Know More About Palestine
News & Politics
  • Thursday Sept. 14, 2023 1:32 PM (EST+7)
    Thirty Years After Oslo: Without a Political Future, the Palestinian National Authority Has No Future at All

  • Tuesday Aug. 16, 2022 11:21 PM (EST+7)
    Poll No. 99: Public Demands Role for Palestinian Youth in Decision Making Bodies

  • Tuesday April 20, 2021 1:48 PM (EST+7)
    POLL: Barghouthi leads in possible presidential race, Fatah ahead of Hamas in legislative vote
    Imprisoned Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi holds a commanding lead over President Abu Mazen and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a three-way race, were presidential elections held today, according to a new JMCC and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung poll. The poll, conducted between April 3-13, also shows the standing of candidates in legislative elections scheduled for May 22 this year.

  • Monday June 22, 2020 7:28 PM (EST+7)
    POLL: Palestinians unify around social security law
    Palestinians appear to have unified around the establishment of a social security law, one year after the government halted its implementation of the law for the third time in its history.

  • Wednesday March 25, 2020 9:50 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Coronavirus, the kingmaker
    For some politicians, COVID-19 is a gift from God for their fortunes, but for others, an existential threat. What is sorely missed in the crisis is a global solution to the pandemic, which knows no borders.

  • Monday April 8, 2019 8:41 PM (EST+7)
    New poll shows broad Palestinian support for elections, despite disillusionment
    A broad majority of Palestinians support the holding of legislative and presidential elections, despite that nearly half worry that they will not be free and fair, finds a new Jerusalem Media & Communications Center poll.

  • Sunday Feb. 10, 2019 3:10 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: A cure, before our condition becomes terminal
    What is sickening the body politic is the ongoing imbalance between the three branches of authority in the Palestinian system – legislative, judicial and executive. The lack of a counterweight for an unhealthy increase in the executive authority’s power has elicited both anger and protest.

  • Tuesday Oct. 16, 2018 6:20 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian support for negotiations at peak as Gaza conflict intensifies
    Palestinian public support for negotiations with Israel is at an all time high, finds a new Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre poll, despite a moratorium on talks and increasing threats of war.

  • Thursday Aug. 23, 2018 10:40 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Trump's 'Deal of the Century' will doom peace between Israelis and Palestinians - Khatib in WPR
    Despite repeatedly announcing his intention to present a bold, sweeping plan to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. President Donald Trump continues to keep everyone waiting. If he ever does present his plan, it is set to backfire, for several reasons.

  • Monday Aug. 6, 2018 8:42 PM (EST+7)
    25 years after Oslo accord, Palestinians sour on deal, new poll shows
    Today most Palestinians oppose the Oslo accords, and many think the agreement ran counter to Palestinian national interests, finds a new poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre. 

  • Saturday Feb. 17, 2018 5:12 PM (EST+7)
    Assessing the aftershocks: a Palestinian view of Trump’s policies
    The dramatic changes in United States policy on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land are bringing a new paradigm to the region – indeed, we have witnessed a political earthquake.

  • Monday Oct. 30, 2017 4:38 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Reconciliation could bring light to Gaza – or be a trap
    Hamas seems to be trying to throw a hot potato – the impossible task of governing under occupation and blockade – into the lap of its rival.

  • Tuesday Sept. 26, 2017 4:13 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Dangerous duo will perpetuate suffering for Palestinians and Israelis
    Washington is disqualifying itself from the leading mediation role it has played in the past. As time goes on, Palestinians are increasingly unable to see any difference between the positions of Israel and the United States.

  • Wednesday Sept. 6, 2017 7:58 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian politics is shifting, according to new JMCC poll
    Unprecedented numbers of Palestinians say they don't trust any Palestinian faction, at the same time that imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti has risen markedly as a possible presidential candidate, according to the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center poll released on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday March 1, 2017 6:00 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians pessimistic on peace in Trump era, says JMCC poll
    Most Palestinians are pessimistic about the prospects for peace after the election of Donald Trump as US president, found a poll published by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center on Thursday.

  • Monday Dec. 19, 2016 7:22 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Palestinians enter a new, challenging era
    It is no longer possible to ignore the impact of three important developments that have ushered the Palestinian cause into a new, more challenging and less suitable political environment - one that requires a radical review of the mechanisms of Palestinian political action.

  • Monday March 14, 2016 3:17 PM (EST+7)
    Most Palestinians support Intifada, but not most West Bankers
    Most Palestinians say they support the current uprising or Intifada found a poll released on Sunday by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center.

  • Tuesday Oct. 6, 2015 1:31 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Laying out a new paradigm
    Through a deceitful companionship of force and negotiations, Israel has imposed a status quo that is prohibited in international law and incompatible with the two-state solution.

  • Monday Sept. 7, 2015 3:33 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Succession fever? Is there a cure?
    President Abbas is likely to be the final president of the Palestinian Authority as we know it.

  • Tuesday Sept. 1, 2015 5:25 PM (EST+7)
    JMCC Poll: Talk of leadership shift brings no obvious successor
    A poll published Tuesday by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center found that, despite shifts in leadership after the resignation of Mahmoud Abbas from the helm of the Palestine Liberation Organization, there is no clear successor for the Palestinian president.

  • Monday March 9, 2015 8:17 PM (EST+7)
    JMCC Poll: Palestinians support ICC move, despite salary repercussions
    A recent poll conducted by tbe Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre finds that most Palestinians (69%) support the Palestinian leadership's move to appeal to the International Criminal Court, even in the face of Israel's resulting economic sanctions.

  • Tuesday Aug. 12, 2014 4:16 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: What can stop this war?
    As much as Hamas and Israel had strong motives for starting this war, the escalation has gained its own dynamic that is making it difficult for the fighting parties and mediators to end it.

  • Monday July 21, 2014 6:09 AM (EST+7)
    Israel continues Gaza shelling, while probing claims of kidnapped soldier
    Israeli tanks shelled militant targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday and a woman died in an air strike after the bloodiest day for both sides of a nearly two-week military offensive that showed no signs of abating despite global calls for a truce.

  • Monday July 14, 2014 7:58 PM (EST+7)
    A week on, Gaza war takes on deadly routine despite calls for truce
    Palestinian militants resumed rocket attacks on Tel Aviv on Monday after a 24-hour lull in strikes on the Israeli commercial capital, and Israel kept up its air and naval bombardments of the Gaza Strip despite growing international pressure for a ceasefire.

  • Monday July 14, 2014 7:38 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill Palestinian stone-thrower in West Bank
    Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian man during clashes with stone-throwers in the occupied West Bank on Monday, both sides said, as tensions mounted over Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

  • Thursday July 3, 2014 5:47 AM (EST+7)
    Suspected Israeli revenge killing of Palestinian triggers clashes
    The body of an abducted Palestinian youth was found in Jerusalem on Wednesday, raising suspicions he had been killed by Israelis avenging the deaths of three abducted Jewish teens.

  • Tuesday June 24, 2014 5:51 PM (EST+7)
    Israel says slowing crackdown in search for missing teens
    Israel said it was easing a crackdown on Hamas in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday after the dragnet, accompanying a search for three Israeli teenagers, raised fears of a Palestinian uprising.

  • Monday June 16, 2014 7:17 AM (EST+7)
    Israel expands West Bank hunt for missing teens, Palestinian killed
    Israeli forces searching for three teenagers believed to have been kidnapped swept into a second West Bank city on Monday, touching off street confrontations in which they killed a Palestinian, witnesses and hospital officials said.

  • Tuesday June 3, 2014 8:15 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill Palestinian at West Bank checkpoint
    Israeli troops on Tuesday shot dead a Palestinian who the military said had opened fire and wounded a soldier at a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.

  • Tuesday June 3, 2014 8:09 PM (EST+7)
    Obama administration to work with Palestinian unity government
    President Barack Obama's administration said on Monday it plans to work with and fund the new Palestinian unity government, and Israel immediately voiced its disappointment with the decision also criticized by some U.S. lawmakers.


  • Saturday May 10, 2014 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    Israel fires back at US envoy over peace talks failure
    Israel fired back on Friday at a senior U.S. official, who blamed Jewish settlement construction in part for the breakdown of peacemaking with the Palestinians, saying he himself had done nothing to help the negotiations.

  • Saturday May 10, 2014 10:15 AM (EST+7)
    Rights groups urge Palestinians to join International Criminal Court
    Palestinian and international rights groups urged President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), building on U.N. recognition of Palestinian statehood two years ago.

  • Wednesday May 7, 2014 11:20 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli settlers launch enclave in East Jerusalem business center
    The smell of fresh paint wafts through the domed lobby of the latest Israeli arrival in East Jerusalem - a Jewish seminary in a bustling commercial area in the same building as a post office serving thousands of Palestinians every day.

  • Friday May 2, 2014 9:23 PM (EST+7)
    West Bank Hamas rally tests new Palestinian unity pact
    Over a thousand supporters of the Islamist group Hamas marched through the streets of a West Bank stronghold of its rival Fateh party on Wednesday, testing a surprise Palestinian unity pact the two signed last week.

  • Friday May 2, 2014 9:16 PM (EST+7)
    Kerry to pause, reassess after failed Palestinian-Israeli peace bid
    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday he would pause and reassess what might be possible after failing to meet his April 29 goal for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, saying both sides still wanted to try to negotiate.

  • Friday April 25, 2014 9:57 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian PM offers to quit, easing way for unity government
    Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah offered his resignation on Friday, the official news agency WAFA said, a move which may pave the way for a unity government agreed between President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas.

  • Friday April 25, 2014 9:54 PM (EST+7)
    US: Israeli-Palestinian peace process in holding pattern
    The United States said on Friday the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had come to a standstill, all but acknowledging U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will fail to meet his goal of a peace deal by April 29.


  • Thursday April 24, 2014 5:57 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas, Abbas' PLO announce reconciliation agreement
    The Gaza-based Islamist group Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) announced a unity pact on Wednesday, deepening a crisis in U.S.-brokered peace talks with Israel.


  • Sunday April 20, 2014 4:36 AM (EST+7)
    UN peace envoy criticizes Israeli Easter security in Jerusalem
    Israeli police refused to let the U.N.'s peace envoy to the Middle East, other diplomats and a crowd of Palestinians pass through a barricade to attend a pre-Easter ritual in the Jerusalem church that Christians revere as the burial site of Jesus, the U.N. official said on Saturday.

  • Tuesday April 15, 2014 4:12 AM (EST+7)
    Photojournalist's take on Palestine full of humor
    Photojournalist Tanya Habjouqa's images of Palestine are full of humor and whimsy.

  • Tuesday April 15, 2014 3:56 AM (EST+7)
    Army: Israeli motorist killed in West Bank shooting
    An Israeli man was killed in a shooting attack on a civilian car near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover, military sources said.

  • Sunday April 13, 2014 8:39 PM (EST+7)
    Israel appropriates land in West Bank
    Israel has carried out a new land appropriation in the occupied West Bank, the Haaretz daily said on Sunday, in a move that could complicate efforts to extend troubled peace talks with the Palestinians.

  • Wednesday March 26, 2014 3:05 PM (EST+7)
    Arab summit struggles to handle rifts, stave off "enormous" peril
    Warning of "enormous" dangers, Kuwait urged fellow Arab leaders on Tuesday to resolve disputes complicating crises such as Syria's war and unrest in Egypt, but diplomats said tensions bubbled behind the scenes at an annual heads of state summit.

  • Thursday Feb. 27, 2014 9:27 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank
    Israeli forces opened fire and killed a Palestinian they were seeking to arrest in the occupied West Bank town of Birzeit on Thursday, after the man had barricaded himself inside his house, Reuters witnesses said.

  • Thursday Feb. 27, 2014 9:16 PM (EST+7)
    Obama, Abbas to meet at White House March 17
    President Barack Obama will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on March 17 to talk about Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the White House said on Thursday.

  • Tuesday Feb. 18, 2014 1:51 AM (EST+7)
    Kerry to meet Abbas on Wednesday
    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris on Wednesday, the State Department said, as he seeks to nudge Israel and the Palestinians toward a peace deal by the end of April.

  • Tuesday Feb. 18, 2014 1:46 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas: We don't want to flood Israel with Palestinian refugees
    Addressing a sticking point in U.S.-brokered peace talks, President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday dismissed charges by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wanted to "flood" Israel with Palestinian refugees.

  • Monday Jan. 27, 2014 6:14 PM (EST+7)
    Actress and occupation become new internet meme
    As a boycott of the Israeli company Soda Stream gains steam, a new meme of the company's starlet ambassador Scarlett Johansson juxtaposed upon suffering Palestinians is making its way around the internet.

  • Monday Jan. 27, 2014 6:00 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: As talks struggle, Israel and Palestinians assess price of failure
    Even as Palestinians and Israelis strive for an elusive peace deal to end their generations-old conflict, the two sides are preparing for failure.


  • Wednesday Jan. 22, 2014 5:38 PM (EST+7)
    Israel kills Gazan blamed for rockets during Sharon funeral
    Israel killed two Gaza gunmen in an air strike on Wednesday, blaming one of them for firing rockets across the border during former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's funeral last week.

  • Wednesday July 31, 2013 4:58 PM (EST+7)
    Israel, Palestinians strive for peace deal within nine months
    Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on Tuesday gave themselves about nine months to try to reach an agreement on ending their conflict of more than six decades in U.S.-brokered peace talks.

  • Wednesday July 24, 2013 11:51 PM (EST+7)
    US court invalidates passport law on status of Jerusalem
    A federal appeals court on Tuesday invalidated a U.S. law that was designed to allow American citizens born in Jerusalem to have Israel listed as their birthplace on passports.

  • Sunday May 26, 2013 6:53 AM (EST+7)
    Aid groups urge EU to fulfill commitments to Palestinians
    A group of 80 international aid agencies urged the European Union on Saturday to follow through on pledges it made last year to back Palestinian communities seen as vulnerable to Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

  • Sunday May 26, 2013 6:19 AM (EST+7)
    Kerry says Israelis, Palestinians must make tough decisions
    Israeli and Palestinian leaders must decide soon on whether to revive long-dormant peace negotiations to end their decades-old conflict, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday.

  • Wednesday May 22, 2013 4:09 AM (EST+7)
    Chief Palestinian negotiator backs Kerry's efforts
    The top Palestinian negotiator with Israel on Monday threw his weight behind U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's bid to revive stalled peace talks, while describing the situation in the West Bank as apartheid worse than that suffered in South Africa.

  • Wednesday May 15, 2013 9:03 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas and Fateh to settle governance differences in three months
    Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fateh have agreed to work to implement a reconciliation agreement and resolve outstanding differences over power-sharing in three months, reports the AFP.

  • Wednesday May 15, 2013 8:47 PM (EST+7)
    Thousands of Palestinians rally to mark 65 years since displacement
    Palestinians clashed with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday during demonstrations to mark 65 years since what they call the Nakba (Catastrophe) when Israel's creation caused many to lose their homes and become refugees.

  • Monday May 13, 2013 8:29 PM (EST+7)
    Israel vows to stop using white phosphorus, with conditions
    Israel has told its High Court that its military will stop using white phosphorus artillery shells in populated areas, save for two exceptions that were not put on the public record, reports Haaretz.

  • Monday May 13, 2013 8:09 PM (EST+7)
    Canada deports Palestinian hijacker after 25-year legal battle
    After a 25-year legal battle, Canada has finally deported a Palestinian convicted of an attack on an Israeli airliner in 1968, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said on Monday.


  • Wednesday May 8, 2013 8:38 PM (EST+7)
    Hawking bows out of Israeli conference, backs Palestinians
    The British cosmologist Stephen Hawking has pulled out of a prestigious Israeli conference as part of an academic boycott to protest against Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands, Cambridge University said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday May 8, 2013 8:29 PM (EST+7)
    Kerry to visit Mideast to see Netanyahu, Abbas later this month
    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday he would return to the Middle East later this month for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he seeks to revive peace talks.

  • Monday May 6, 2013 4:37 AM (EST+7)
    Israel pursues "war-within-war" in Syria air strikes
    Iran was squarely in Israel's sights when it sent its planes to hit targets in Syria, waging a war-within-a-war that showed a readiness to strike out alone if its red lines were crossed.

  • Monday May 6, 2013 4:18 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's Netanyahu, Palestine's Abbas head to China
    China will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas next week for separate bilateral talks as it tries to shore up its role in a region where its diplomatic influence is limited.

  • Wednesday May 1, 2013 6:19 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian killed in Gaza in targeted Israeli airstrike
    Israel on Tuesday launched its first targeted attack on a militant in Gaza since a war in November, killing a Palestinian in an air strike that put further strain on a five-month-old ceasefire.

  • Wednesday May 1, 2013 6:07 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian kills Israeli settler in West Bank
    A Palestinian man stabbed and shot dead an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Israeli ambulance service and police said.

  • Thursday April 25, 2013 8:15 PM (EST+7)
    Reports: US to convene four-way Mideast summit in June
    US officials are planning to convene a summit on the Middle East peace process in June that would include Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah, reports Haaretz.

  • Thursday April 25, 2013 8:01 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli military: Israel shoots down drone from Lebanon
    An Israeli fighter plane shot down a drone from Lebanon over the Mediterranean sea on Thursday as it was approaching the Israeli coast, the military said.


  • Thursday April 25, 2013 6:09 AM (EST+7)
    Top Israeli lawyer rebuffs criticism of email checks at border
    Israel's top legal adviser on Wednesday rebuffed criticism of authorities for asking travelers entering the Jewish state to show border officers their emails, saying the checks affecting only certain foreign nationals were lawful.

  • Thursday April 25, 2013 6:04 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian prisoner ends fast after deal with Israel
    A Palestinian prisoner whose hunger strike had stoked weeks of protests in the West Bank ended his eight-month on-off fast on Tuesday in exchange for early release by Israel, Palestinian officials said.

  • Wednesday April 17, 2013 5:41 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas likely to delay Fayyad exit, awaiting US moves
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is likely to keep Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in office for the next few weeks while the United States tries to revive Middle East peace talks, officials said on Monday.


  • Friday April 12, 2013 2:46 AM (EST+7)
    Like many, US-Palestinian boy faces military trial for throwing rocks
    A 14-year-old boy with dual U.S.-Palestinian citizenship went before an Israeli military court on Thursday accused of throwing stones at Israeli cars in the occupied West Bank.

  • Friday April 12, 2013 2:37 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian president under pressure to back Fayyad
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas faced pressure from Western allies on Thursday not to let Prime Minister Salam Fayyad quit at a time when Washington is seeking to resurrect Middle East peace talks.

  • Wednesday March 27, 2013 1:53 AM (EST+7)
    Israel restores tax transfers to Palestinian Authority
    Israel said on Monday it would restart regular monthly tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority, restoring vital funding days after U.S. President Barack Obama called for confidence-building steps towards peace.

  • Monday March 25, 2013 2:37 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces dismantle second protest encampment
    Israeli soldiers dismantled a Palestinian tent village established in the West Bank to protest continued Israeli settlement expansion. The encampment was set up on the first day of US President Barack Obama's trip to the region in the E1 area, one of the last remaining areas for Palestinians to build in the West Bank, reports the LA Times.

  • Monday March 25, 2013 1:51 AM (EST+7)
    Israel says fence-mending with Turks does not end Gaza blockade
    Israel did not commit to ending its Gaza blockade as part of reconciliation with Turkey and could clamp down even harder on the Palestinian enclave if security is threatened, Israeli officials said on Sunday.

  • Wednesday March 20, 2013 5:48 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Why is Obama rewarding Netanyahu's bad behavior?
    US President Barack Obama arrived in Israel today and appears to be talking nice to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Writing in Slate, Janine Zacharia asks why the US president is taking time out to fete an ally that has gone out of his way to insult and demean him and his administration?

  • Wednesday March 20, 2013 5:27 PM (EST+7)
    Obama arrives in Israel, vows undying US support
    Making his first official visit to Israel, U.S. President Barack Obama pledged on Wednesday unwavering commitment to the security of the Jewish State where concern over a nuclear-armed Iran has clouded U.S.-Israeli relations.

  • Wednesday March 20, 2013 2:56 AM (EST+7)
    Anti-Obama protesters scuffle with Palestinian police
    Palestinian police scuffled on Tuesday with scores of demonstrators protesting against the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama to the occupied West Bank later this week.

