty details violations in Gaza assault
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Vita Bekker - July 2, 2009 - 12:00am

Amnesty International on Thursday accused Israel and Hamas of having committed “serious and extensive” violations during Israel’s assault in the Gaza Strip and urged the international community to boost its support for a United Nations inquiry into the alleged war crimes. In its 119-page report, the London-based human rights group also called on Israel and Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, to fully co-operate with the UN probe headed by Richard Goldstone, an ex-chief prosecutor at the international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

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One Gaza fisherman's tale of tribulation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Christian Science Monitor
by Mel Frykberg - July 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Israel's naval blockade of the waters off Gaza – part of a wider Israeli effort to seal off the tiny coastal strip controlled by the Islamist militant group Hamas – is devastating a key Gazan industry and source of food: fishing.

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Report Criticizes Israeli Drone Strike
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The New York Times
by Christopher Drew - June 30, 2009 - 12:00am

Twenty-nine civilians, including eight children, were killed in several missile strikes by Israeli drones in Gaza in December and January, according to a report released on Tuesday by Human Rights Watch. The group questioned whether Israeli forces had taken “all feasible precautions” to avoid civilian casualties. Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich, a spokeswoman for the Israeli military, said Israeli forces had gone to extraordinary lengths to warn civilians during the Gaza offensive, and she questioned the credibility of some of the Palestinian witnesses cited by the advocacy group.

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Gaza residents 'live in despair'
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Aleem Maqbool - June 29, 2009 - 12:00am

In a report, it said that a main cause was the continuing Israeli blockade. The report comes six months after the end of Israel's military offensive in Gaza in which at least 1,100 Palestinians died. Israel said the offensive was aimed at curbing rocket attacks into southern Israel by Palestinian militants. The Red Cross says that the people of Gaza are unable to rebuild their lives and are sliding ever deeper into despair. There is not the cement or steel to reconstruct neighbourhoods hit by Israeli strikes.

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Israel plays down reports of imminent Gaza deal
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters
by Adam Entous, Alastair MacDonald - June 26, 2009 - 12:00am

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli officials played down reports on Friday that a deal was close with Hamas that would include the release of an Israeli soldier held captive in the Gaza Strip in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Israeli and Palestinian political sources and Western diplomats confirmed, however, that Egyptian mediators were still working on a package of measures that could combine exchanges of prisoners, ceasefire agreements, an easing of Israel's blockade on Gaza and rapprochement between rival Palestinian factions.

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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?

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UN: Prosecutions Unlikely in Gaza Investigation
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
June 9, 2009 - 12:00am

A veteran UN war crimes investigator acknowledged his probe of possible war crimes by Israel and Hamas - which included interviewing dozens of victims and poring through the files of human rights groups - is unlikely to lead to prosecutions. Israel has refused to cooperate, depriving his team access to military sources and victims of Hamas rockets. And Hamas security often accompanied his team during their five-day trip to Gaza last week, raising questions about the ability of witnesses to freely describe the group's actions.

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UN's Gaza War Crimes Investigation Faces Obstacles
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Associated Press
by Ben Hubbard - June 9, 2009 - 12:00am

A veteran U.N. war crimes investigator acknowledged his probe of possible war crimes by Israel and Hamas — which included interviewing dozens of victims and poring through the files of human rights groups — is unlikely to lead to prosecutions. Israel has refused to cooperate, depriving his team access to military sources and victims of Hamas rockets. And Hamas security often accompanied his team during their five-day trip to Gaza last week, raising questions about the ability of witnesses to freely describe the militant group's actions.

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'Militants die' in Israel-Gaza border clash
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC World News
June 8, 2009 - 12:00am

Four Palestinian militants have died in a clash with Israeli soldiers along the Israel-Gaza border, medics and officials in the Hamas-run Strip say. Up to 10 Palestinian gunmen tried to cross the heavily fortified border into Israel, Palestinian officials said. The Israeli military says troops opened fire after being shot at by the gunmen. It is one of the most serious outbreaks of violence between Israel and militants from Gaza since the end of a three-week conflict in January.

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