Shin Bet: Egypt doing little to stop Gaza arms smugglers
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Hanan Greenberg - May 12, 2011 - 12:00am

A Shin Bet document paints a bleak picture of Gaza arms smuggling operations and states that the potential threat they pose to Israel has increased since the Egyptian revolution. According to Shin Bet data, hundreds of rockets capable of hitting targets within a 12-25 mile range, have been smuggled into the Gaza Strip since last year. In addition, some 1,000 mortar shells, dozens of anti-tank missiles and tons of both explosives and explosive-manufacturing materials, have found their way into the hands of Gaza militants in the past year.

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Opening of Rafah crossing offers Israel challenges
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Adam Gonn - May 1, 2011 - 12:00am

The Egyptian government's recent decision to open the Rafah border crossing point, the only land route into the Gaza Strip that doesn't pass through the Israeli territory, has left Israel scrambling for a response. Following the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June 2007, Israel has imposed a land and maritime blockade on the enclave.

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International activists harvest on Gaza border
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 26, 2011 - 12:00am

Just a kilometer from the 'security fence' separating Israel and Gaza, international solidarity activists and Palestinian volunteers on Monday began a wheat and barley harvest on behalf of landowners who fear Israeli artillery and gunfire in the no-go zone. Several Palestinian farmers have been killed and injured in the area as they tended their land or collected crops. The Israeli army imposes a no-go zone inside the Gaza Strip border areas, citing security concerns.

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Egypt closes Rafah crossing for holiday
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 25, 2011 - 12:00am

Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing on Monday as the country marked Sinai Liberation Day and Sham Al-Nessim, officials announced. Crossing director Ayyoub Abu Sha’ar told Ma'an that the terminal would be closed for one day as citizens marked the national holiday denoting the beginning of spring. The holiday always falls the day after the Eastern Orthodox Christian Easter. On Tuesday, the crossing will resume its five-day-a-week schedule, Abu Sha'ar said.


For Israelis and Palestinians, the status quo is neither sustainable nor desirable
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Gary Younge - (Opinion) April 25, 2011 - 12:00am

Back in 2008 a Florida couple running a small business that throws children's parties bought two costumes that looked like Tigger and Eeyore on eBay from a firm in Peru for $500. When Walt Disney saw the characters advertised online, it threatened legal action for an infringement of copyright laws and presented the couple with a seven-point demand to cease and desist.

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Egyptian government to ease siege on Gaza
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 22, 2011 - 12:00am

The Egyptian government will apply new procedures at the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border to ease travel for residents of the besieged coastal enclave, officials said Thursday. During a meeting in Cairo, Baha Ad-Dusuqi, head of Palestinian affairs in the Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informed Gaza government spokesman Taher An-Nunu that new measures would be in place at the terminal soon. An-Nunu appealed to the Egyptian government to open the Rafah crossing swiftly.

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Beit Ummar residents say town under siege
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 18, 2011 - 12:00am

Israeli forces erected checkpoints around the town of Beit Ummar Sunday afternoon, and carried out several home invasions, delivering summons to appear for questioning to at least one resident, locals said. Town activist Mohammad Ayyad Awwad told Ma'an that the measures came as part of an increase in restrictions and harassment against residents, and following the construction of a fence along the southern side of the village, restricting movement of residents and caging them into the town center.

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Israel reopens Gaza's only commercial crossing after week-long closure
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 13, 2011 - 12:00am

Israel on Wednesday reopened the only commercial crossing point with the Gaza Strip after a week of closure, a Palestinian official said. About 250 trucks carrying cooking gas, diesel and aid for commercial and agricultural sectors will enter Gaza Wednesday and two truckloads of flowers would be exported through the Kerem Shalom crossing, said Ra'ed Fattouh, a Palestinian coordination official. Israel cited security concerns when it closed the crossing last week.

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Total blockade of Gaza hits seventh day
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
April 12, 2011 - 12:00am

With a truce holding and calm restored in southern Israel and the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces informed Gaza crossings officials that terminals would remain closed, citing only "security reasons." Palestinian liaison official Raed Fattouh said he was not told when goods transport would resume for Gaza, adding that the closure meant no goods had entered Gaza for a week. Crossings were closed two days ahead of an escalation in confrontations along the Gaza border area, cutting off access to supplies including aid and humanitarian goods.

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Gaza farmers suffer severe loss due to crossing shut down
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
April 12, 2011 - 12:00am

The closure of the only commercial crossing point in the Gaza Strip may cause severe losses to Gaza farmers, a farming society warned Tuesday. The Society of Palestinian Flower and Strawberry Farmers said that more than two million flowers are reserved in refrigerators and cannot be delivered to the European markets because Kerem Shaloom crossing has been closed since Wednesday by Israel authorities due to security concerns. "The flowers and those still not harvested would shrivel," the society warned in a statement.

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