  • Wednesday March 20, 2013 2:40 AM (EST+7)
    Obama heads to Mideast amid low expectations
    U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in Israel on Wednesday without any new peace initiative to offer disillusioned Palestinians and facing deep Israeli doubts over his pledge to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.

  • Wednesday March 13, 2013 2:17 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill youth, wound two in clashes
    Israeli troops killed a Palestinian youth on Tuesday during a confrontation with a stone-throwing crowd in a flashpoint district of the occupied West Bank, both sides said.

  • Wednesday March 13, 2013 2:03 AM (EST+7)
    Venezuela points to Arafat as it promises Chavez poisoning probe
    Venezuela will set up a formal inquiry into suspicions that the late President Hugo Chavez's cancer was the result of poisoning by his enemies abroad, the government said.

  • Tuesday March 12, 2013 2:59 AM (EST+7)
    Obama meets Arab American leaders ahead of Middle East trip
    President Barack Obama on Monday met Arab American leaders who urged him to deliver a message of hope to the Palestinian people on his Middle East trip this month, even though he has made clear he will not use the visit to launch a new Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative.

  • Sunday March 10, 2013 2:56 PM (EST+7)
    Historic Sebastiya stages demo to fight settler takeover
    The Palestinian village of Sebastiya near Nablus has been pushing back encroaching Israeli settlers for months. On Friday, however, it held its first demonstration alongside Israeli activists after settlers began dumping sewage on the village farmland, reports the Daily Beast.

  • Sunday March 10, 2013 2:36 PM (EST+7)
    J Street claims Hagel fight as victory
    J Street, a liberal Jewish-American lobbying group barely five years old and once shunned by top Israeli officials, is claiming as a victory the fact that Chuck Hagel was confirmed as defense secretary despite opposition from more conservative Jewish groups.

  • Saturday March 9, 2013 11:23 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza tunnels flooded with sewage in Egypt crackdown
    The flooding of Gaza's tunnel network with sewage has raised the ire of Palestinians who make their living in the underground trade.

  • Saturday March 9, 2013 10:55 PM (EST+7)
    Cartoonist joins thousands in Israeli jails
    Palestinian cartoonist Mohammed Saba'aneh was detained by Israel in February and is being held in administrative detention - essentially without being charged, reports PRI.

  • Saturday March 9, 2013 10:47 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians clash with Israeli forces in West Bank, Jerusalem
    Clashes broke out between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank and at a holy site in Jerusalem on Friday as tensions rose just weeks before a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.

  • Sunday March 3, 2013 9:48 PM (EST+7)
    Israel temporarily halts settlement bids
    Israel has ordered a temporary freeze in the issuing of tenders for settlements, considered illegal by the international community and a sensitive point with key ally the United States.

  • Sunday March 3, 2013 9:36 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian finance minister quits in budget dispute
    Palestinian Finance Minister Nabil Kassis announced his resignation on Sunday, saying the government had failed to address a gaping budget deficit.

  • Tuesday Feb. 19, 2013 0:26 AM (EST+7)
    Aide: Egypt flooded tunnels to cut Gaza arms flow
    Egypt will not tolerate a two-way flow of smuggled arms with the Gaza Strip that is destabilizing its Sinai peninsula, a senior aide to its Islamist president said, explaining why Egyptian forces flooded sub-border tunnels last week.

  • Wednesday Feb. 13, 2013 12:47 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians, Catholic order make final appeal against Wall
    Palestinians and Salesian monks and nuns made one more appeal to Israeli courts Wednesday to ask that Israel reroute the Wall that is severing homes and land from the nearby urban center of Bethlehem, reports the AFP.

  • Wednesday Feb. 13, 2013 12:33 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians take a step towards unity, doubts remain
    Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank started registering on Monday to vote in a long-delayed election that is aimed at healing nearly six years of bitter rifts among rival factions.

  • Thursday Feb. 7, 2013 3:37 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian President Abbas chides leaders over Gaza visits
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hit out at leaders who make official visits to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, telling an Islamic summit on Wednesday such trips deepened the schism among Palestinians.

  • Thursday Feb. 7, 2013 2:52 AM (EST+7)
    Obama to visit Israel in spring with Mideast talks, Iran agenda
    President Barack Obama plans to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan this spring, the White House said on Tuesday, raising the prospects of a new U.S. push to restart long-stalled Israel-Palestinian peace efforts.

  • Monday Feb. 4, 2013 4:37 AM (EST+7)
    New US Secretary of State Kerry speaks to Netanyahu, Abbas about peace
    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stressed his commitment to promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace on Sunday in telephone calls to the leaders of both sides, the State Department said.

  • Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013 4:01 AM (EST+7)
    Israel first to boycott UN human rights review
    Israel boycotted the United Nations' human rights forum on Tuesday, becoming the first country ever to decline to attend a session that was due to scrutinize its own rights record.

  • Monday Jan. 28, 2013 5:21 AM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: Extrajudicial Gaza killings haunt relatives of those accused and untried
    Ashraf Aweidah was one of several men killed by armed assailants at a Gaza intersection late last year before his trial on charges of spying for Israel. His family, reports al-Monitor, maintains his innocence and human rights groups decry punishment without a proper trial.

  • Monday Jan. 28, 2013 4:27 AM (EST+7)
    Israel admits giving birth control to unwitting Ethiopian immigrants
    Israel's health ministry has ordered doctors to stop administering Depo-Provera, a contraceptive, to Ethiopian Jewish women after a journalist found evidence that the immigrants were being administered the drug without their consent, reports The Independent.

  • Sunday Jan. 27, 2013 3:11 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas asks Israel to let in Palestinians fleeing Syria
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tried to get Israel to let 150,000 Palestinians fleeing war in Syria resettle in the West Bank, but dropped the request after the Jewish state demanded they first give up their right of return, he said.

  • Wednesday Jan. 23, 2013 6:21 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian woman in rising number of shooting deaths
    Israeli soldiers shot dead a 21-year-old Palestinian woman near the West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday and wounded another local youth, Palestinian medics said.

  • Wednesday Jan. 23, 2013 5:39 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli voters punish Netanyahu but keep him in power
    Benjamin Netanyahu set about forging a new ruling coalition on Wednesday after Israeli voters fed up with state coddling of ultra-Orthodox Jews chastised him by propelling an upstart centrist party to prominence.

  • Tuesday Jan. 22, 2013 4:34 AM (EST+7)
    Israel removes Palestinian protest camp outside Jerusalem
    Israeli forces removed Palestinian protest tents from land adjoining a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the second such camp to be torn down in a week.

  • Monday Jan. 21, 2013 4:46 AM (EST+7)
    WATCH: Israeli soldiers arrest mother, 18-month old child
    A woman and her 18-month-old child were among 15 Palestinians and their supporters arrested Saturday as they tried to reach Palestinian lands in the southern Hebron hills.

  • Monday Jan. 21, 2013 4:23 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians establish new camp 'Dignity' to protest Wall
    Palestinians established a new camp called "Dignity Village" Sunday on the lands of Beit Iksa village near Ramallah to protest Israel's confiscation of 115 acres of land to build the Wall that runs through much of the occupied West Bank, reports AFP.

  • Monday Jan. 21, 2013 4:10 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu set to win Israel vote, but losing steam
    Four days before Israel's parliamentary election, opinion polls published on Friday showed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still set to win, although his support had slipped to its lowest point in the campaign so far.

  • Sunday Jan. 20, 2013 10:28 PM (EST+7)
    Over a dozen injured in Ramallah refugee camp clashes
    Initial reports indicate that more than a dozen Palestinians, among them Palestinian Authority security forces and civilians, were injured Sunday night in clashes that broke out in al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah.

  • Thursday Jan. 17, 2013 5:40 AM (EST+7)
    Israel court okays removal of Palestinian protest tents
    Israel's Supreme Court gave the government the go-ahead on Wednesday to remove tents Palestinian activists pitched on a patch of West Bank land marked for Jewish settlements.

  • Saturday Jan. 12, 2013 2:30 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians pitch tents on land Israel plans for settlers
    Palestinians from villages in the occupied West Bank near Jerusalem pitched tents on Friday on land Israel has earmarked for a new urban settlement, looking to preserve the area for an independent Palestinian state.

  • Thursday Jan. 10, 2013 9:52 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Politics, fun mark images of snow
    A blog by the Jerusalem Fund gathers together some of the beautiful and amusing images being shared by those in the region as Palestinians experience a rare deep snowfall.

  • Thursday Jan. 10, 2013 9:10 PM (EST+7)
    Rare snowstorm paralyzes Jerusalem area and north
    The worst snowstorm in 20 years shut government offices, public transport and schools in Jerusalem and along the northern Israeli region bordering on Lebanon on Thursday.

  • Thursday Jan. 10, 2013 9:01 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt says Palestinian rivals agree to enact unity deal
    An Egyptian official said the leaders of the Palestinian Hamas and Fateh factions had agreed at talks in Cairo on Wednesday to implement a long-delayed reconciliation pact, although it was unclear if the deal would extend beyond holding more talks.

  • Wednesday Jan. 9, 2013 5:23 AM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Israeli ex-security chief sees risk of Palestinian uprising
    Israel faces the prospect of a new Palestinian uprising because of despair over the gridlock in peacemaking, a former head of the Israeli internal intelligence agency who is standing in the Jan. 22 election said on Tuesday.

  • Monday Dec. 31, 2012 4:56 PM (EST+7)
    Israel allows private building material into Gaza
    Israel eased its blockade of Gaza on Sunday, allowing a shipment of gravel for private construction into the Palestinian territory for the first time since Hamas seized control in 2007.

  • Monday Dec. 31, 2012 4:44 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli court: Barred Arab candidate can run in election
    Israel's Supreme Court ruled on Sunday an Arab lawmaker could stand in elections, overturning her disqualification by electoral officials over her participation in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in 2010.

  • Tuesday Dec. 18, 2012 6:10 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Israel's Likud and Labor could be headed for post-election coalition
    On January 22, Israelis will go to the polls. There seems little doubt that current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads the Likud, will win the most seats and be tasked with forming a coalition. But he might try to avoid his current coalition conflicts by joining up with the Labor party, writes blogger Michael Kaplow.

  • Tuesday Dec. 18, 2012 5:47 PM (EST+7)
    Israel presses on with plans for 6,000 new settler homes
    Israeli officials said they would press on with plans this week to build 6,000 homes for settlers on land claimed by Palestinians, defying criticism from Western powers who fear the move will hit already faint hopes for a peace accord.

  • Tuesday Dec. 18, 2012 5:18 PM (EST+7)
    Thousand Palestinians enter Lebanon after Damascus fighting
    More than 1,000 Palestinian refugees living in Syria have crossed into Lebanon in the past 24 hours, a source at the Lebanese border said on Tuesday, after Syrian rebels took control of a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus and the government began shelling the camp.

  • Thursday Dec. 13, 2012 3:51 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill Palestinian youth in West Bank
    Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian teenager on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron after the youth threatened them with what appeared to be a pistol, but which may not have been a real weapon, a police spokesman said.

  • Thursday Dec. 13, 2012 3:42 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to hold Palestinian funds until March, at least
    Israel will withhold tax revenues from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's administration until March at least in response to his statehood campaign at the United Nations, Israel's foreign minister said.

  • Sunday Dec. 9, 2012 0:29 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians refugees again, fleeing Syria for Jordan
    Only a fraction of the 500,000 Palestinian refugees living in Syria have fled the country despite months of fighting between the Syrian opposition and the government. The BBC interviews some of those who have made their way to Jordan, telling of fear and a lack of support.

  • Saturday Dec. 8, 2012 10:58 PM (EST+7)
    Feted in Gaza, Hamas leader hits out at Israel
    Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, in a defiant speech during his first ever visit to Gaza, told a mass rally on Saturday he would never recognize Israel and pledged to "free the land of Palestine inch by inch".

  • Friday Dec. 7, 2012 0:45 AM (EST+7)
    King of Jordan visits West Bank to congratulate Abbas
    King Abdullah of Jordan visited Palestinian leaders in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Thursday, congratulating them on a successful U.N. status upgrade in the teeth of Israel's threat to expand settlements.

  • Thursday Dec. 6, 2012 2:20 AM (EST+7)
    Home demolitions in Tur temporarily delayed
    Three Palestinian homes in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Tur were temporarily saved from demolition Tuesday when lawyers for the residents convinced the Israeli military that a court decision had delayed the razing, reports the +972 blog.

  • Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012 11:50 PM (EST+7)
    Israel pushes settlement plan ahead, EU summons envoy
    Israel moved ahead with plans to build 3,000 settler homes in one of the most sensitive areas of the West Bank, as the European Union summoned Israel's envoy to add its voice to a storm of international protest.

  • Wednesday Dec. 5, 2012 6:16 AM (EST+7)
    EU considers response to Israeli settlement building plans
    European Union states struggled to agree on Tuesday on a common response to Israel's plans to expand settlements in the West Bank, highlighting the divisions within the bloc over how to tackle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

  • Sunday Dec. 2, 2012 9:21 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu brushes off world condemnation of settlement plans
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday brushed off world condemnation of Israel's plans to expand Jewish settlements after the Palestinians won de facto U.N. recognition of statehood.

  • Sunday Dec. 2, 2012 8:53 PM (EST+7)
    Flag-waving Palestinians cheer Abbas for U.N. recognition win
    Crowds welcomed President Mahmoud Abbas back to the West Bank on Sunday and celebrated the United Nations General Assembly's de facto recognition of Palestinian statehood.

  • Wednesday Nov. 28, 2012 3:48 AM (EST+7)
    Samples taken from Arafat corpse for poison tests
    Forensic experts took samples from Yasser Arafat's corpse in the West Bank on Tuesday, trying to determine if he was murdered with the hard-to-trace radioactive poison, polonium.

  • Wednesday Nov. 28, 2012 3:38 AM (EST+7)
    Days before vote, France backs upgrade for 'Palestine' at U.N.
    France said on Tuesday it would vote in favor of Palestinian non-member status at the United Nations, an important boost in Palestinian efforts to secure greater international recognition.

  • Sunday Nov. 25, 2012 7:36 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas leader defiant as Israel eases Gaza restrictions
    Israel eased restrictions on Gaza fishermen and farmers on Saturday, Palestinian officials said, advancing a three-day-old truce brokered by Egypt after a week of fierce fighting.

  • Wednesday Nov. 21, 2012 1:54 PM (EST+7)
    IN GAZA: 'How can it be an accident that our children are killed?'
    The ever-present sounds of watchful drones and diving war planes have instilled the residents of Gaza with a sense that Israel is all-powerful, even as scores of children are killed, writes The Guardian.

  • Wednesday Nov. 21, 2012 1:33 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza truce requires consensus among armed groups
    The implementation of a ceasefire between Israel and armed forces in the Gaza Strip is not just a deal with Hamas, reports The National, and demands consensus between all of Gaza's armed groups.

  • Wednesday Nov. 21, 2012 12:53 PM (EST+7)
    Explosion hits bus in central Tel Aviv, 10 wounded
    An explosion hit a bus in the heart of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, wounding at least 10 people in what officials said was a terrorist attack.

  • Wednesday Nov. 21, 2012 3:01 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza shakes, Israelis killed as Clinton seeks truce
    Israeli air strikes shook the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rockets struck across the border as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks in Jerusalem in the early hours of Wednesday, seeking a truce that can hold back Israel's ground troops.

  • Monday Nov. 19, 2012 8:03 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians skeptical of Abbas statehood bid
    Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which has seen six days of Israeli airstrikes, sound off to Al-Monitor's Dalia Hatuqa about plans by the Palestine Liberation Organization to seek an upgrade in status at the United Nations at the end of this month.

  • Monday Nov. 19, 2012 7:14 PM (EST+7)
    Tears breed defiance at funeral for Gaza family
    Even as neighbors picked through the rubble of their destroyed house for survivors, the stunned Dalu family arrived at Gaza's main hospital on Monday to collect the bodies of nine relatives for burial.


  • Monday Nov. 19, 2012 3:09 PM (EST+7)
    OP-ED: Second Israeli war on Gaza, but first in Arab Spring
    This Gaza war could drag on--escalation serves the political interests and the agenda of both Hamas and the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

  • Saturday Nov. 17, 2012 7:10 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Bibi Netanyahu appears not to have planned his first war
    Analyst Mouin Rabbani traces the trajectory of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first war. While the outcome remains unclear, he says, writing in the London Review of Books blog, the intent of the ongoing assault on Gaza was to demonstrate to mainly Egypt and the United States "who makes the rules."

  • Saturday Nov. 17, 2012 6:53 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: Trapped in Gaza
    Contributor Lara Aburamadan writes poignantly in the New York Times of life in Gaza under the thunder of war

  • Saturday Nov. 17, 2012 6:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israel hits Hamas government buildings, reservists mobilized
    Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza on Saturday, including the prime minister's office, after Israel's cabinet authorized the mobilization of up to 75,000 reservists in preparation for a possible ground invasion.

  • Saturday Nov. 17, 2012 3:33 AM (EST+7)
    Egyptian diplomat denies Egypt mediating between Israel, Hamas
    The Egyptian diplomat stationed in Ramallah denied in an interview with al-Sharq al-Awsat that Egypt had been asked to negotiate between Israel and the Hamas government in Gaza, which has been the site of airstrikes for three days.

  • Saturday Nov. 17, 2012 0:07 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas: Israel trying to undermine Palestinian U.N. move
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel on Friday of launching an assault on the Gaza Strip to undermine his efforts to secure a diplomatic upgrade at the United Nations.

  • Friday Nov. 16, 2012 11:57 PM (EST+7)
    Israel cabinet authorizes mobilization of up to 75,000 reservists
    Israel's cabinet authorized on Friday mobilization of up to 75,000 reserve troops for a Gaza campaign, more than doubling the number of potential call-ups approved after the offensive began, political sources said.

  • Thursday Nov. 15, 2012 5:36 PM (EST+7)
    Phoney truce may have lured Hamas man into open
    Israel's leaders were literally looking in the opposite direction, and making sure everyone knew it, just before catching Hamas's top commander in the Gaza Strip off-guard in an air strike that killed him.

  • Thursday Nov. 15, 2012 3:50 PM (EST+7)
    Activist: Slain Hamas leader engaged in long-term Israel truce talks
    According to Israeli activist Gershon Baskin, Hamas military wing leader Ahmed Jabari, who was killed Wednesday in a targeted Israeli airstrike, had been involved in talks to reach a long-term ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Hamas leadership, reports Haaretz.

  • Thursday Nov. 15, 2012 3:34 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt's Mursi says Israel attacks on Gaza 'unacceptable'
    Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi condemned Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip as unacceptable on Thursday, in his harshest public criticism of Egypt's neighbor since taking office in June.

  • Thursday Nov. 15, 2012 8:38 AM (EST+7)
    War looms as 3 Israelis, 13 Palestinians dead
    A Hamas rocket killed three Israelis north of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, drawing the first blood from Israel as the Palestinian death toll rose to 13 and a military showdown lurched closer to all-out war with an invasion of the enclave.

  • Wednesday Nov. 14, 2012 7:52 PM (EST+7)
    Israel sees long days of Gaza combat, moots invasion
    Israel's aerial assault on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday could draw cross-border Palestinian rocket attacks and stretch into days of fighting, including a ground offensive if required, the Israeli military said.

  • Wednesday Nov. 14, 2012 5:40 PM (EST+7)
    Top Hamas commander assassinated in Israeli airstrike
    Israel killed the military commander of Hamas in an airstrike on the Gaza Strip Wednesday, bringing the two sides to the brink of a possible new war.

  • Monday Nov. 12, 2012 6:40 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian aide discounts Israeli sanctions threat
    Israel will not carry out its threat of financial sanctions if Palestinians achieve a statehood upgrade at the United Nations, a Palestinian diplomat predicted on Monday.

  • Monday Nov. 12, 2012 6:23 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza violence continues despite truce efforts
    Sporadic missile fire from the Gaza Strip hit southern Israel on Monday for a fourth straight day, with Egypt trying to secure a truce and Israel warning it was poised to toughen its response.

  • Saturday Nov. 10, 2012 6:20 PM (EST+7)
    Russia wants Palestinians kept out of Syria fighting
    Russia is "deeply concerned" by reports that each side in the Syrian conflict is enlisting and arming Palestinian refugees and said on Friday they should be kept out of the fighting.

  • Saturday Nov. 10, 2012 11:17 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli tank shells kill at least two, wound 20 in Gaza Strip
    Israeli tank shells killed at least two Palestinians and wounded 20 in the Gaza Strip on Saturday after an apparent attack on an Israeli army patrol along the Israel-Gaza border, Palestinian medics and local eyewitnesses said.

  • Wednesday Nov. 7, 2012 9:52 PM (EST+7)
    Obama victory spells trouble for Israel's Netanyahu
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces an even more awkward time with Washington and re-energized critics at home who accused him on Wednesday of backing the loser in the U.S. presidential election.

  • Tuesday Nov. 6, 2012 4:04 AM (EST+7)
    Arafat exhumation set for Nov. 26 over poison report
    The body of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is set to be exhumed on Nov. 26, eight years after his death, as part of an investigation to see if he was murdered, a diplomat said on Monday.

  • Thursday Oct. 25, 2012 8:10 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli official: Egypt brokers informal Israel/Gaza truce
    Palestinian militants held fire overnight on Thursday and Israel refrained from air strikes as an informal truce brokered by Egypt appeared to take hold following two days of violence along the Israel-Gaza border.


  • Thursday Oct. 25, 2012 8:02 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's Netanyahu, ally Lieberman merge parties
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main coalition partner, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, plan to merge their right-wing parties ahead of Israel's Jan. 22 election, a cabinet minister said on Thursday.

  • Monday Oct. 22, 2012 1:44 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces clash with Hamas, kill 2 gunmen in Gaza foray
    Israeli forces killed two Palestinian gunmen during an incursion in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday that touched off clashes with armed men from the governing Hamas movement, local officials said.


  • Monday Oct. 22, 2012 1:35 PM (EST+7)
    Emir of Qatar to be first head of state to visit Gaza
    The emir of pro-Western Qatar will become the first head of state to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip on Tuesday, in a high-profile visit breaking the isolation of the Iranian-backed Islamist movement Hamas that seized power in 2007.

  • Sunday Oct. 21, 2012 8:18 PM (EST+7)
    Sanctioned Fateh lists lose in 5 of 11 West Bank towns
    Electoral lists backed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fateh faction lost in Saturday local council elections in five out of eleven West Bank towns, reported the Associated Press Sunday.

  • Sunday Oct. 21, 2012 7:14 PM (EST+7)
    Activists on board Gaza-bound ship report Israeli forces used tasers
    Activists on board the ship Estelle, headed to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, reported that Israeli commandos used taser guns on them when boarding the ship Saturday, writes the AFP.

  • Sunday Oct. 21, 2012 7:03 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli PM rebuffs EU on settlement construction
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Sunday that Israel would continue to build settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, despite a rebuke by the European Union, reports the AFP.

  • Saturday Oct. 20, 2012 7:42 PM (EST+7)
    Israel seizes pro-Palestinian activist ship off coast of Gaza
    The Israeli navy seized an international pro-Palestinian activist ship on the Mediterranean high seas on Saturday to prevent it breaching Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, a military spokeswoman said.

  • Saturday Oct. 20, 2012 7:33 PM (EST+7)
    UN official: Palestinian push for UN upgrade likely to succeed
    The push by the Palestinians for upgraded status at the United Nations is likely to succeed, the president of the U.N. General Assembly said on Friday, while warning the United States against cutting U.N. funding over the issue.

  • Thursday Oct. 18, 2012 3:28 PM (EST+7)
    Israel Gaza blockade study calculated Palestinians' calories
    Israel calculated the number of calories Palestinians would need to avoid malnutrition under its blockade of the Gaza Strip, according to a study which the Supreme Court forced the government to release.

  • Thursday Oct. 18, 2012 3:22 PM (EST+7)
    Divided Palestinians hold municipal elections without Hamas
    Palestinians in the West Bank go to the polls on Saturday in long-delayed municipal elections that have already highlighted deep divisions in the occupied territory and stoked complaints about a lack of leadership.

  • Tuesday Oct. 16, 2012 4:34 PM (EST+7)
    Over quarter million Jerusalem residents excluded from Israeli vote
    Some 280,000 Jerusalem city residents will be excluded from voting in November city council elections due to new election rules, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Tuesday Oct. 16, 2012 2:54 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian status bid jeopardizes peace process, US says
    A Palestinian bid to upgrade its U.N. status to a sovereign country would jeopardize the peace process with Israel and make it difficult to get the two sides to return to talks on a two-state solution, the United States said on Monday.

  • Monday Oct. 15, 2012 0:44 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas says Olmert was "two months" from peace deal
    In comments that may stir Israel's election campaign, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that he and Ehud Olmert were "two months" away from a peace deal before Olmert had to resign as Israeli prime minister.

  • Monday Oct. 15, 2012 0:35 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli air strikes kill 3 Palestinian armed men in Gaza
    Israel killed three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a day after two men identified as the most senior al Qaeda affiliates in the enclave died in an Israeli air strike as they rode a motorcycle.

  • Saturday Oct. 13, 2012 9:41 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli airstrike kills one Palestinian in Gaza
    An Israeli air strike killed one Palestinian militant and critically wounded another riding a motorcycle in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Palestinian medics and the Israeli military said.

  • Saturday Oct. 13, 2012 9:21 PM (EST+7)
    PROFILE: A woman's rights advocate in the 'dark heaven' of Gaza
    Andalib Radwan Shehada, a woman's rights advocate, loves her home in Gaza but still had dreamed of continuing her education in the West Bank. Last month, an Israeli court turned down a request by her and three other women to leave the confines of Gaza, where people and goods are restricted in their travels, to study in the other part of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory, profiles the New York Times.

  • Saturday Oct. 13, 2012 4:52 PM (EST+7)
    Hezbollah confirms it sent drone downed over Israel
    Lebanese Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged on Thursday sending a drone aircraft that was shot down last weekend after flying some 25 miles (55 km) into Israel.

  • Saturday Oct. 13, 2012 4:37 PM (EST+7)
    UNESCO chief says US funding cuts 'crippling' organization
    UNESCO is in its "worst ever financial situation" after its biggest contributor the United States froze funding last year, the director general of the United Nations' cultural agency said on Thursday.

  • Wednesday Oct. 10, 2012 10:21 PM (EST+7)
    Israel attack hints Egypt has wider militancy problem
    When they left their village north of Cairo on Aug. 27, Ahmed Waguih and Bahaa Zaqzouq told their families they were going on holiday. A few weeks later and hundreds of miles away, the cousins were killed mounting a cross-border raid into Israel.

  • Tuesday Oct. 9, 2012 11:47 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu announces early Israeli election
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Tuesday for an early election, eager to strengthen his political position after signalling that any military action against Iran could be months away.

  • Tuesday Oct. 9, 2012 9:46 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority sets first minimum wage
    The Palestinian Authority passed a measure Tuesday establishing a minimum wage for the first time since its creation in 1994, reports AFP.

  • Monday Oct. 8, 2012 10:54 AM (EST+7)
    Israel strikes Gaza targets after rocket salvo
    Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip launched rockets at southern Israel on Monday in what they said was a response to an air strike that wounded two militants and eight bystanders on Sunday.

  • Monday Oct. 8, 2012 10:39 AM (EST+7)
    Gazans stage soccer protest at Israeli Shalit's Barcelona visit
    Palestinians freed from Israeli jails held their own version of the Barcelona-Real Madrid soccer match on Sunday to protest the presence of a former captive Israeli soldier at the actual fixture.

  • Saturday Oct. 6, 2012 7:56 AM (EST+7)
    VIDEO: Policeman punches head of Palestinian boy into ground during arrest
    A video by cameraman Amjad Arafa, distributed by the QNN news center and reported by the Electronic Intifada, shows Israeli forces detaining a boy identified as Hasan al-Afifi in the old city of Jerusalem Friday.

  • Saturday Oct. 6, 2012 7:35 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli police use stun grenades to break up al-Aqsa protest
    Israeli police hurled stun grenades to disperse dozens of protesters who threw stones outside the al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, after Friday prayers.

  • Saturday Oct. 6, 2012 7:16 AM (EST+7)
    Britain to appeal Kenya torture ruling with 'far-reaching' implications
    Britain's Foreign Office said it would appeal a High Court judgement on Friday that three elderly Kenyans who were tortured under British rule in the 1950s could pursue their claim for damages from London.

  • Wednesday Oct. 3, 2012 9:21 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas disputes HRW's charges of torture, detentions in Gaza
    Officials of Gaza's Islamist Hamas government turned up at a news conference by Human Rights Watch in Gaza on Wednesday to dispute an HRW report accusing Hamas of torture and other abuses of justice in the Palestinian enclave.

  • Wednesday Oct. 3, 2012 9:11 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu-Barak spat stokes early Israel vote talk
    Friction between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak over relations with the United States fueled talk on Wednesday of an early Israeli election.

  • Tuesday Oct. 2, 2012 10:35 PM (EST+7)
    Pro-settler vandals deface Jerusalem monastery
    Suspected hardline Israelis scrawled pro-settler graffiti and religious insults on a monastery outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City on Tuesday, police said, in the latest of a series of attacks on non-Jewish sites.

  • Sunday Sept. 30, 2012 6:25 PM (EST+7)
    Making a point about weapons, PA jails Fateh figure without charge
    Zacharia Zubeidi, a storied figure in Jenin's refugee camp and a former fighter for Fateh, is protesting the renewal of his detention without charge, reports The National.

  • Sunday Sept. 30, 2012 5:49 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt's closing of tunnels contributes to high Gaza unemployment
    The Egyptian government has been cracking down on the illicit tunnels that run into the Gaza Strip, forcing hundreds of Palestinians to lose their jobs, reports IPS.

  • Saturday Sept. 29, 2012 9:52 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian man dies of wounds after being shot by Israeli troops
    A Palestinian man died on Saturday after he was shot by Israeli troops while fishing on the beach in the Gaza Strip, said Hamas officials, while an Israeli military spokeswoman said the man was shot when he approached the border fence.

  • Saturday Sept. 29, 2012 9:48 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians shrug off Abbas bid for statehood at UN
    Palestinians who were galvanized a year ago by the launch of a campaign for statehood in the United Nations were left cold on Thursday by a watered-down bid from their leader President Mahmoud Abbas.

  • Wednesday Sept. 26, 2012 3:09 PM (EST+7)
    Boys' death ignites rare anti-Hamas protests in Gaza
    At least 500 protesters in the Gaza Strip have called for the overthrow of the ruling Islamist Hamas group in a rare demonstration triggered by the death of a three-year-old boy in a fire during a power outage.

  • Wednesday Sept. 26, 2012 1:51 PM (EST+7)
    Spate of Gaza suicides raises red flags
    After seven suicides were reported in the Gaza Strip in two months, Al-Akhbar looks into the circumstances surrounding the deaths. 

  • Tuesday Sept. 25, 2012 11:17 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas son files libel suit against US magazine
    Yasser Abbas, son of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the owners of Foreign Policy magazine, charging them with libel, reports the BLT.

  • Tuesday Sept. 25, 2012 11:05 PM (EST+7)
    UN: Door for Israeli-Palestinian peace may be closing
    U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday the "door may be closing, for good" on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the continued growth of Jewish settlements undercuts peace.

  • Tuesday Sept. 25, 2012 11:01 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Palestinians set for Pyrrhic victory in United Nations
    After failing last year to win recognition of full statehood at the United Nations, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas returns to New York on Thursday to ask the General Assembly for a less ambitious status upgrade.

  • Monday Sept. 24, 2012 12:41 PM (EST+7)
    Political sources: Hamas chief Meshaal wants to step down
    Hamas's leader in exile, Khaled Meshaal, is tired of policy challenges from the Islamist group's Gaza-based leadership and is not seeking re-election in a vote now underway, political and diplomatic sources said on Sunday.

  • Monday Sept. 24, 2012 11:45 AM (EST+7)
    Israel, PA discuss developing gas off Gaza coast
    The U.S.-backed Palestinian administration is negotiating with Israel for permission to develop natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip, Israeli and foreign diplomats said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Sept. 23, 2012 1:26 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt's Morsy says Palestinian plight key to Egypt-Israel peace
    Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy indicated in an interview published Saturday by the New York Times that the status of his country's 1978 peace accord with Israel depended on the plight of Palestinians.

  • Saturday Sept. 22, 2012 8:31 PM (EST+7)
    CNN soon to disappear from Israeli cable offerings
    US broadcaster CNN is slated to disappear next year from Israel's cable news offerings after its last Israeli carrier ends its relationship with the company, reports Israel Today.

  • Saturday Sept. 22, 2012 5:28 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli soldier, 3 gunmen killed near Egyptian border
    Three armed militants slipped into Israel from Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Friday, killing an Israeli soldier and wounding another before being shot dead, the army said.

  • Wednesday Sept. 19, 2012 5:35 PM (EST+7)
    World Bank warns of deepening Palestinian fiscal crisis
    A fiscal crisis in the aid-dependent Palestinian economy will worsen unless foreign funding increases and Israel eases its restrictions in the occupied West Bank, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

  • Tuesday Sept. 18, 2012 2:06 PM (EST+7)
    Unedited Romney says Israeli-Palestinian peace 'unthinkable'
    US presidential candidate Mitt Romney privately told wealthy donors that a path to Palestinian-Israeli peace is "unthinkable" and that the best course of action is to "kick the ball down the field".

  • Tuesday Sept. 18, 2012 1:14 PM (EST+7)
    Prisoner on hunger strike moved to intensive care
    Palestinian prisoner Samer al-Barq was moved to a hospital intensive care unit Monday as the hunger striker's health deteriorated, reports al-Akhbar.

  • Monday Sept. 17, 2012 1:44 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza court convicts 4 for Italian activist's murder
    A Gaza military court convicted four Palestinians on Monday for kidnapping and murdering an Italian man in 2011, a case that shocked Palestinian sympathizers around the world.

  • Saturday Sept. 15, 2012 10:53 AM (EST+7)
    EU pledges extra 100 million Euros aid for Palestinians
    The European Union will double its aid for Palestinian development and the Palestinian Authority to 200 million euros in 2012, the EU executive said on Friday.

  • Thursday Sept. 13, 2012 3:07 PM (EST+7)
    Mideast crisis in spotlight at Toronto film fest
    The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has taken a backseat in recent days to the Arab Spring, but at the Toronto International Film Festival an unusually high number of films shine fresh light on the decades-long conflict.

  • Thursday Sept. 13, 2012 2:50 PM (EST+7)
    US judge: Hamas financing case can proceed against Arab Bank
    A U.S. man can proceed with a lawsuit seeking to hold Arab Bank liable for providing material support to Palestinian group Hamas, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

  • Tuesday Sept. 11, 2012 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    West Bank city hit by violent price protests
    Palestinian youths attacked a local police station and other government buildings in Hebron on Monday as protests against the rising cost of living in the occupied West Bank turned increasingly violent.

  • Monday Sept. 10, 2012 3:11 PM (EST+7)
    Widespread West Bank strike halts traffic, shutters stores
    Palestinians in the West Bank observed a widespread strike on Monday, halting traffic and closing stores in the largest protest yet against increasing prices, reported the Associated Press.

  • Monday Sept. 10, 2012 11:05 AM (EST+7)
    Six Israeli teens held for beating Palestinian man
    An Israeli court ordered six Jewish teenagers be held in custody on Sunday on suspicion of assaulting a Palestinian man as he escorted an Israeli woman home from a nightclub.

  • Sunday Sept. 9, 2012 3:37 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Can Israel surprise Iran? Maybe not, but could still strike
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cancellation of a security cabinet session on Iran following a media leak last week laid bare a conundrum long troubling Israeli strategists: could they count on any element of surprise in a war on their arch-foe?

  • Thursday Sept. 6, 2012 4:53 PM (EST+7)
    US Democrats backpedal and change language on Jerusalem
    Democrats resurrected language in their party platform on Wednesday declaring Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel after President Barack Obama objected and Republicans accused them of showing weak support for the longtime U.S. ally.

  • Thursday Sept. 6, 2012 4:44 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces kill three militants in Gaza street
    Israeli forces killed three Palestinian militants in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday and the Israeli military said they were trying to plant explosives near a border fence when they were attacked.

  • Thursday Sept. 6, 2012 4:20 PM (EST+7)
    Boat carrying Palestinian migrants sinks off coast of Turkey, 58 dead
    At least 58 people died and many were missing after a boat carrying illegal migrants sank off Turkey's western Aegean coast on Thursday morning, Turkish media reported.

  • Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012 3:09 PM (EST+7)
    Security chief slain in restive Palestinian city
    Gunmen killed a colonel in the Palestinian security forces early on Wednesday when they raked his car with gunfire in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, local officials said.

  • Wednesday Sept. 5, 2012 3:05 PM (EST+7)
    French judges investigating Arafat's death seek exhumation
    Three French judges are preparing to travel to Ramallah to seek the exhumation Yasser Arafat's body as part of an investigation into whether he was murdered by poison, a judicial source told Reuters on Wednesday.

  • Tuesday Sept. 4, 2012 4:21 PM (EST+7)
    Pro-settler vandals attack West Bank monastery
    Vandals set fire to the doors of a Christian monastery in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday and daubed pro-settler graffiti on its walls in a possible retaliation for the eviction of families from an unauthorized outpost.

  • Tuesday Sept. 4, 2012 4:15 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza teen burns himself to death in poverty protest
    A young man has died after setting himself on fire in the Gaza Strip, apparently in protest at economic hardship in the Palestinian enclave, the man's family and police said on Monday.

  • Tuesday Sept. 4, 2012 4:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli 'skunk' fouls West Bank protests
    Imagine taking a chunk of rotting corpse from a stagnant sewer, placing it in a blender and spraying the filthy liquid in your face. Your gag reflex goes off the charts and you can't escape, because the nauseating stench persists for days.


  • Saturday Sept. 1, 2012 2:22 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians ease laws preventing women from divorce
    Palestinian judges last week announced a change in laws that had prevented Muslim women from requesting a divorce, reports the Associated Press.

  • Saturday Sept. 1, 2012 2:14 PM (EST+7)
    UN rights expert condemns Israeli ruling on Corrie death
    A U.N. investigator condemned an Israeli court on Thursday for clearing the military of blame for the death of American activist crushed by an army bulldozer, calling it a "victory for impunity".

  • Saturday Sept. 1, 2012 2:06 PM (EST+7)
    Swiss experts ready to help Arafat probe, but time running out
    A Swiss institute has agreed to a request from the Palestinian Authority to exhume Yasser Arafat's body and determine whether he was poisoned, but time is running out for a credible scientific examination of his remains, it said on Thursday.

  • Thursday Aug. 30, 2012 3:08 PM (EST+7)
    Officials question timing of Arafat probe
    Palestinian officials are wondering why the widow of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is pursuing an investigation into his death eight years after he passed away in cloudy circumstances in a French hospital, reports The National.

  • Thursday Aug. 30, 2012 2:37 PM (EST+7)
    Israel court tells settlers to evacuate outpost by Tuesday
    Israel's high court ruled on Wednesday that the largest unauthorized Jewish settler outpost on occupied West Bank territory must be evacuated by next Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 29, 2012 4:31 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians put statehood bid on hold
    Palestinians will not formally request statehood recognition from the United Nations next month, Foreign Minister Riyad Malki told the Associated Press Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 29, 2012 3:39 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli students get lesson after anti-Arab attack
    Students in Israeli schools started the academic year with a discussion over the mob beating of a Palestinian teen in Jerusalem nearly two weeks earlier, reports the New York Times.

  • Wednesday Aug. 29, 2012 2:54 PM (EST+7)
    France opens murder inquiry into Arafat's 2004 death
    A French court has opened a murder inquiry into the death eight years ago of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, prosecutors said on Tuesday, following claims by his widow that he may have been poisoned.

  • Tuesday Aug. 28, 2012 2:03 PM (EST+7)
    Reign in security forces, rights watchdog tells Palestinians
    Human Rights Watch on Monday rebuked the Palestinian Authority (PA) for failing to prosecute members of the security forces over years of alleged beatings and abuse of protesters, journalists and detainees.

  • Tuesday Aug. 28, 2012 1:45 PM (EST+7)
    Court clears Israeli army over death of US activist
    An Israeli court on Tuesday cleared Israel's military of any blame for the death of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by an army bulldozer while protesting house demolitions in Gaza.

  • Wednesday Aug. 15, 2012 6:28 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's electricity supplier threatens to cut Palestinian power over debt
    The Israeli electricity supplier has warned Palestinians that if they don't pay about $165 million in debt, it will start to impose blackouts on the West Bank, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Wednesday Aug. 15, 2012 5:30 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu picks new security minister as Iran strike debated
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose a former security chief on Tuesday as his new civil defense minister amid heightened public debate over a possible strike on Iran.

  • Monday Aug. 13, 2012 8:47 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians caught in widening Syria conflict
    Many Palestinians have sought to steer free of the growing violence in Syria that pits a determined regime against an increasingly-armed opposition movement, reports McClatchy.

  • Monday Aug. 13, 2012 8:22 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt forces fight Sinai militants, five dead
    Egyptian soldiers killed five Islamist militants after storming their hideout near the border with Israel on Sunday, the latest action in an army campaign to reimpose authority on the region, security sources and eyewitnesses said.

  • Friday Aug. 10, 2012 4:19 AM (EST+7)
    Renewed barrier construction threatens Palestinian heritage
    Palestinian communities in the West Bank have expressed alarm at widely reported news that Israel will resume the construction of its “separation wall” after a five-year delay.

  • Friday Aug. 10, 2012 3:55 AM (EST+7)
    Little sign of battle in Egypt's Sinai region
    Egypt poured troops into North Sinai on Thursday in an offensive meant to tackle militants in the Israeli border region, but residents were skeptical, saying they had seen no sign of anyone being killed in what they described as a "haphazard" operation.

  • Friday Aug. 10, 2012 3:46 AM (EST+7)
    Virus found in Mideast can spy on bank transactions
    A new cyber surveillance virus has been found in the Middle East that can spy on banking transactions and steal login information for social networking sites, email and instant messaging, according to a leading computer security firm, Kaspersky Lab.

  • Thursday Aug. 9, 2012 6:07 AM (EST+7)
    Swiss lab wants guarantee in Arafat death inquiry
    A Swiss laboratory will help investigate the unexplained 2004 death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat only if it receives guarantees its findings will not be used for political purposes, a spokesman for the lab said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Aug. 9, 2012 5:59 AM (EST+7)
    Gunshots fired near Palestinian PM's compound
    Palestinian police traded gunfire with unknown assailants at the prime minister's compound in Ramallah on Wednesday, a Reuters witness said, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.


  • Thursday Aug. 9, 2012 5:56 AM (EST+7)
    Gazan hopes of new horizons hit by Egypt killings
    Stranded at home and abroad, short of fuel and worried about going hungry, this is not what Gazans expected when Islamist leader Mohammed Mursi was elected president of Egypt in June.

  • Wednesday Aug. 8, 2012 4:21 AM (EST+7)
    Armed men attack checkpoint in Egypt's Sinai
    Armed men opened fire on a security checkpoint on Wednesday in Egypt's Al-Arish city in the Sinai peninsula, state media said, after 16 border guards were shot dead in an attack on Sunday blamed partly on Palestinian militants.


  • Wednesday Aug. 8, 2012 4:05 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt moves to seal tunnels after border attack
    Egypt began to seal off smuggling tunnels into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, a security source said, two days after gunmen shot dead 16 Egyptian border guards in an attack blamed partly on Palestinian militants.

  • Wednesday Aug. 8, 2012 3:57 AM (EST+7)
    Scandinavian ship sails to challenge Gaza blockade
    Scandinavian activist groups are launching an aid ship destined for Gaza on Tuesday, hoping to challenge the Israeli blockade and draw international attention to the conflict in a move reminiscent of the 2010 "Freedom Flotilla", organizers said.

  • Monday Aug. 6, 2012 3:19 PM (EST+7)
    Armed men kill 15 Egyptians, Israel strikes attackers
    Gunmen killed at least 15 Egyptian police on Sunday and seized two military vehicles to attack a crossing point into Israel, the deadliest incident in Egypt's tense Sinai border region in decades.

  • Monday Aug. 6, 2012 5:15 AM (EST+7)
    West Bank summit scrapped after Israel bars attackers
    A meeting of envoys from the Non-Aligned Movement due to convene in the Israeli-occupied West Bank was scrapped on Sunday after Israel refused to admit four attendees from states with which it has no diplomatic relations, Palestinian officials said.

  • Monday Aug. 6, 2012 5:00 AM (EST+7)
    Israel sees UN majority for Palestine status upgrade
    The Palestinians' bid to upgrade their status at the United Nations would find majority support there but would not bring them closer to statehood and peace with Israel, Israel's U.N. envoy said on Sunday.

  • Saturday Aug. 4, 2012 2:31 AM (EST+7)
    Pockets of food insecurity grow in West Bank, Gaza
    At a glance, the latest data on post-assistance food security in the West Bank and Gaza Strip - released by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees last week - seems to warrant optimism.

  • Saturday Aug. 4, 2012 2:10 AM (EST+7)
    Source: Hamas frees Salafi suspect in Gaza
    Gaza's Islamist Hamas government has freed a militant group's leader who had been detained for 17 months, a source from a Jihadist Salafi group said on Friday.

  • Saturday Aug. 4, 2012 1:35 AM (EST+7)
    OPINION: Rethinking aid to Palestine
    Writing in Foreign Policy, Nadia Hijab lays out the reasons why donor aid to Palestinians is crippling their society and negatively influencing prospects of peace.

  • Wednesday Aug. 1, 2012 4:37 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians, Israel agree on economic measures
    The Palestinian Authority and Israel agreed on a revamp of revenue collection that may help relieve the Palestinian government's deepening debt crisis, officials said on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 1, 2012 4:31 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt denies Mursi letter sent to Israel
    Israel said on Tuesday it had received a letter from Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi indicating he wanted to work for peace in the Middle East, but Mursi's office later denied sending it.

  • Wednesday Aug. 1, 2012 4:13 AM (EST+7)
    Arafat's widow asks France for murder probe
    Yasser Arafat's widow asked a French court on Tuesday to launch a murder probe into the death of the former Palestinian leader, after a report suggested he was poisoned by a radioactive element before his death in a Paris military hospital in 2004.

  • Tuesday July 31, 2012 7:14 AM (EST+7)
    VIEW: Ramadan in Gaza's old quarter
    Vivid images of Ramadan and its fasting and feasting on the BBC website. To view them, go here.

  • Tuesday July 31, 2012 7:03 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Israel spent 38 percent more on settlements in 2011
    Israel spent 38 percent more in 2011 on settlements in the occupied territories than it did on 2010, found the Central Bureau of Statistics.

  • Tuesday July 31, 2012 6:39 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli researcher tracks Palestinian building, pushing for demolitions
    An Israeli settler is tracking Palestinian building in order to pressure authorities to tear structures down, reports IPS.

  • Tuesday July 31, 2012 5:17 AM (EST+7)
    Romney riles Palestinians with digs at culture, economy
    Palestinians accused U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney of racism on Monday by suggesting disparities between the Israeli and Palestinian economies had cultural roots, while ignoring Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

  • Sunday July 29, 2012 11:26 PM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: Gaza suffers Ramadan fast without electricity
    Writer Rami Almagheri describes his children's delight at Cairo's many lights as they take time out from the Gaza Strip, where long power cuts make the fast month of Ramadan more difficult than usual.

  • Sunday July 29, 2012 6:49 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas says Egypt to extend hours for crossing border
    Egypt has agreed to keep the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip open for a full 12 hours every day, a Hamas leader said on Saturday, signalling a further shift in Cairo's stance since the election of a Muslim Brotherhood head of state in Egypt.

  • Sunday July 29, 2012 6:44 PM (EST+7)
    Israel denies report Obama aide shared Iran war plan
    A senior Israeli official denied on Sunday a newspaper report that President Barack Obama's national security adviser had briefed Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a U.S. contingency plan to attack Iran should diplomacy fail to curb its nuclear program.

  • Saturday July 28, 2012 4:53 AM (EST+7)
    EU pressure for aid change in Area C
    As demolition orders continue to threaten the work of humanitarian organizations in Israeli-controlled Area C in the West Bank, the European Union (EU) and humanitarian agencies are pressing to change the rules of the aid game.

  • Wednesday July 25, 2012 6:05 PM (EST+7)
    Susiya activists jam faxes at defense ministry
    A campaign protesting Israel's threatened demolition of Susiya has jammed the defense ministry's fax machines, reports +972.

  • Wednesday July 25, 2012 5:30 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas prime minister to meet Egyptian president
    Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh will meet Egypt's president Mohammed Mursi on Wednesday, according to press reports.

  • Wednesday July 25, 2012 3:53 PM (EST+7)
    Olympics organizers try to quell anger over Munich tribute
    Olympic organizers hit back on Tuesday at criticism of the way they had honored 11 Israeli team members killed at the 1972 Munich Games and rejected calls to hold a minute's silence for them during the opening ceremony.

  • Tuesday July 24, 2012 2:38 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt eases deportation policy for illegal Palestinians
    Egyptian officials have denied reports that Palestinians entering Egypt will no longer be required to obtain a visa prior to arrival, stating instead that Egypt is ending a policy of immediately deporting Palestinians that arrive without visas, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Tuesday July 24, 2012 2:27 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza tunnel traffic steps up over Ramadan
    Traffic through the tunnels connecting the Gaza Strip with Egypt has stepped up over the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, reports al-Akhbar, with more than 10 travelers a week, some of them women.

  • Tuesday July 24, 2012 0:52 AM (EST+7)
    Drama meets daily life in Palestinian film
    Brazen and in broad daylight, "Israeli infantry" plunge deep into the West Bank Palestinian capital of Ramallah, hoisting a flag atop a makeshift checkpoint.

  • Sunday July 22, 2012 5:08 AM (EST+7)
    In Israel, Romney to provide contrast with Obama
    Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will soon do something Barack Obama has yet to do as president - visit U.S. ally Israel, where he will try to present himself to voters back home as a credible replacement to Obama on the world stage.

  • Friday July 20, 2012 5:43 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas chief meets Egypt president, hails 'new era'
    The leader of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement which rules the Gaza Strip, met new Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on Thursday and hailed Mursi's election as the start of a "new era" for Egypt and the Palestinians.

  • Thursday July 19, 2012 3:54 AM (EST+7)
    Israel blames Iran for Bulgaria bus bomb that kills six
    Six people were killed in a bomb attack on a bus carrying Israeli tourists at a Bulgarian airport on Wednesday and Israel accused Tehran of carrying out the attack, promising a strong response to "Iranian terror."


  • Wednesday July 18, 2012 5:28 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's Kadima party quits Netanyahu government
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main political partner pulled out of his grand coalition on Tuesday, accusing him of surrendering to ultra-Orthodox Jews in a battle over military conscription.

  • Tuesday July 17, 2012 7:18 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli medical establishment sends Palestinian doctors elsewhere
    Jerusalem residents that graduate from the main Palestinian medical program are unable to work in the city where they live - or anywhere in Israel - reports the Washington Post.

  • Tuesday July 17, 2012 7:10 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas executes three Gaza men for murder
    Three men convicted of murder were hanged in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the territory's interior ministry said.

  • Monday July 16, 2012 2:09 AM (EST+7)
    Saudis to give $100 mln to cash-strapped Palestinians
    Saudi Arabia will give the Palestinian Authority $100 million to help alleviate a stinging budget crunch, the Palestinian prime minister's office said on Sunday.

  • Sunday July 15, 2012 5:35 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas sees Egypt's Mursi defying Israel, ending blockade
    The head of the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip said on Friday he was confident Egypt's new president would shield the Palestinian enclave from Israeli attack and fully open its borders to end a trade blockade.

  • Sunday July 15, 2012 5:30 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill man crossing illegally from Egypt
    Israeli troops shot dead a man trying to infiltrate the Sinai border with Egypt and wounded another on Friday, the Israeli military said, in the latest in a series of deadly incidents along a once quiet frontier.

  • Thursday July 12, 2012 6:34 AM (EST+7)
    COMMENT: Reflections on Palestinian 'popular resistance'
    Writing for the Electronic Intifada, Lina Alsaafin raises questions about the way that protests by West Bank villages have been dubbed "popular resistance" despite their small size and how their claim to non-violence have done an ill turn to the hopes of a broader Palestinian movement.

  • Thursday July 12, 2012 6:15 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas loosens reigns on Gazan society
    Hamas officials have largely abandoned previous attempts to enforce conservative social norms in Gaza, reports GlobalPost.

  • Thursday July 12, 2012 5:01 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian women battle to break into business
    From corner fruit stalls in Hebron to chic Ramallah ballet studios, Palestinian women are making their mark in business, some out of necessity and others looking to break the gender mold and pursue a dream.

  • Tuesday July 10, 2012 6:57 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas condemns announcement of Palestinian local elections
    The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday announced it planned to hold local elections in October in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, angering Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers.

  • Tuesday July 10, 2012 6:50 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians cautiously advance Arafat probe
    A week after fresh allegations that their late leader Yasser Arafat was poisoned, Palestinian officials are still discussing behind closed doors when and how to exhume his body for examination.

  • Tuesday July 10, 2012 6:35 PM (EST+7)
    Israel frees Palestinian soccer player from prison
    Israel released a member of the Palestinian national soccer team on Tuesday after holding him in jail without trial for three years, during which he staged an intermittent four-month hunger strike in protest, Palestinian officials said.

  • Tuesday July 10, 2012 6:30 AM (EST+7)
    Israel taps oil seemingly in occupied West Bank
    Israel is tapping a gas field near the West Bank it occupies, raising Palestinian objections over the theft of shared resources, reports the BBC.

  • Tuesday July 10, 2012 6:24 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli panel backs legalizing settler outposts
    A government-appointed committee on Monday proposed granting official status to dozens of unauthorized settler outposts in the West Bank, challenging the world view that Israeli settlement there is illegal.

  • Monday July 9, 2012 7:15 AM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: East Jerusalem suffers economic stranglehold
    The economic decline in Palestinian East Jerusalem has been marked by rising housing and food costs, with little hope of improving fortunes,reports The Forward.

  • Monday July 9, 2012 7:03 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Between security reform and occupation in the West Bank
    “I have never seen such brutality in my life, except from the Israeli forces,” says Aliya,* still shocked a day after her protest march through the West Bank town of Ramallah was violently attacked by Palestinian security officers. “They just kept on beating us.”

  • Saturday July 7, 2012 3:27 AM (EST+7)
    Source: Hamas man's Syria death accident not murder
    A Hamas member whose charred body was found in his Damascus apartment was not assassinated as first thought but died from inhaling smoke, an official of the Islamist group said on Friday.

  • Saturday July 7, 2012 3:24 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton meets Abbas before talks with Israel
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should not be forgotten amid wider upheaval in the Middle East.

  • Saturday July 7, 2012 3:14 AM (EST+7)
    UN names experts to probe Israeli settlements
    The United Nations named French judge Christine Chanet on Friday as the leader of a team of three experts who will investigate whether Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories violate human rights law.

  • Thursday July 5, 2012 6:52 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli journalist spared jail over military leak
    An Israeli journalist who drew on leaked army documents to report the alleged assassination of Palestinian militants, prompting a prosecution and debate about press freedom, was spared jail time in a plea bargain on Thursday.

  • Thursday July 5, 2012 6:44 PM (EST+7)
    Tunisia requests Arabs meet over Arafat death
    Tunisia has called for Arab ministers to meet to discuss the death of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat after new suspicions that he was murdered, a senior official in the Arab League said on Thursday. 

  • Thursday July 5, 2012 6:26 PM (EST+7)
    West Bank high life masks deepening economic crisis
    Past the Israeli sentry towers blackened by firebombs and the entrance to a refugee camp emblazoned with posters of rifle-clenching militants, downtown Ramallah sparkles.

  • Wednesday July 4, 2012 6:46 AM (EST+7)
    Swiss institute finds polonium in Arafat's effects
    Traces of the poisonous element polonium have been found in the belongings of late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, a Swiss institute said on Wednesday, and a television report said his widow had demanded his body be exhumed for further tests.

  • Wednesday July 4, 2012 6:38 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian role holds up UN arms conference
    A dispute over whether the Palestinians should participate in an arms treaty drafting conference as an observer without voting rights - the status they have in the U.N. General Assembly - or as a state party with voting rights delayed the start of the conference by more than a day and has yet to be resolved, delegates said.

  • Wednesday July 4, 2012 6:31 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians take anti-Oslo protest to Abbas headquarters
    Hundreds of demonstrators marched on the offices of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday to protest against diplomatic contacts with Israel and to denounce police violence at a previous rally.

  • Tuesday July 3, 2012 6:04 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians reject police violence, call for action
    Palestinians, through social media and numerous organizing groups, condemned two separate incidents on Saturday and Sunday in which police attacked Ramallah demonstrators and journalists.

  • Tuesday July 3, 2012 5:52 AM (EST+7)
    Romney to visit Israel in late July, meet with Netanyahu
    Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will travel to Israel in late July for a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aimed at fleshing out his foreign policy credentials.

  • Tuesday July 3, 2012 5:41 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas suspends Gaza voter registration
    Hamas suspended voter registration in the Gaza Strip on Monday in a setback to Palestinian plans for parliamentary and presidential elections and to forging unity with President Mahmoud Abbas's Fateh movement.

  • Monday July 2, 2012 2:24 PM (EST+7)
    IMF relief withheld as Palestinians declare economic crisis
    The International Monetary Fund declined a request, submitted by Israel, that it bail out the Palestinian Authority to the tune of $100 million dollars, reports Haaretz.

  • Monday July 2, 2012 6:50 AM (EST+7)
    Protesters beaten, injured by Palestinian police
    Palestinian protesters were beaten for a second day at a Ramallah demonstration against a planned visit by Israeli vice-prime minister Shaul Mofaz. According to some reports, seven were injured, including journalists, and arrests made.

  • Monday July 2, 2012 6:17 AM (EST+7)
    Jenin lawmaker shot by unknown assailants
    A Palestinian lawmaker was shot and injured by unknown assailants Sunday, increasing tensions in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, reported the Associated Press.

  • Monday July 2, 2012 6:01 AM (EST+7)
    Deadline extended for Israeli homes removal
    Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday granted the state a four-month extension to remove five apartment blocks built illegally on Palestinian-owned land in a Jewish settlement on the occupied West Bank.

  • Sunday July 1, 2012 3:22 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian leader Abbas postpones Israel meeting
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has postponed a controversial meeting with Israeli Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz that had been scheduled for Sunday, Palestinian officials said on Saturday.

  • Saturday June 30, 2012 5:20 PM (EST+7)
    UNESCO grants funding, heritage status to Bethlehem
    UNESCO granted endangered World Heritage status and funding for repairs to the site revered by Christians as Jesus's birthplace in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, despite objections from the United States and Israel.

  • Friday June 29, 2012 6:38 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas says member killed in Damascus home
    Hamas said on Thursday that one of its members, Kamal Husni Ghanaja, had been killed in his home in Damascus and that it was trying to find who was behind what the Palestinian Islamist group described as a "cowardly murder".

  • Friday June 29, 2012 6:34 AM (EST+7)
    Official: Palestinian president to meet Israeli vice-PM
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with Israeli Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz on Sunday, a Palestinian official said, in the highest-level meeting between the sides since peace talks broke down in 2010.

  • Monday June 25, 2012 4:33 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas hopes Morsy's Egypt will focus on Palestine
    The Gaza Strip's governing Hamas on Sunday welcomed the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt's presidential vote, saying its ideological ally's success would help the Palestinian cause.

  • Saturday June 23, 2012 4:57 PM (EST+7)
    Court case telling on West Bank land theft
    A recent court case over a plot of land in Beit El tells how land transfer and theft happens in the occupied West Bank, reports Haaretz.

  • Saturday June 23, 2012 4:46 PM (EST+7)
    Hundreds protest threatened destruction of Susya
    According to the +972 blog, hundreds of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals turned out Friday to protest the threatened destruction of the West Bank village of Susya, where the Israeli military has ordered 52 dwellings demolished.

  • Saturday June 23, 2012 2:41 PM (EST+7)
    Israel bombs Hamas targets in Gaza as truce unravels
    Israel launched air raids on Hamas security targets in Gaza on Saturday, wounding more than 20 people, medical officials in the Islamist-ruled territory said, as militants stepped up rocket fire, wounding an Israeli man.

  • Thursday June 21, 2012 7:01 PM (EST+7)
    Rights group: Prisoner returns to hunger strike after detention renewed
    A Palestinian detainee earlier promised release started a new hunger strike Thursday after he was ordered imprisoned for an additional six months, a human rights group announced.

  • Thursday June 21, 2012 5:55 PM (EST+7)
    Toiling for a pittance on Israeli settler farms
    Some 10,000 Palestinian laborers are being exploited on Israeli-owned farms in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley, according to Abed Dari, coordinator of the Palestinian workers’ project at Kav LaOved, an Israeli NGO protecting labor rights.

  • Thursday June 21, 2012 5:37 AM (EST+7)
    Israel kills two in Gaza as truce efforts underway
    Gaza militants said on Wednesday they were ready to sign up to an Egyptian-brokered truce to end three days of cross-border fighting after Israeli air strikes killed a Palestinian militant and a 14-year-old boy.


  • Tuesday June 19, 2012 4:23 AM (EST+7)
    Resistant bacteria spreading in Gaza
    A joint Israeli-Palestinian medical team has found that a strain of bacteria resistant to antibiotics is spreading in the Gaza Strip, reports Haaretz.

  • Tuesday June 19, 2012 4:20 AM (EST+7)
    Two Palestinians killed in Lebanon refugee camp
    The Lebanese army shot dead two Palestinians in a refugee camp near the northern city of Tripoli on Monday after confrontations broke out during the funeral of man killed in the camp on Friday, residents said.

  • Tuesday June 19, 2012 3:10 AM (EST+7)
    Imprisoned Palestinian soccer player will end fast
    A soccer player from Gaza held by Israel without trial for nearly three years has agreed to end his three-month hunger strike in exchange for hospital treatment and an early release, his lawyer said on Monday.

  • Monday June 18, 2012 5:52 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli settler kills two Palestinians
    An Israeli tow truck driver shot and killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and told Israeli police he opened fire after they attacked him and tried to steal his vehicle.

  • Sunday June 17, 2012 9:38 PM (EST+7)
    Seven killed on Israel border and in Gaza
    Militants who crossed into Israel from Egypt's Sinai Desert fired on Israelis building a barrier on the border on Monday, killing one worker, before soldiers shot dead two of the attackers, Israel's military said.

  • Wednesday June 13, 2012 6:10 AM (EST+7)
    FIFA head concerned about detention of Palestine players
    FIFA president Sepp Blatter has expressed grave concern over reports that several Palestine players have been illegally detained in Israel.


  • Wednesday June 13, 2012 6:06 AM (EST+7)
    Vatican denies it will recognize Israeli control over Jerusalem
    The Vatican said on Tuesday that an economic agreement it is negotiating with Israel will not mean the de facto recognition of Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem.

  • Wednesday June 13, 2012 6:02 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians enjoy land victory in Israeli courts
    More used to enduring eviction orders than enforcing them, Palestinians are relishing the Israeli government's discomfort as it struggles to evacuate five settler buildings in the occupied West Bank.

  • Sunday June 10, 2012 6:21 PM (EST+7)
    'Price tag' attack targets co-existence village
    Following a right-wing demonstration, vandals spray-painted threats on cars and buildings in Neve Shalom-Wahat Salam, a village where Palestinians and Israelis live together, reports Mondoweiss.

  • Friday June 8, 2012 5:35 AM (EST+7)
    Israel unmoved by US criticism of settlement plans
    Israel shrugged off on Thursday U.S. criticism of its plans to erect 851 more settler homes in the occupied West Bank, projects that appeared aimed at placating settlers angry with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.


  • Friday June 8, 2012 5:13 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian corruption court convicts Arafat aide
    A special anti-graft court on Thursday convicted an aide of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of embezzling millions of dollars, in the biggest corruption case in the Palestinian Authority's 20-year history.

  • Wednesday June 6, 2012 10:20 PM (EST+7)
    Israel announces plans for new settler homes
    Israel on Wednesday said it would build 851 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank hours after parliament rejected a bill that proposed legalizing all settler apartments on privately owned Palestinian land.

  • Wednesday June 6, 2012 10:10 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu wins parliament fight, promises more settlement
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won a parliamentary battle on Wednesday against an attempt by far-right lawmakers to legalize all Israeli settler homes on private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.

  • Tuesday June 5, 2012 4:56 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli security increasingly checks email accounts at borders
    Israeli security agents are increasingly asking travelers to open their email accounts for review when they seek to enter the country, reports the Associated Press.

  • Tuesday June 5, 2012 4:25 PM (EST+7)
    Israel detention ends Gaza footballer's dream
    Palestinian footballer Mahmoud Al-Sarsak left the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2009 to play football in the West Bank. But he never reached his goal.


  • Tuesday June 5, 2012 5:45 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority cracks down in Jenin
    In the narrow streets of the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin and the scruffy villages beyond, masked special forces bundle suspects into civilian cars with grim regularity, whisking them away to faraway Jericho prison.

  • Sunday June 3, 2012 4:25 PM (EST+7)
    Arab League to put up cash for Palestinians if needed
    The Arab League decided on Saturday to provide the Palestinian Authority with as much as $100 million in cash monthly if Israel stops transferring taxes to Palestinians as it has in the past, reported the Associated Press.

  • Sunday June 3, 2012 4:08 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu backs moving outpost settlers to larger settlements
    Faced with a court order demanding the government remove ten settlement homes built on West Bank land where Palestinians were able to prove ownership, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is backing their relocation.

  • Sunday June 3, 2012 3:06 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Germany building subs for Israeli nuclear missiles
    Germany has built and largely paid for six submarines to be armed with nuclear missiles by Israel, reports the German publication, Der Spiegel.

  • Sunday June 3, 2012 5:10 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli soldier, Gaza gunman killed in border clash
    A Palestinian gunman broke into Israel on Friday and killed a soldier before being shot dead himself in a rare cross-border attack that Israel blamed on the Islamist group Hamas.


  • Friday June 1, 2012 0:05 AM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: Silwan boy recounts detention and ill-treatment
    A 14-year-old boy from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan tells how he was arrested in the dark and held for over a week without being charged.

  • Thursday May 31, 2012 7:52 AM (EST+7)
    Israel hands over Palestinian militants' remains
    Israel on Thursday transferred to Palestinian authorities the bodies of dozens of Palestinian militants whose attacks killed hundreds of Israelis, saying it hoped the move would help restart peace efforts.

  • Thursday May 31, 2012 6:06 AM (EST+7)
    Activist sentenced to 13 months in jail and banned from protesting
    Palestinian activists Bassam Tamimi was sentenced to 13 months in jail and a suspended sentence to be implemented if he disturbs the public order or demonstrates, reports Haaretz.

  • Thursday May 31, 2012 5:46 AM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: A reporter travels by Gaza tunnel
    The New York Times publishes an account of what it takes to cross from Egypt into Gaza by underground tunnel.

  • Thursday May 31, 2012 3:50 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's Arab ghettos suffer from lack of attention
    The backstreets of Lod, a mixed Arab-Jewish city just 20 minutes from the tree-lined boulevards of Tel Aviv, reveal a seamy underside of Israel that few visitors get to see.

  • Sunday May 27, 2012 5:03 PM (EST+7)
    US Senate committee votes to limit Palestinian refugee status
    Members of the United States Congress are working to limit the number of Palestinian refugees recognized by the State Department and also limit US funding for the United Nations agency supporting them, reports Mondoweiss blog

  • Sunday May 27, 2012 4:35 PM (EST+7)
    Jenin unrest stirs fears of security chaos
    Palestinian security officials admit to involvement from their ranks in recent violence in the occupied West Bank city, reports the Washington Post.

  • Sunday May 27, 2012 4:52 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli settler shoots Palestinian in West Bank
    An Israeli settler shot and wounded a Palestinian man on Saturday in a clash that began when a group of settlers set fire to fields belonging to a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, officials said.

  • Thursday May 24, 2012 9:39 PM (EST+7)
    COMMENT: Not all Israeli citizens are equal
    Palestinian-American Yousef Munayyer writes in the New York Times about the inequalities that make up the Israeli system - in the territories it occupies and in Israel.

  • Thursday May 24, 2012 9:06 PM (EST+7)
    Rights group warns Israel breaching prisoner deal
    A human rights group has charged Israeli officials with breaking the terms of a deal to end the prolonged hunger strike of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli jails.

  • Thursday May 24, 2012 7:25 PM (EST+7)
    Lawyer: Israel offered $6 mln to Turk raid victims
    A Turkish lawyer said on Thursday that Israel had offered to pay $6 million to victims of Israel's storming of a Gaza-bound Turkish aid flotilla to settle lawsuits against the Israeli military.

  • Thursday May 24, 2012 2:32 AM (EST+7)
    'Citizen journalism' focuses on Israeli occupation
    Amateur video of Israeli soldiers appearing to watch idly as settlers opened fire on Palestinians throwing stones has emphasized the growing power of "citizen journalism" in the occupied West Bank.

  • Wednesday May 23, 2012 4:46 AM (EST+7)
    Top U.S. Middle East diplomat to retire next week
    Jeffrey Feltman, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, will retire next week, the State Department confirmed on Tuesday but did not address reports he is expected to take up a senior U.N. position.

  • Tuesday May 22, 2012 9:49 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: Jerusalem soon too 'Balkanized' for two states
    Named for the crash site of an air force plane shot down during the Six Day War in 1967, Givat HaMatos may yet prove the place where Palestinian hopes of a creating a capital in Jerusalem also plunge to earth.

  • Monday May 21, 2012 9:04 PM (EST+7)
    S. Africa wants change in import labels, angers Israel
    Israeli goods produced in the occupied Palestinian territories and sold in South Africa may no longer be labelled "Made in Israel," the South African trade minister said on Monday, causing concern in Israel that other countries may follow suit.

  • Monday May 21, 2012 8:47 PM (EST+7)
    Fateh, Hamas look to accelerate unity talks
    Palestinian factions Fateh and Hamas have agreed to hold new consultations on forming a unity government with the aim of overcoming bitter rivalry and holding elections, officials said on Sunday.

  • Monday May 21, 2012 8:41 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians and Israelis clash in Jerusalem march
    Right-wing Israeli marchers scuffled with Palestinians as a procession marking the Jewish state's annexation of east Jerusalem entered the old city's Muslim quarter on Sunday, police said.

  • Sunday May 20, 2012 5:29 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians: Israeli settlements thwarting state
    Palestinians tracking the growth of Israeli settlements say a Palestinian state, especially one with a shared Jerusalem as its capital, is no longer possible.


  • Thursday May 17, 2012 6:57 AM (EST+7)
    Arafat aide accused of embezzlement
    A close aide of former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is being sought in connection with the illegal transfer of millions of dollars, reports the Associated Press.

  • Thursday May 17, 2012 6:49 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to rule on eviction of cave-dwellers
    Israeli military officials will soon decide if Palestinians living in caves near a West Bank firing range will have to leave their homes,reports The Independent.

  • Wednesday May 16, 2012 6:59 PM (EST+7)
    Fayyad replaced as finance minister in reshuffle
    A Palestinian leader widely credited by the West with introducing transparency to a corruption-plagued and donor-dependent economy lost his job as finance minister in a government reshuffle on Wednesday.

  • Tuesday May 15, 2012 4:58 AM (EST+7)
    EU condemns Israeli settlement construction, evictions
    Israeli settlement building and curbs on economic development in the occupied West Bank risk wrecking Palestinian hopes of creating their own state, the European Union said on Monday.

  • Tuesday May 15, 2012 4:49 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian prisoners agree to end hunger strike
    Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails agreed on Monday to an Egyptian-brokered deal aimed at ending a mass hunger strike that challenged Israel's policy of detention without trial and raised fears of a bloody Palestinian backlash if any protesters died.

  • Monday May 14, 2012 4:41 AM (EST+7)
    Arab writers report Gaza culture crackdown
    Participants in the fifth annual Palestinian literary festival, Palfest, report after visiting the blockaded territory that conditions in Gaza are stifling the arts, reports Ahramonline.

  • Monday May 14, 2012 4:34 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian prisoners hunger strike expected to end
    Israel and the Palestinians were close to reaching a deal on Sunday that would end the hunger strike of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, a Hamas spokesman and a Palestinian official said.

  • Monday May 14, 2012 4:25 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians: Netanyahu letter on peace a non-starter
    The formal response of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Palestinian grievances over frozen peace negotiations contains nothing that could revive the talks, Palestinian officials said on Sunday.

  • Monday May 14, 2012 4:22 AM (EST+7)
    Quaker hits eastern Mediterranean, no casualties reported
    An earthquake was felt across the eastern Mediterranean region on Friday night, although no casualties or damage was reported.

  • Thursday May 10, 2012 5:43 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's Wall threatens ancient irrigation system in Battir
    Israel is gradually extending its Wall into the southern occupied West Bank, where it threatens to cut off the village of Battir from an ancient and unique irrigation system, reports the BBC.

  • Thursday May 10, 2012 4:41 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians targeted in proposed US foreign funding bill
    As a congressional subcommittee submitted its proposal for the United States foreign aid budget Wednesday, Palestinians were singled out.

  • Thursday May 10, 2012 3:53 PM (EST+7)
    Settlements use Palestinian child labor, skirting law
    Israeli settlements in the Jordan valley are employing Palestinian children to work long hours for little pay, reports IPS news.

  • Tuesday May 8, 2012 8:53 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu surprise gives Israel grand coalition
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed a unity government on Tuesday in a surprise move that could give him a freer hand to attack Iran's nuclear facilities and seek peace with the Palestinians.

  • Monday May 7, 2012 4:08 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli undercover soldier admits to throwing stones at protest
    An Israeli soldier, testifying at the trial of a Palestinian Knesset member, disclosed that his undercover unit threw stones during a protest in the West Bank village of Bilin, reports Haaretz.

  • Monday May 7, 2012 10:49 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli court rules against Palestinian hunger strikers
    Israel's Supreme Court turned down on Monday an appeal by two Palestinians, who have been on hunger strike for the past 70 days, to free them from detention without trial.

  • Monday May 7, 2012 6:53 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu says wants early election Sept 4
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Monday for an early general election on September 4, a vote opinion polls say will renew his leadership mandate as Israel confronts Iran's nuclear ambitions.

  • Sunday May 6, 2012 0:56 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli security chief advises reigning in detention without trial
    Israel's public security minister reportedly called for reducing the numbers of Palestinians held in administrative detention, most recently in a Tuesday meeting, reports Haaretz.

  • Sunday May 6, 2012 0:29 AM (EST+7)
    Balloon crash highlights Gaza surveillance
    The crash of a military surveillance balloon near the Gaza Strip has drawn attention to how Israel is keeping track of Palestinians.

  • Sunday May 6, 2012 0:18 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas orders end to blocks on websites
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered a halt to the blocking of several news websites linked to political rivals within his Fateh movement, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Thursday May 3, 2012 3:52 PM (EST+7)
    EMG shareholders sue Egypt over treaty violations
    International shareholders in East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), the company that oversaw the now defunct Egyptian-Israeli natural gas deal, said on Thursday they were suing the government of Egypt for violating three bilateral investment treaties.

  • Thursday May 3, 2012 3:35 PM (EST+7)
    New foot and mouth strain spreads to Gaza Strip
    A new strain of foot and mouth disease (FMD) has reached the Gaza Strip and threatens to spread further after first being detected in Egypt and Libya in February, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Wednesday.

  • Sunday April 29, 2012 5:23 AM (EST+7)
    US to reinstate development funds for Palestinians
    US State Department offiicials said Saturday that Washington would restore all development funding to Palestinians after a six-month freeze, reports the Associated Press.

  • Sunday April 29, 2012 4:23 AM (EST+7)
    Abduct Israelis to free prisoners, Gaza leaders say
    Islamic leaders in the Gaza Strip called on Friday for militants to kidnap Israelis and use them as bargaining chips to secure the freedom of thousands of Palestinians prisoners held in Israeli jails.

  • Sunday April 29, 2012 4:16 AM (EST+7)
    Israel backtracks on settlement demolition pledge
    The Israeli government on Friday asked the Supreme Court for a three-month delay in the demolition of five apartment buildings in a Jewish settlement on the West Bank, backtracking on a previous pledge to clear the site by May 1.

  • Thursday April 26, 2012 4:41 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas: Arab visits to al-Aqsa mosque not forbidden
    High-level Arab visits to Jerusalem to pray privately at the third holiest site in Islam should not be seen as acceptance of Israel's disputed grip on the eastern half of the city, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday April 25, 2012 6:13 AM (EST+7)
    Joint Palestinian-Israeli group holds alternative memorial day event
    Combatants for Peace, a joint Israeli-Palestinian group, held a well-attended alternative memorial day ceremony at Tel Aviv's port Tuesday, reports Haaretz.

  • Wednesday April 25, 2012 6:06 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu backs 'contiguous' Palestinian state
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced support on Tuesday for the first time for Palestinians to establish a contiguous state, saying their future country should not look like "Swiss cheese".

  • Wednesday April 25, 2012 4:19 AM (EST+7)
    Israel legalizes three West Bank outposts
    Israel said on Tuesday it had granted legal status to three settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, a move that could shore up the governing coalition but which drew sharp criticism from the U.S., Europe and the Palestinians.

  • Tuesday April 24, 2012 2:14 AM (EST+7)
    Israel punishes Palestinian hunger strikers
    Israel has taken measures against some 1,200 Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike, denying them family visits and separating them from inmates not taking part in the protest, prison authorities said on Monday.

  • Tuesday April 24, 2012 0:15 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian web providers ordered to block some sites
    The Palestinian attorney general has ordered web providers to block as many as eight news websites from public access, reported Maan News Agency on Tuesday.

  • Monday April 23, 2012 3:22 AM (EST+7)
    Official: Israel intercepts ship for security check
    Israeli naval forces intercepted a cargo ship in the Mediterranean on Sunday and troops have boarded the vessel for a "security check", military sources said.

  • Sunday April 22, 2012 6:08 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas' Abu Marzouk refutes claims of shift to non-violence
    Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk refuted claims that the organization has disavowed armed resistance in an interview with The Forward.

  • Sunday April 22, 2012 5:16 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Israeli military embeds reporters, among them Israeli bomber
    Israel's military escorted journalists to the weekly protest at Nabi Saleh this week, "embedding" them in the same manner the US army used in Iraq, reports activist Abi Kopty.

  • Saturday April 21, 2012 11:50 PM (EST+7)
    Danish activist speaks out about blow
    A Danish activist struck in the face by an Israeli military officer during a demonstration last week protesting the closure of the Jordan Valley to Palestinians has spoken to the Guardian.

  • Saturday April 21, 2012 11:40 PM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: Gaza's Christians diplomatic despite Islamicization
    The several thousand Christians in Gaza say that they seek to acclimatize under increasingly conservative Islamic norms, reports al-Akhbar, but some women tell of difficulties.

  • Saturday April 21, 2012 9:24 PM (EST+7)
    Republicans eye $680 million for Israel's 'Iron Dome' shield
    The United States would spend an additional $680 million through 2015 to strengthen Israel's short-range rocket shield under a plan crafted by House of Representatives' Republicans, two congressional staff members disclosed on Friday.

  • Thursday April 12, 2012 1:02 PM (EST+7)
    Israel plans letter to Abbas on potential peace deal
    Israel will submit a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas outlining a position for a future peace deal, and proposing talks be held at a higher level than planned, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday April 12, 2012 12:58 PM (EST+7)
    Mideast mediators seek to revive peace talks
    Middle East peace mediators on Wednesday criticized Israeli settlement building and called on donors to meet aid pledges to the Palestinians as they sought to revive moribund peace talks.

  • Tuesday April 10, 2012 1:41 PM (EST+7)
    US congressmen slam Abbas for honoring reporter Thomas
    Two US congressmen have written to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas slamming an award the Palestine Liberation Organization gave to reporter Helen Thomas in a private ceremony.

  • Tuesday April 10, 2012 1:14 PM (EST+7)
    'Fly-in' planned for Eastern Easter Sunday
    Pro-Palestinian activists will fly in to Israel's international airport on Sunday, seeking to visit Palestinians in Bethlehem on the day Eastern Christians celebrate Easter.

  • Monday April 9, 2012 3:04 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu and Romney share formative past
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney worked together as young advisers at the Boston Consulting Group, a relationship that both say lasts today, reports the New York Times.

  • Monday April 9, 2012 2:31 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Released prisoner raises questions over her transfer to Gaza
    Former Palestinian prisoner Hana Shalabi raises questions about the deal to release her to the Gaza Strip and thus end her month-and-a half hunger strike in an interview with the Electronic Intifada.

  • Monday April 9, 2012 2:25 PM (EST+7)
    New blast hits Egypt gas pipeline serving Jordan, Israel
    An explosion hit the Egyptian pipeline carrying gas to Israel and Jordan on Monday for 14th time since the uprising against President Hosni Mubarak began last year, security sources said.

  • Saturday April 7, 2012 10:13 AM (EST+7)
    WATCH: Israeli military confronts press at Nabi Saleh protest
    Israeli soldiers confront Palestinian press at Friday's weekly protest at Nabi Saleh village, in the Ramallah area, in this video by Tamimi press.

  • Saturday April 7, 2012 10:05 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Christians begin Easter celebrations
    Palestinians belonging to the Roman Catholic and Protestant denominations kicked off two weeks of Easter in the Holy Land on Friday, in part mourning their separation from the city of Jerusalem where the events were said to have taken place, reports the Associated Press.

  • Saturday April 7, 2012 10:00 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas executes three in Gaza, including 'traitor'
    Islamist group Hamas executed three men on Saturday, hanging two convicted murderers and a Gazan found guilty of collaborating with Israel, the Hamas-run ministry of interior said.

  • Thursday April 5, 2012 9:03 AM (EST+7)
    Police: Rocket from Egypt's Sinai hits Israeli city
    A rocket fired from Egypt's Sinai desert struck the southern Israeli city of Eilat on Thursday causing no casualties or damage, Israeli police said.

  • Wednesday April 4, 2012 5:39 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers to meet
    The Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers will meet later this month, officials said on Wednesday, but the rare talks may only sharpen differences that have brought peace negotiations to a standstill.

  • Wednesday April 4, 2012 1:44 PM (EST+7)
    Hague court rejects Palestinian call to take on cases
    The International Criminal Court rejected on Tuesday a request by the Palestinian Authority to investigate alleged crimes committed in the Palestinian Territories, saying it had no jurisdiction in what is not a full U.N. member state.

  • Wednesday April 4, 2012 1:40 PM (EST+7)
    Rivals reach deal to end power cuts in Gaza
    The Gaza Strip's Hamas government and the rival Palestinian Authority (PA) agreed to an Egyptian-brokered deal on Tuesday to end a fuel crisis that has caused daily power cuts in the territory, officials said.


  • Tuesday April 3, 2012 3:17 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Palestinians honor veteran reporter Helen Thomas
    Palestinians honored veteran journalist Helen Thomas in a private dinner held at the home of Palestine Liberation Organization representative Maen Erekat in Washington, reports the Associated Press.

  • Tuesday April 3, 2012 3:09 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu delays eviction of West Bank settler house
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overruled the planned eviction on Tuesday of Jewish settlers from a building in an occupied West Bank city that is flashpoint of tensions with Palestinians.

  • Monday April 2, 2012 9:30 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian press crackdown leads to teacher's arrest
    Palestinian rights groups and journalists are raising concerns over a series of arrests by the Palestinian Authority for opinions expressed on Facebook and news articles, reports the Associated Press.

  • Monday April 2, 2012 9:23 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian family loses court fight for landmark site
    Israel's Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a prominent Palestinian family could not claim ownership of a landmark and now derelict building in East Jerusalem - paving the way for a Jewish settlement project.

  • Monday April 2, 2012 9:16 PM (EST+7)
    Israel punished Palestinian inmate for uprising call
    Israel has placed a high-profile Palestinian prisoner in solitary confinement for a week after he called from his cell for a new wave of civil resistance, the Prisons Authority said on Monday.

  • Saturday March 31, 2012 9:16 AM (EST+7)
    Man killed as Israeli forces clash with Palestinians
    Israeli security forces shot dead one man in the Gaza Strip on Friday, medics said, and clashed with Palestinian stone-throwers around Jerusalem during "Land Day" rallies that turned violent.

  • Tuesday March 27, 2012 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    Jailed Palestinian leader calls for new revolt
    From his cell in an Israeli prison, one of the Palestinians' most revered figures called on Monday for a new wave of civil resistance in their decades-long quest for statehood and for severing all ties with Israel.

  • Monday March 26, 2012 9:29 PM (EST+7)
    US top court allows US passport case to proceed
    American parents of a boy born in Jerusalem can go to court to argue that their son's U.S. passport can list Israel as his birthplace, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday in a setback for the U.S. government.

  • Monday March 26, 2012 9:25 PM (EST+7)
    French gunman visited occupied West Bank in 2010
    The French gunman who went on a killing spree in a Jewish school in France last week traveled from Jordan to the Israel-occupied West Bank in 2010, an Israeli security official said.

  • Monday March 26, 2012 9:20 PM (EST+7)
    Israel cuts contact with UN rights body over probe
    Israel said on Monday it has severed contact with the U.N. Human Rights Council after its launch last week of an international investigation into Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

  • Thursday March 22, 2012 9:02 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians suffer fuel crisis in Gaza
    Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are suffering a crisis of dry petrol pumps and frequent blackouts triggered by a fuel supply dispute between Egypt and the enclave's Hamas Islamist rulers.

  • Wednesday March 21, 2012 7:24 PM (EST+7)
    Gazan fights blackouts with solar energy
    A Palestinian man in Gaza has rigged his home to be fully dependent on solar energy and beat the electricity blackouts that plague Gaza as much as 18 hours a day, reports al-Arabiya.

  • Wednesday March 21, 2012 2:45 PM (EST+7)
    Top Palestinians: Two-state solution endangered
    A leading architect of Palestinian peace talks with Israel has drawn criticism from Palestinian officials by breaking with the notion of a 'two-state solution' that he said was being buried in the dust by Israeli bulldozers racing to build settlements.

  • Wednesday March 21, 2012 10:38 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to phase out civilian atomic reactor by 2018
    Israel is phasing out a civilian nuclear reactor to which it has admitted foreign inspectors while keeping a second reactor, widely believed to have produced atom bombs, off-limits, officials said on Tuesday.

  • Sunday March 18, 2012 10:51 AM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: Bethlehem souvenir shop swallowed by military zone
    Near Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, a Palestinian family struggles to eke a living out of a souvenir shop in the shadow of Israel's military installations, writes an International Solidarity Movement volunteer.

  • Sunday March 18, 2012 10:29 AM (EST+7)
    Once-vibrant Sheikh Jarrah protests dwindle
    Weekly protests against the eviction of Palestinians from Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood have dwindled, reports +972's Mya Guarnieri.

  • Saturday March 17, 2012 1:04 PM (EST+7)
    UN committee to slam discrimination in Israel
    A United Nations committee that monitors racial discrimination is set to release a report slamming Israeli policies.

  • Saturday March 17, 2012 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian hunger strikes test Israeli jailing policy
    The deteriorating health of a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike for the past month is focusing international attention on Israel's decades-old use of detention without trial.

  • Saturday March 17, 2012 9:56 AM (EST+7)
    IMF warns Palestinians may face cuts without more aid
    The International Monetary Fund on Saturday urged donors to meet their aid pledges to the Palestinian Authority, warning that unless funding was forthcoming it would be forced to cut public wages and social benefits to address a deepening fiscal crisis.

  • Monday March 12, 2012 2:11 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to lead at international water forum
    Israel's energy and water minister will lead a delegation trumpeting Israel's "successes" in wastewater management and efficient use of water at the Sixth World Water forum to be held in France, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Monday March 12, 2012 12:38 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli airstrikes kill two Gaza gunmen and schoolboy
    Israeli air strikes killed two Palestinian militants and a civilian in the Gaza Strip on Monday in a fourth day of hostilities, medical sources said.

  • Sunday March 11, 2012 5:47 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli strikes kill three Palestinians in Gaza
    Israeli aircraft on Sunday killed three Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy, medical sources in Gaza said, as armed men fired rockets into Israel for a third day.

  • Saturday March 10, 2012 2:20 PM (EST+7)
    Israel kills four more Gaza gunmen, rockets hit Israel
    Israel killed four Gaza militants on Saturday as violence sparked by the death of a militant leader a day earlier escalated with gunmen firing more than 90 rockets at Israel, injuring four people, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

  • Saturday March 10, 2012 10:29 AM (EST+7)
    Mideast Quartet to meet amid stalled peace talks
    The Quartet of Middle East negotiators - the United States, Russia, the United Nations and European Union - will meet on Monday to discuss the long-stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, the United Nations said.

  • Saturday March 10, 2012 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    Israel kills ten Palestinian militants in Gaza strikes
    Israeli air strikes killed 10 armed men in the Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinian gunmen fired more than two dozen rockets at Israel, officials said, in the worst violent flareup along the restive frontier in months.

  • Thursday March 8, 2012 8:54 PM (EST+7)
    Gazans seethe over taxes and blackouts
    Palestinian Islamist group Hamas faces growing discontent in its Gaza stronghold because of renewed tax hikes and the mismanagement of a power crisis that has led to lengthy blackouts across the enclave.

  • Thursday March 8, 2012 8:46 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill Palestinian teenager in West Bank
    An Israeli soldier shot dead a Palestinian and wounded another who stabbed him on Thursday, as troops carried out an arrest in the occupied West Bank, a local medical worker and the Israeli army said.

  • Tuesday March 6, 2012 9:55 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu tells Obama: No Israeli decision on Israeli attack
    Benjamin Netanyahu assured President Barack Obama on Monday that Israel has not made any decision on attacking Iran's nuclear sites, sources close to the talks said, but the Israeli prime minister gave no sign of backing away from possible military action.

  • Sunday March 4, 2012 2:24 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians to give Israel talks deadline
    Palestinians plan to give Israel a deadline to enter talks, suggesting that if Israel declines, they will consider negotiations over, reports the Associated Press.

  • Sunday March 4, 2012 2:00 PM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: Israel's military courts try a child
    Israeli activist Tamar Fleishman has observed numerous trials in Israel's military court near Ramallah, where she volunteers weekly to watch operations at the main Qalandia checkpoint.

  • Saturday March 3, 2012 1:44 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas blames power crisis on Egypt in rare rift
    Gaza's top political leader blamed Egypt on Friday for causing a power crisis that has triggered lengthy blackouts in the Palestinian enclave, laying bare tensions between his Islamist group Hamas and Cairo.

  • Wednesday Feb. 29, 2012 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    Israel raids Palestinian television stations
    Israeli soldiers raided two Palestinian television stations in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, seizing transmitters the military said were interfering with air traffic communications.

  • Monday Feb. 27, 2012 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu, Abbas trade barbs over Jerusalem
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel on Sunday of trying to erase any Arabic identity from Jerusalem, drawing a strong response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who criticized the comments as inflammatory and contemptible.

  • Sunday Feb. 26, 2012 6:07 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza refugees to protest UN aid cuts
    Gaza refugee groups said Saturday that they would stage demonstrations to protest cuts by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, reports PNN.

  • Sunday Feb. 26, 2012 5:52 PM (EST+7)
    New Palestinian city granted 'temporary' road
    After a three-year wait, builders constructing a Palestinian city north of Ramallah will be allowed to use a road through an Israeli-controlled area of the West Bank - but only temporarily, reports the AFP.

  • Sunday Feb. 26, 2012 5:39 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's Netanyahu to says Iran to top talks with Obama
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Iran's nuclear program was moving forward rapidly and would be the main focus of his upcoming talks with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington.

  • Saturday Feb. 25, 2012 10:53 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli grip on West Bank means demolition of donor advancements
    A German sponsored project brought solar-powered electricity to herding communities in the West Bank. Now, however, Israel is threatening to demolish the project, raising diplomatic ire and highlighting its grip on most of the occupied territory, reports the Associated Press.

  • Saturday Feb. 25, 2012 10:02 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas ditches Assad, backs Syrian revolt
    Leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas turned publicly against their long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad of Syria on Friday, endorsing the revolt aimed at overthrowing his dynastic rule.

  • Saturday Feb. 25, 2012 9:42 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian dies after clash with Israeli soldiers
    A Palestinian protester who participated in clashes against Israeli soldiers near a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Friday died of a bullet wound, a Palestinian hospital official said.

  • Thursday Feb. 23, 2012 5:10 PM (EST+7)
    Women's radio station has new reach
    A radio station dedicated to issues that concern Palestinian women is having an impact on listeners, reports IPS news.

  • Thursday Feb. 23, 2012 4:58 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas sets new terms for reconciliation with Fateh
    Hamas has set new terms for implementing a reconciliation deal with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's rival Fateh group, an official said on Thursday, dimming even further chances the accord will be put into effect.

  • Thursday Feb. 23, 2012 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian demonstrators scuffle over future of Syria
    A small group of demonstrators in support of Syria's regime scuffled Wednesday with Palestinian protesters in support of the Syrian opposition in Ramallah's downtown.

  • Tuesday Feb. 21, 2012 5:26 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Palestinian academic promotes federation with Israel
    Palestinian academic Sari Nusseibeh details his proposal for a federation with Israel from his new book in an interview with Der Spiegel.

  • Tuesday Feb. 21, 2012 3:52 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt to boost Gaza power supply to ease crisis
    Egypt will let more fuel into Gaza and increase the amount of electricity it supplies to the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian and Egyptian officials said on Tuesday, a move to ease a power crisis that has embarrassed the ruling Hamas movement.

  • Tuesday Feb. 21, 2012 3:28 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian prisoner ending hunger strike after deal
    A Palestinian held without trial by Israel agreed on Tuesday to end his 66-day hunger strike after Israeli authorities promised to release him in April in a deal that avoided judicial review of the detention policy.

  • Monday Feb. 20, 2012 4:18 PM (EST+7)
    Vandals scrawl graffiti on Jerusalem Baptist church
    Vandals daubed "Death to Christianity" on a Jerusalem church on Monday in the second such attack in the holy city this month, police said.

  • Sunday Feb. 19, 2012 8:36 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: 'I still have hope', says wife of Khader Adnan
    The wife of Khader Adnan, a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike for more than two months, has become his voice to the world, even as she carries their unborn child, reports al-Jazeera.

  • Sunday Feb. 19, 2012 11:34 AM (EST+7)
    Prisoner's lawyer appeals to Israel high court
    Lawyers for Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, who has been on a hunger strike for two months, have filed an appeal with Israel's highest court, reports the Associated Press.

  • Sunday Feb. 19, 2012 11:23 AM (EST+7)
    Israel calls for tougher Iran sanctions
    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Saturday a nuclear-armed Iran would trigger an arms race in the Middle East and nations should impose "crippling" sanctions on Tehran to force it to give up its atomic program.

  • Thursday Feb. 16, 2012 9:34 PM (EST+7)
    Wife: Health of Palestinian hunger striker worsening
    The health of a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike for 61 days to protest against his detention, has significantly worsened, his wife said on Thursday after visiting her husband in an Israeli hospital.

  • Thursday Feb. 16, 2012 8:33 PM (EST+7)
    Promises of exports fall short for Gaza's manufacturers
    Encouraged by Israeli announcements in 2010 of an ease in restrictions on exports, factory owner Mohamed Najar produced furniture worth about US$150,000 for orders from abroad.

  • Thursday Feb. 16, 2012 2:10 PM (EST+7)
    At least five children killed in W. Bank road accident
    At last five Palestinian schoolchildren and a teacher were killed on Thursday when their bus overturned and caught fire after a collision with a truck on a rain-slicked road in the occupied West Bank.

  • Wednesday Feb. 15, 2012 9:46 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza power plant stops due to smuggled fuel shortage
    The Gaza Strip's only power station, which supplies the Palestinian enclave with up to two-thirds of its energy needs, was shut down on Tuesday because of a shortage of fuel smuggled in from neighboring Egypt.

  • Wednesday Feb. 15, 2012 9:37 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza runner ready to fly Palestinian flag in London
    Gaza runner Bahaa al-Farra treads carefully, braving the elements and potholed roads ravaged by years of conflict between Palestinian militants and the Israeli army, as he prepares to race at the London Olympics.


  • Monday Feb. 13, 2012 9:30 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas chiefs wrestle with split on Palestinian pact
    The two top leaders of the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas failed at secret talks in Qatar on Sunday to resolve an internal crisis over a reconciliation pact with the rival Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas, a diplomat in the region said.

  • Sunday Feb. 12, 2012 11:18 AM (EST+7)
    Israel bombs Gaza after rocket launch, man killed
    An Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip killed a Palestinian civilian on Sunday, hospital officials said, and the military described the operation as retaliation for a cross-border rocket launch.

  • Wednesday Feb. 8, 2012 3:05 PM (EST+7)
    Two Hamas lawmakers indicted in Jerusalem court
    Israeli officials indicted two Palestinian parliamentarians in a Jerusalem court Tuesday, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Wednesday Feb. 8, 2012 1:42 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians shift focus from Israel to unity
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has decided he has a better chance of making peace with the militant Islamist group Hamas than he does of signing a treaty with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

  • Tuesday Feb. 7, 2012 3:05 PM (EST+7)
    'Price tag" graffiti daubed on Jerusalem monastery
    A Jerusalem monastery, built on the site where tradition says the tree used in the making of Jesus's cross once stood, was defaced with "Death to Christians" graffiti on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Feb. 7, 2012 2:48 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Hamas juggles political need with founding principles
    Hamas has been in flux since its creation at the start of the first Palestinian uprising in 1987, say analysts, transforming the most in recent years as it interacts on the world stage.

  • Monday Feb. 6, 2012 3:41 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Subaru ad makes light of settler attacks
    An advertisement for Subaru automobiles published in major Israeli newspapers and on the internet makes light of right-wing attacks on Palestinian property that have been dubbed "price tag" attacks.

  • Monday Feb. 6, 2012 3:20 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian rivals agree to form unity government
    Rival Palestinian factions Fateh and Hamas signed a deal in Qatar on Monday to form a unity government of independent technocrats for the West Bank and Gaza, headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

  • Monday Feb. 6, 2012 9:42 AM (EST+7)
    Obama says risky to attack Iran, wants diplomatic fix
    U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday there were important risks to consider before any military strike against Iran and made clear he does not want to see more conflict in the oil-producing Gulf region.

  • Sunday Feb. 5, 2012 12:11 PM (EST+7)
    Blast hits Egypt's gas pipeline to Israel
    An explosion hit a gas pipeline running from Egypt to Israel on Sunday, witnesses and state television reported.

  • Sunday Feb. 5, 2012 11:26 AM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: French citizen struck in head with tear gas canister
    A French citizen was struck in the head by a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops in Nabi Saleh on Friday, reports Omar Rahman.

  • Sunday Feb. 5, 2012 9:27 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian aids Israeli soldier left behind in raid
    An Israeli soldier stranded after a raid in occupied territory was escorted to safety by a Palestinian man in the same village the troops had targeted, witnesses and media reports said.

  • Thursday Feb. 2, 2012 11:56 AM (EST+7)
    West Bank security questions two journalists
    Two Palestinian journalists reported being detained by Palestinian security forces Wednesday, one for disparaging the Palestinian leadership and another for a report alleging corruption, reports the Associated Press.

  • Thursday Feb. 2, 2012 11:14 AM (EST+7)
    UN chief's convoy hailed with shoes in Gaza
    Dozens of protesters threw shoes and other objects at the convoy of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon as he entered the Gaza Strip Thursday.

  • Wednesday Feb. 1, 2012 4:03 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's Netanyahu wins new party mandate
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won a new mandate to head his right-wing Likud party, defeating an ultranationalist challenger opposed to any land-for-peace deal with Palestinians.

  • Wednesday Feb. 1, 2012 3:43 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli jailers to administer salt and sugar to striking prisoner
    An ethical committee has told prison officials to administer salt and sugar to a Palestinian prisoner on his second month of a hunger strike, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Wednesday Feb. 1, 2012 1:51 PM (EST+7)
    Islamic agencies battle the odds in Gaza
    Secours Islamique France is a respected aid agency, part of the global Islamic Relief network based in the United Kingdom, but when it comes to helping Palestinians in Gaza, its operations are challenged by both Israeli bureaucracy and its own “no-contact” policy with the Hamas officials who control the territory.

  • Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012 10:38 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas Gaza leader heads for Iran, Gulf
    The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, left on Monday for a tour of Iran and Gulf states, continuing a diplomatic drive to realign the Palestinian Islamist movement after a year of political change in the Arab world.

  • Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012 10:31 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu set to win party primary ahead of US poll
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to win a new mandate to lead his right-wing Likud party on Tuesday in a primary vote which may signal he favors an early parliamentary election to strengthen his hand with Washington.

  • Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012 10:20 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians blame Israel for exploratory talks' failure
    Palestinian leaders blamed Israel for the failure of exploratory talks aimed at resuming peace negotiations, and said they planned to explore other ways of bringing about a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

  • Monday Jan. 30, 2012 9:48 AM (EST+7)
    Intolerance and abuses plague West Bank, say rights groups
    West Bank security forces continue to arrest or harass Palestinians for their beliefs and arbitrary detentions appear to be on the rise, human rights groups tell the Associated Press.

  • Monday Jan. 30, 2012 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    Jordan's king meets Hamas chief after 12-year rupture
    Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal on Sunday made his first official visit to Jordan since the kingdom expelled him more than a decade ago and held talks with King Abdullah.

  • Monday Jan. 30, 2012 9:30 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority suspends plan to raise taxes
    The Palestinian Authority announced on Sunday it was suspending plans to raise income tax that have sparked widespread protests but said it was still seeking ways to cut costs in 2012 to plug a gap resulting from lower-than-expected foreign aid revenues.

  • Saturday Jan. 28, 2012 12:56 PM (EST+7)
    The politics of recycling in Jenin
    In this essay for the Jerusalem Quarterly, republished at Jadaliyya, she recalls bukaj, the western hand-me-downs passed on to Palestinian refugees, and muses on the changing meanings of colonial gifts.

  • Saturday Jan. 28, 2012 11:46 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas quietly quits Syria as violence continues
    The leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, has effectively abandoned his headquarters in the Syrian capital, Damascus, diplomatic and intelligence sources said on Friday.

  • Saturday Jan. 28, 2012 11:35 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians unmoved as Israel presents border ideas
    Israel has presented Palestinians with its ideas for the borders and security arrangements of a future Palestinian state, in a bid to keep exploratory talks alive, Palestinian and Israeli sources said on Friday.

  • Thursday Jan. 26, 2012 2:39 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza drug shortages spread to West Bank
    Shortages of essential drugs that have plagued the Gaza Strip are now spreading to the West Bank, reported Medical Aid for Palestinians in an appeal Thursday.

  • Thursday Jan. 26, 2012 1:31 PM (EST+7)
    YaLa harnesses big names and internet in regional 'conference'
    With 50,000 "likes" on Facebook making up its conference audience, YaLa Young Leaders is holding a regional discussion about the issues of today, reports GobalPost.

  • Thursday Jan. 26, 2012 10:49 AM (EST+7)
    Officials: Israeli-Palestinian talks end with no progress
    Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at reviving peace negotiations ended in Jordan on Wednesday without achieving any progress and President Mahmoud Abbas plans to consult fellow Arabs on his next move, Palestinian officials said.

  • Wednesday Jan. 25, 2012 10:30 AM (EST+7)
    Momentum grows against Palestinian Authority tax hikes
    The Palestinian private sector and public sector union are joining forces against a government plan that would double taxes on the highest Palestinian wage earners, reports the Associated Press.

  • Wednesday Jan. 25, 2012 10:14 AM (EST+7)
    EU wants 'bold' peace bids by Palestinians, Israel
    EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders over the next two days to try to push exploratory peace talks beyond a Thursday deadline and back to full negotiations.

  • Wednesday Jan. 25, 2012 10:01 AM (EST+7)
    Israel detains senior Hamas official for six months
    Israel on Tuesday ordered senior Hamas official Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian parliament, held without trial for six months, his lawyer said.

  • Tuesday Jan. 24, 2012 7:25 PM (EST+7)
    US: New UN council no more favorable to Palestinians
    Security Council dynamics are no more favorable now to a Palestinian U.N. membership bid than they were last year despite a partial change in the council makeup, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said on Monday.

  • Tuesday Jan. 24, 2012 8:59 AM (EST+7)
    Israel arrests two Hamas officials at Red Cross office
    Israeli police on Monday two senior Hamas members at an International Committee of the Red Cross building in East Jerusalem where they had taken shelter for some 18 months, Red Cross and Israeli officials said.

  • Monday Jan. 23, 2012 1:53 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Meshaal invites Abbas to visit Gaza with him
    Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, after telling the movement that he plans to step down, has invited Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to visit the Gaza Strip with him to consolidate reconciliation between their rival factions, reported Al-Hayat Monday.

  • Monday Jan. 23, 2012 1:45 PM (EST+7)
    Negev road bordering Egypt to be rerouted
    In another sign of Israel's security concerns about its border with Egypt, Haaretz reports that officials have decided to reroute a road that runs along that border in the Negev.

  • Sunday Jan. 22, 2012 2:58 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Abu Marzouk a favorite to replace Hamas leader Meshaal?
    Since Hamas announced that its Damascus-based leader Khaled Meshaal may not seek reelection to his post in coming internal elections, speculation has been rife about the implications.

  • Sunday Jan. 22, 2012 2:40 PM (EST+7)
    Lieberman said slighted by White House
    Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is headed to Washington next week, but reportedly feels that US officials are avoiding meeting with him.

  • Sunday Jan. 22, 2012 2:32 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians protest austerity measures
    Some 200 people marched against austerity measures proposed by the Palestinian Authority government in Nablus Saturday, reports the AFP.

  • Saturday Jan. 21, 2012 1:47 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas: Meshaal won't seek new term
    Hamas has asked its leader Khaled Meshaal not to step down, reports the Associated Press.

  • Saturday Jan. 21, 2012 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas calls for end to peace feelers after arrests
    The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas urged President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday to suspend exploratory peace talks with Israel following Israel's arrest of two Hamas legislators, and to stop his cooperation on West Bank security with the Israelis.

  • Saturday Jan. 21, 2012 9:56 AM (EST+7)
    Israel arrests Hamas head of Palestinian parliament
    Israeli soldiers arrested senior Hamas official, Aziz Dweik, speaker of the Palestinian parliament on suspicion of involvement with terrorist groups on Thursday, the Israeli military and Hamas said.

  • Thursday Jan. 19, 2012 2:13 PM (EST+7)
    Syria's Brotherhood reject Iran-mediated deal
    Iranian officials contacted Syria's Muslim Brotherhood to try to mediate a political solution to a 10-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad but their efforts were rebuffed, a senior Brotherhood member said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Jan. 19, 2012 2:05 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza rights activist says stabbing will not silence him
    Gaza human rights activist Mahmoud Abu Rahma said Wednesday he would not stop his work, despite a stabbing attack in which he was hospitalized, reports the Los Angeles Times.

  • Thursday Jan. 19, 2012 1:53 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli owners hit by cruise ship disaster
    Carnival Cruises, the parent operator of the Costa Concordia, which sank off the coast of Italy, is owned by one of Israel's richest families, reports GlobalPost.

  • Wednesday Jan. 18, 2012 1:18 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli strike kills Palestinians in Gaza
    An Israeli aircraft and tank strike killed at least one Palestinian close to the border fence in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medics said.

  • Wednesday Jan. 18, 2012 12:49 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Israel's highest courts now include a settler
    Last week, Judge Noam Sohlberg was appointed to Israel's Supreme Court, making him the first judge to live in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.

  • Wednesday Jan. 18, 2012 11:10 AM (EST+7)
    UK museum attacked over links to Israeli Dead Sea firm
    Experts at a leading British museum should pull out of a European-funded study into tiny particles because one of their partners is an Israeli company that operates in the occupied West Bank, British scientists and public figures said on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Jan. 18, 2012 11:03 AM (EST+7)
    US Republications lack diplomacy in economy-focused race
    Rick Perry's comment that Turkey is ruled by "Islamic terrorists" is the latest gaffe by a Republican White House hopeful on foreign policy, which has been a minefield for the candidates vying to oppose President Barack Obama's re-election this year.

  • Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012 11:49 AM (EST+7)
    Israel army said preparing Gaza offensive 'larger than Cast Lead'
    Israeli army officials are preparing for an offensive in the Gaza Strip in coming months, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012 10:10 AM (EST+7)
    UK slams Israel settlement 'vandalism' as Abbas visits
    Britain condemned Israeli settlements on Monday as "deliberate vandalism" of efforts to establish a Palestinian state, bolstering Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as negotiators attempt to revive moribund peace talks.

  • Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012 10:00 AM (EST+7)
    Hackers disrupt Tel Aviv exchange, El Al websites
    Computer hackers disrupted access to the websites of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) and Israel's flag carrier El Al Airlines on Monday, officials at both companies said.

  • Monday Jan. 16, 2012 12:23 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority debt putting brakes on economy
    Hundreds of millions of dollars in debt owed by the Palestinian Authority to local companies are having a stifling effect on the private sector, reports The National.

  • Monday Jan. 16, 2012 12:06 PM (EST+7)
    Rights group criticizes protester beating by Palestinian security
    A Palestinian human rights group criticized Palestinian security for beating a protester Saturday after his arrest at a demonstration against Palestinian negotiations with Israel.

  • Monday Jan. 16, 2012 11:42 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians slam planned UAE drone purchase
    Palestinians criticized the United Arab Emirates for attempting to buy several drones from Israel in a deal that has been stalled by Israel's defense ministry, reports Al Akhbar.

  • Monday Jan. 16, 2012 11:33 AM (EST+7)
    Joint US-Israel military exercise postponed
    The United States and Israel have postponed an upcoming joint military exercise until later in the year, but sources in both countries denied on Sunday that the move was taken to avoid further escalating tensions with Iran.

  • Sunday Jan. 15, 2012 2:43 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli minister distances himself from Iran slaying
    Israel's intelligence minister distanced himself on Sunday from the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist last week that Tehran blamed on agents of Israel and the United States.

  • Sunday Jan. 15, 2012 2:11 PM (EST+7)
    Qatar emir suggests sending Arab troops to Syria
    Qatar has proposed sending Arab troops to halt the bloodshed in Syria, where violence has raged on despite the presence of Arab League monitors sent to check if an Arab peace plan is working.

  • Sunday Jan. 15, 2012 1:06 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians hesitant over continuing talks
    Palestinians and Israelis met for a third time in Amman Saturday, reportedly trying to find a way to more substantial talks.

  • Saturday Jan. 14, 2012 2:51 PM (EST+7)
    Blast in home of Gaza militant leader kills one
    A Palestinian man who had been preparing an attack on Israeli targets was killed on Saturday in an explosion at the home of a militant leader in the Gaza Strip, his group said.

  • Saturday Jan. 14, 2012 2:06 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Israeli agents posed as CIA in anti-Iran contacts
    Israeli agents posed as US intelligence in a "false flag" operation that angered the Bush administration, writes Mark Perry in Friday's Foreign Policy.

  • Saturday Jan. 14, 2012 1:36 PM (EST+7)
    Israel, Palestinians to hold further talks Saturday
    Israelis and Palestinians will hold their third round of face-to-face meetings this year on Saturday in what diplomats hope might lead to the resumption of full peace talks, sources on each side said on Friday.

  • Thursday Jan. 12, 2012 11:51 AM (EST+7)
    Supreme Court upholds law blocking Palestinian spouses in Israel
    Israel's Supreme Court upheld legislation Wednesday that prevents Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens from gaining citizenship, thus dashing the hopes of thousands of couples who are forced by the law to live separately or in uncertainty.

  • Thursday Jan. 12, 2012 11:24 AM (EST+7)
    Controversial Jerusalem museum to be built soon, despite ongoing obstacles
    A controversial museum to be built on a historic Muslim graveyard in Jerusalem is slated to begin construction in coming weeks, despite an ongoing dispute with its architects, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Thursday Jan. 12, 2012 11:05 AM (EST+7)
    Israel uses risky 'hits' in deadly shadow war
    If Mossad assassins were behind the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist on Wednesday, it would be the latest chapter in a long history of Israeli covert action against foes best not confronted with full force.

  • Wednesday Jan. 11, 2012 10:29 AM (EST+7)
    Israel prepares for fall of Assad, coming of refugees
    Israel is making preparations for the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a flood of refugees from his minority Alawite sect into the Golan Heights, Israel's military chief told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Jan. 11, 2012 10:20 AM (EST+7)
    Israel breaking settlement records, says Peace Now
    Israel's government broke all its settlement-building records in 2011, diminishing prospects for establishing a viable Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Israel's anti-settlement activist group "Peace Now" said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Jan. 10, 2012 12:40 PM (EST+7)
    'The future is ours,' says Hamas Gaza leader
    The coming rise of Islamism in the Arab world will strengthen support for the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which will not give up its armed confrontation with Israel, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar said on Monday.

  • Tuesday Jan. 10, 2012 12:28 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians to raise taxes, cut costs to curb deficit
    The Palestinian Authority will have to raise income tax and cut costs in 2012 to counter lower-than-expected foreign aid donations, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has said.

  • Tuesday Jan. 10, 2012 12:19 PM (EST+7)
    Israel, Palestinians spar as peace contacts resume
    Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman dismissed newly rekindled diplomatic contacts with the Palestinians on Monday, accusing them of poor faith in peacemaking.

  • Monday Jan. 9, 2012 1:19 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian reconciliation deal faltering
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fateh movement said on Sunday it would have to re-evaluate its reconciliation pact with the Islamist Hamas group following the rejection of a Fateh visit to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip last week.

  • Monday Jan. 9, 2012 12:52 PM (EST+7)
    Israel raises defense budget to face new challenges
    Israel will boost defense spending by about 6 percent this year in the face of deepening regional instability, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, defying calls for cuts as living standards are squeezed.

  • Sunday Jan. 8, 2012 11:34 AM (EST+7)
    Citing fears of infiltration, Israel to build Jordan border fence
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on the first day of the new year that his government plans to build a fence along its border with Jordan.

  • Sunday Jan. 8, 2012 11:11 AM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem's mayor proposes new city borders excluding Palestinians
    Jerusalem's Israeli mayor has proposed changing the city's boundaries to exclude tens of thousands of Palestinians that currently live within the municipality but outside a Wall that Israel has constructed through areas it occupied in 1967, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Sunday Jan. 8, 2012 10:07 AM (EST+7)
    Israel vows to hit back after credit cards hacked
    Israel said on Saturday the online publication of thousands of its citizens' credit card details by a hacker who says he is based in Saudi Arabia was comparable to terrorism, and promised to hit back.

  • Saturday Jan. 7, 2012 12:30 PM (EST+7)
    Sesame Street one casualty of US funding freeze for Palestinians
    The Palestinian version of Sesame Street, Sharaa Simsim, is one of numerous programs on hold due to a freeze on US funding, reports the Associated Press.

  • Saturday Jan. 7, 2012 10:33 AM (EST+7)
    Diplomat: Palestinians have 'creative ideas' for breaking UN impasse
    Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour said that he discussed "creative ideas" for progressing with statehood recognition at the United Nations with the current Security Council president, reports the Associated Press.

  • Saturday Jan. 7, 2012 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    UN chief to visit Lebanon, UAE for Mideast talks
    U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon travels to Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates this month, where he will discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and other issues related to the Middle East, Ban told reporters Friday.

  • Saturday Jan. 7, 2012 8:59 AM (EST+7)
    Arab League asks for Hamas help with Syria
    The Arab League chief on Friday asked the Damascus-based leader of the Palestinian group Hamas  to ask Syria  to work to halt violence, saying there was more to do under a peace agreement aimed at ending a crackdown on anti-government protesters.

  • Thursday Jan. 5, 2012 8:40 PM (EST+7)
    Israel, Palestinians to meet on Jan. 9, U.S. says
    Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators will hold their next face-to-face talks on Monday, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said on Thursday.

  • Thursday Jan. 5, 2012 7:50 PM (EST+7)
    Jerusalemites complain of lack of services as city dedicates mailboxes
    Palestinians in Issawiya gave Israel's Jerusalem mayor an earful Wednesday as city officials dedicated over 1,000 mailboxes in the neighborhood Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Jan. 4, 2012 10:16 AM (EST+7)
    No breakthrough on Mideast peace, talks to go on
    Israeli and Palestinian negotiators made no breakthrough during their first high-level discussions in more than a year on Tuesday, but agreed to hold further talks in Amman on a confidential basis, Jordan's foreign minister said.

  • Tuesday Dec. 13, 2011 1:40 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to name streets in East Jerusalem
    Israel has begun naming some 1,000 streets in the eastern part of Jerusalem as a means of improving services in the part of the city that it occupied in 1967. 

  • Tuesday Dec. 13, 2011 12:43 PM (EST+7)
    Israel denounces settlers' attack on army base
    An Israeli minister denounced a group of hardline Jewish settlers as "terrorists" on Tuesday after they vandalized an Israeli army base in the latest in a series of attacks in the occupied West Bank.

  • Saturday Dec. 10, 2011 1:47 PM (EST+7)
    Protester dies after injury from closely-fired tear gas canister
    A Palestinian demonstrator injured by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank died of his wounds on Saturday, a hospital spokeswoman and protest organizers said.

  • Saturday Dec. 10, 2011 1:29 PM (EST+7)
    Gingrich calls Palestinians an 'invented' people
    U.S. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich thrust himself into controversy on Friday by declaring that the Palestinians are an "invented" people who want to destroy Israel.

  • Saturday Dec. 10, 2011 1:21 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli raid kills 4 Gazans; rockets fired at Israel
    Violence has flared up between Israel and Gaza, with the Israeli air force killing four Palestinians and Palestinian militants firing rockets far across the border.

  • Wednesday Dec. 7, 2011 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    Medics: Israeli troops kill gunman in Gaza
    Israeli forces clashed with members of the militant Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing one gunman and wounding another in a rare cross-border incursion, witnesses and hospital officials said.

  • Tuesday Dec. 6, 2011 2:10 PM (EST+7)
    Israel expels Hamas member from Jerusalem
    Israel expelled a Hamas member from Jerusalem on Tuesday, releasing him from prison at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city where he crossed into Palestinian Authority-controlled Ramallah.

  • Tuesday Dec. 6, 2011 1:25 PM (EST+7)
    Poll: Palestinians in Israel less likely to accept transfer
    Palestinian citizens of Israel, a 20 percent minority, are more likely to reject proposals that they be transferred to a future Palestinian state as part of a peace deal than last year, a recent poll found, reports IPS.

  • Monday Dec. 5, 2011 6:11 PM (EST+7)
    Buzz of Israel's drones resonates throughout region
    Service in the drone squadrons of Israel, the world's oldest military operator of pilotless aircraft, sometimes begins on the fields of teenaged model plane enthusiasts.

  • Monday Dec. 5, 2011 11:53 AM (EST+7)
    Rush ballot in Israel's Likud linked to US outlook
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a snap Likud party leadership vote, officials said on Monday, a contest he is expected to win and which could pave the way for an early national election in Israel.

  • Monday Dec. 5, 2011 11:25 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas quietly scales back its presence in Syria
    Dozens of Hamas operatives have quietly returned to Gaza from Damascus as the Islamist group scales back its presence in Syria and gauges the uncertain future of President Bashar al-Assad, diplomats said on Sunday.

  • Wednesday Nov. 30, 2011 12:49 PM (EST+7)
    Israel releases frozen Palestinian tax funds
    Israel decided on Wednesday to release tax money it had been withholding from the Palestinians since they won membership to the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO a month ago, a government official said.

  • Wednesday Nov. 30, 2011 12:27 PM (EST+7)
    Long legal battle likely means eviction for Palestinian family
    The Sumarin family has received a short court reprieve from eviction from its Silwan home--the only home it has ever known. But in mid-December, the Sumarins will again face being forced out of their house if an arm of the Jewish National Fund chooses to take over the property that it says it owns.

  • Wednesday Nov. 30, 2011 11:55 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli officials hint at involvement in Iran blasts
    Unnamed Israeli sources have told the Times of London that a Monday blast that appeared to strike an Isfahan nuclear facility was "no accident", increasing speculation that Israel is involved in attacking Iranian targets.

  • Wednesday Nov. 30, 2011 10:39 AM (EST+7)
    Iceland votes to recognize Palestinian state
    Iceland's parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of recognizing the Palestinian territories as an independent state, the first Western European country to do so according Iceland's foreign minister.

  • Wednesday Nov. 30, 2011 10:27 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian economy minister faces graft charges
    Palestinian Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh has been charged with financial wrongdoing, court sources said on Tuesday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's beleaguered government.

  • Tuesday Nov. 29, 2011 1:16 PM (EST+7)
    Bethlehem church may finally see needed repairs
    After centuries of delay, Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity may finally see repairs, officials have told The Independent.

  • Tuesday Nov. 29, 2011 12:35 PM (EST+7)
    Rockets fired across Lebanon, Israel border
    Several rockets fired from Lebanon hit northern Israel on Tuesday, the first since 2009, prompting Israel to return fire, military officials said.

  • Monday Nov. 28, 2011 9:00 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Hamas plans greater links to Egypt
    Gaza's Hamas leaders are planning greater cooperation with Cairo as Egyptians went to the polls Monday to vote for a new parliament.

  • Monday Nov. 28, 2011 8:53 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu: Israel may release frozen Palestinian funds
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he was considering releasing tax money that Israel has been withholding from the Palestinians since they won membership of the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO.

  • Monday Nov. 28, 2011 2:43 PM (EST+7)
    Israel delays bridge razing at volatile holy site
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed demolition of a footbridge at Jerusalem's holiest and most volatile religious site, fearing the work could spark Muslim anger, government officials said on Monday.

  • Sunday Nov. 27, 2011 11:36 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Hamas, Fateh to maintain governments before elections
    A Hamas leader has told the Associated Press that Palestinian rival factions will maintain their respective governments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip before possible elections in May.

  • Saturday Nov. 26, 2011 3:15 PM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem women seek solidarity on complex issues
    Palestinian women in Jerusalem are all-too-often caught between traditional patriarchy and an uncaring, insensitive Israeli system, reports The National.

  • Saturday Nov. 26, 2011 1:58 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians talk unity, no sign of progress
    Leaders of Fateh and Hamas met for the first time in six months Thursday and hailed progress toward ending a rift that has led to separate governments in the West Bank and Gaza, but there was no sign of a breakthrough.

  • Thursday Nov. 24, 2011 2:29 PM (EST+7)
    Israel jails Palestinian for killing US missionary
    An Israeli court sentenced two Palestinians to life imprisonment on Thursday for killing an American tourist while she was hiking near Jerusalem last December.

  • Wednesday Nov. 23, 2011 2:43 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli desert plan would uproot 30,000 Bedouin
    Bulldozed by Israel more than two dozen times, a village known by Bedouin Arabs as Al-Arakib is one of many ramshackle desert communities whose names have never appeared on any official map.

  • Wednesday Nov. 23, 2011 11:03 AM (EST+7)
    US presidential candidates compete over love for Israel
    Republican candidates for president of the United States were nearly uniform in their support for Israel in a televised foreign policy debate Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Nov. 23, 2011 10:50 AM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Knesset considers law raising libel penalties and more
    RAMALLAH, November 23 (JMCC) - Israel's parliament is considering enacting a law that would dramatically raise libel penalties and impose other rules on journalists that have outraged critics, reports Dimi Reider.

  • Tuesday Nov. 22, 2011 5:48 PM (EST+7)
    Study shows Palestinians invest twice as much in Israel as in West Bank
    An academic study has found that Palestinian businesspeople invest twice as much (between $2.5 and $5.8 billion a year) in Israeli settlements and Israel than they do in the occupied West Bank, reports Haaretz.

  • Tuesday Nov. 22, 2011 5:25 PM (EST+7)
    POLL: Arab view of Obama negative, but improved
    A wide ranging poll of Arab public opinion in six countries shows that views of the US administration have slightly improved, although remaining overwhelmingly negative, reports Foreign Policy.

  • Tuesday Nov. 22, 2011 5:14 PM (EST+7)
    Sick Gazans to be treated in Egypt struggle with delays
    Forty-year-old Mohamed Wadi has leukemia. He fought for permission to leave Gaza and its beleaguered hospitals for Egypt, where he could receive care.

  • Tuesday Nov. 22, 2011 0:05 AM (EST+7)
    UN envoy calls for diplomatic action on Mideast
    The top United Nations envoy to the Middle East called Tuesday for diplomatic movement on the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.

  • Monday Nov. 21, 2011 5:57 PM (EST+7)
    Israel boosts naval patrols around Med gas fields
    Israel has gradually boosted naval patrols around its east Mediterranean natural gas fields for fear of guerrilla attacks and as maritime rivalry with Turkey deepens, an Israeli official said on Monday.

  • Monday Nov. 21, 2011 5:48 PM (EST+7)
    Jordan's king backs Palestinian leader
    King Abdullah of Jordan made a rare trip to the West Bank on Monday to display support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is seeking to make peace with his Islamist rivals Hamas, and push for a resumption of peace talks with Israel.

  • Monday Nov. 21, 2011 10:00 AM (EST+7)
    Jordan king to make rare West Bank visit Monday
    Jordan's King Abdullah will make a rare visit to the occupied West Bank on Monday, weighing in on behalf of the Palestinians' statehood drive amid stalled peace talks with Israel, officials said.

  • Sunday Nov. 20, 2011 10:45 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Palestinian president attempts tough balancing act
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is biding his time, hoping for a change in the political climate that currently threatens both his leadership and the Palestinian cause, writes The National.

  • Sunday Nov. 20, 2011 2:44 PM (EST+7)
    Gov't source: Israel delays foreign funding bill
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put on hold on Sunday legislation to limit foreign funding of non-governmental organizations, a government source said, after critics denounced the bill as a bid to mute left-wing groups.

  • Sunday Nov. 20, 2011 1:57 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian 'dean of prisoners' marries sweetheart
    In his West Bank home town of Kobar, where Nael Barghouti's face is drawn or plastered on nearly every wall, thousands of people came to greet and congratulate him during a traditional lunch of lamb and rice served on his wedding day.

  • Saturday Nov. 19, 2011 12:35 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: After three decades in prison, a Palestinian recalls his life
    In this interview published at al-Akhbar, Fakhri Barghouti describes life in jail and what it was like to leave his son behind when he was released.

  • Saturday Nov. 19, 2011 11:08 AM (EST+7)
    Freed Palestinian prisoners fear Israeli security rules
    For many of the Palestinian prisoners freed last month in a swap for a captive Israeli soldier, the ability to speak and travel as they wish remains an illusion.

  • Thursday Nov. 17, 2011 3:14 PM (EST+7)
    Barak reassures Israel over 'empathy' for Iran atom bid
    Defense Minister Ehud Barak tried to reassure Israelis about the government's resolve on Thursday after he appeared to empathize with Iran's controversial nuclear quest during an American television interview.

  • Thursday Nov. 17, 2011 9:57 AM (EST+7)
    France summons Israeli ambassador over strike on Gaza
    France's Foreign Ministry summoned Israel's ambassador on Wednesday to protest about an air strike on Gaza that injured the French consul and his family on Sunday.

  • Wednesday Nov. 16, 2011 10:55 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians will keep knocking on UN's door
    The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Tuesday endorsed a decision by President Mahmoud Abbas to request a United Nations Security Council vote on a resolution recognizing a Palestinian state, even though it is destined to fail.

  • Wednesday Nov. 16, 2011 10:32 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to invite bids for 814 settler homes
    Israel said on Tuesday it will invite bids soon for constructing 814 homes in occupied land it considers part of Jerusalem, pursuing a decision to speed up building in settlements after Palestinians won full membership in the U.N. cultural agency.

  • Wednesday Nov. 16, 2011 10:19 AM (EST+7)
    VIEW: West Bank 'Freedom Rides' in pictures
    Vivid photos documenting a Palestinian protest against Israeli policies that effectively bar them from buses serving settlers in the West Bank have been posted at the Occupied Palestine blog.

  • Wednesday Nov. 16, 2011 10:01 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians catch bus to protest Israeli curbs
    Calling themselves "Freedom Riders", six Palestinians boarded a bus used by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, but the end of the line was Israeli police detention.

  • Tuesday Nov. 15, 2011 6:01 PM (EST+7)
    French consul injured in Israeli raid on Gaza
    France's consul to the Gaza Strip, his wife and 13-year-old daughter were injured during an Israeli air strike on Sunday night, French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

  • Tuesday Nov. 15, 2011 11:48 AM (EST+7)
    Fayyad may quit for sake of Palestinian unity
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad signaled on Monday he is ready to step aside to help reconcile the two rival factions of the Palestinian national movement and pave the way for presidential and parliamentary elections.

  • Monday Nov. 14, 2011 3:14 PM (EST+7)
    Israel maintains Palestinian funds freeze
    Israel's cabinet decided on Monday to continue to withhold the transfer of tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority, a measure it imposed two weeks ago after the Palestinians won full membership of the U.N. cultural agency.

  • Monday Nov. 14, 2011 2:27 PM (EST+7)
    American taking Israel to court for injuries
    An American activist will seek damages in Israeli court for injuries sustained during a demonstration in the West Bank, reports the Associated Press.

  • Monday Nov. 14, 2011 9:58 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli airstrike kills Hamas policeman in Gaza
    An Israeli air strike on a Hamas compound in the Gaza Strip killed one policeman and wounded four others on Monday after Palestinian militants from the coastal territory fired a rocket into southern Israel.

  • Sunday Nov. 13, 2011 5:53 PM (EST+7)
    Israel moves to limit foreign funds for organizations
    An Israeli ministerial committee gave initial approval on Sunday to legislation intended to clamp limits on funding by foreign governments for Israeli organizations.

  • Sunday Nov. 13, 2011 11:05 AM (EST+7)
    Lieberman denied access to sensitive intelligence information
    Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman was denied access to sensitive intelligence information in the past, despite his position in the government, an official told the Associated Press.

  • Sunday Nov. 13, 2011 10:48 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Israel refusing to coordinate with US in case of Iran attack
    Amid heightened speculation in Israel that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is planning a military strike on Iran, the Telegraph has published a report that Israeli officials recently declined to promise the US that it would not act against Iran without checking with Washington.

  • Saturday Nov. 12, 2011 11:38 AM (EST+7)
    Israel rushes airliner defenses as Libya leaks SAMs
    Israel has accelerated the installation of anti-missile defenses on its airliners, a security official said on Friday, seeing an enhanced risk of attack by militants using looted Libyan arms.


  • Saturday Nov. 12, 2011 11:25 AM (EST+7)
    Ross departs White House Mideast team
    The flagging U.S. effort to broker new Middle East peace talks took a fresh hit on Thursday when presidential adviser Dennis Ross stepped down, leaving the White House without its chief Mideast strategist and one of its most seasoned peace negotiators.

  • Saturday Nov. 12, 2011 10:46 AM (EST+7)
    UN committee says divided on Palestinian UN bid
    A Palestinian bid to win full membership of the United Nations came one step closer to collapse on Friday when a Security Council committee failed to reach agreement on the issue.

  • Thursday Nov. 10, 2011 1:55 PM (EST+7)
    UK says would abstain in UN vote on Palestine
    Britain would abstain in any United Nations Security Council vote on full Palestinian membership of the U.N., Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Nov. 10, 2011 1:40 PM (EST+7)
    UNESCO eyes emergency fund, savings to counter US cuts
    The United Nation's cultural agency plans to cut costs and launch an emergency fund to raise cash after a vote to grant the Palestinians full membership led to a cutoff in vital U.S. and Israeli funding, its director general said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Nov. 10, 2011 1:31 PM (EST+7)
    White House tries to limit Netanyahu 'liar' damage
    The White House sought on Wednesday to limit damage to U.S.-Israel relations following revelations that French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel "a liar" in a private conversation with President Barack Obama.

  • Monday Nov. 7, 2011 4:34 PM (EST+7)
    Israel begins deporting Gaza boat activists
    Israeli authorities on Saturday began deporting pro-Palestinian activists who tried to breach the Jewish state's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

  • Monday Nov. 7, 2011 4:14 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Has Iran ended Israel's Begin doctrine?
    Why would a country that has long vowed to stop its foes attaining nuclear weapons need a nuclear bunker?

  • Thursday Nov. 3, 2011 1:33 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli doctors charged with turning a blind eye to torture
    Israeli doctors that treat Palestinian prisoners often fail to document or report practices amounting to torture, report two human rights organizations, says the Guardian.

  • Thursday Nov. 3, 2011 11:15 AM (EST+7)
    PLO to pursue statehood despite Israeli measures
    Israel's tough responses to a successful Palestinian bid to join UNESCO -- financial sanctions and a faster settlement drive in the occupied West Bank -- are unlikely to halt a Palestinian quest for recognition as a state at the United Nations.

  • Thursday Nov. 3, 2011 10:53 AM (EST+7)
    Pro-Palestinian activists sail from Turkey to Gaza
    Pro-Palestinian activists set sail for the Gaza Strip from Turkey aboard two yachts on Wednesday and the Israeli military said it would not permit them to breach its blockade of the Islamist-ruled territory.

  • Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011 12:53 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians contemplate disbanding their government
    As the Palestine Liberation Organization and its main faction Fateh form committees to explore the future of the interim Palestinian government, Palestinians have mixed feelings about the prospect of disbanding the Palestinian Authority, reports Al-Akhbar.

  • Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011 11:33 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians say hackers hit internet services
    Hackers disrupted Palestinian Internet services in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the Palestinian telecoms minister said, alleging that a foreign government was behind the interference.

  • Wednesday Nov. 2, 2011 11:09 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to speed settlement and halt tax transfers to Palestinians
    Israel decided on Tuesday to accelerate Jewish settlement building and withhold Palestinian Authority funds, moves likely to further hold up international efforts to revive peace talks.

  • Tuesday Nov. 1, 2011 10:19 AM (EST+7)
    NGO: Israel forcing Palestinians out of East Jerusalem
    Israel is forcing Palestinians out of East Jerusalem as part of a deliberate policy that might constitute a war crime, a prominent Israeli non-governmental organization said on Monday, a charge rejected by Jerusalem's mayor.

  • Tuesday Nov. 1, 2011 10:01 AM (EST+7)
    US stops UNESCO funding over Palestinian vote
    The United States said on Monday it had stopped funding UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, following its vote to grant the Palestinians full membership.

  • Monday Oct. 31, 2011 1:59 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza violence subsides as truce seems to take hold
    An Egyptian-brokered truce appeared to be taking hold on Monday to end a five-day flare-up in violence between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip in which a dozen Palestinian gunmen and an Israeli civilian were killed.

  • Monday Oct. 31, 2011 1:52 PM (EST+7)
    UNESCO votes on Palestinian membership today
    The United Nations' cultural agency will decide later on Monday whether to give the Palestinians full membership of the body, a vote that could boost their bid for recognition as a state at the United Nations.

  • Sunday Oct. 30, 2011 11:02 AM (EST+7)
    US, EU diplomats scramble to head off UNESCO Palestine vote
    Western diplomats are working against the clock to achieve a compromise proposal postponing or mitigating a vote admitting Palestinians to the United Nations' cultural organization, UNESCO, reports Haaretz.

  • Sunday Oct. 30, 2011 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt Brotherhood makes first visit to Hamas-led Gaza
    Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood visited the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for the first time on Saturday, signaling a shift in Cairo's posture toward the Palestinian Islamists since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak.

  • Sunday Oct. 30, 2011 9:35 AM (EST+7)
    No sign of truce taking effect over Gaza flare-up
    An Egyptian-brokered truce failed to take effect as planned on Sunday to halt a flare-up of violence between Israel and Gaza militants in which nine Palestinian gunmen and an Israeli civilian have been killed, an Israeli military official said.

  • Saturday Oct. 29, 2011 2:21 PM (EST+7)
    Five killed, including commander, in Israeli strike on Gaza
    Israeli forces attacked an Islamic Jihad training camp in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing  top commander and at least four other people, officials on both sides said.

  • Saturday Oct. 29, 2011 1:20 PM (EST+7)
    Right-wing political adviser slams Israel's treatment of Abbas
    Right-wing Israeli political figure Dov Weissglas sharply criticized his government for weakening Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in an interview with The Telegraph published Friday.

  • Saturday Oct. 29, 2011 10:32 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas faults Arab refusal of 1947 UN Palestine plan
    Arabs made a "mistake" by rejecting a 1947 U.N. proposal that would have created a Palestinian state alongside the nascent Israel, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview aired on Friday.

  • Saturday Oct. 29, 2011 10:26 AM (EST+7)
    UNESCO to vote on Monday on Palestinian entry
    U.N. cultural agency UNESCO will vote on Monday on a Palestinian request for membership, part of a wider Palestinian campaign for recognition as a state within the wider United Nations system.

  • Thursday Oct. 27, 2011 3:19 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Quartet on mission impossible in Mideast logjam
    World powers trying to revive peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians may be flogging a dead horse and their repeated failure is eroding what credibility they have left as mediators.

  • Thursday Oct. 27, 2011 2:28 PM (EST+7)
    Quartet: Israel, Palestinians to offer peace proposals
    Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to make proposals on issues of territory and security within three months, keeping peacemaking efforts alive, an official from the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Oct. 27, 2011 2:19 PM (EST+7)
    Egyptians wait at border for Israel prisoner swap
    Egyptians gathered at the border with Israel on Thursday awaiting the handover of prisoners to be exchanged for an American-Israeli man held by Egypt and accused of spying.

  • Wednesday Oct. 26, 2011 6:09 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians seek UNESCO vote despite US opposition
    The Palestinians will seek a vote on their bid for full membership of UNESCO next week, Foreign Minister Riyal al-Malki said on Wednesday, despite what he called U.S. threats to pull funding from the U.N. cultural agency.

  • Wednesday Oct. 26, 2011 11:14 AM (EST+7)
    New projects to ease Gaza housing crisis
    In response to a growing housing crisis in the Gaza Strip in the occupied Palestinian territory, several new building projects have been initiated by the Hamas-led government, and thousands of families have begun purchasing properties in new communities, officials say.

  • Wednesday Oct. 26, 2011 10:46 AM (EST+7)
    Quartet to meet separately with Palestinian, Israeli officials
    In a bid that almost no one expects to succeed, international representatives of the Quartet working group will meet separately Wednesday with Israeli and Palestinian officials to explore the prospect of renewing bilateral negotiations.

  • Tuesday Oct. 25, 2011 11:05 AM (EST+7)
    Settler rabbi advocates killing over arrest for armed Palestinians
    A radical Israeli rabbi and leader in the settler movement has advocated for the killing of Palestinian attackers, arguing that their arrest will likely end in release, writes the Jerusalem Report. 

  • Tuesday Oct. 25, 2011 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    Israel, Egypt agree to prisoner swap
    Israel and Egypt said on Monday they have struck a deal to swap 25 Egyptians in Israeli custody for a U.S.-Israeli dual national accused by Cairo of espionage, in a step seen as easing strains between the strategic neighbors.

  • Tuesday Oct. 25, 2011 9:52 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's Netanyahu offers quake aid to Turkey
    Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to offer condolences for those killed in a devastating earthquake and said the Jewish state was ready to help, officials of both countries said.

  • Monday Oct. 24, 2011 6:26 PM (EST+7)
    Jordan swears in new reform government
    Jordan's U.S.-backed King Abdullah swore in a reform-minded government on Monday to speed up political liberalization after protests inspired by popular uprisings in the Arab world.

  • Monday Oct. 24, 2011 2:43 PM (EST+7)
    Gazans sign up for jobs in post-Gaddafi Libya
    Some 5,000 unemployed Palestinians have registered over the past week at a Gaza trade union office for jobs they hope will materialize in post-Gaddafi Libya, local labor officials said on Monday.

  • Sunday Oct. 23, 2011 12:26 PM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: Gaza's water crisis plagues residents
    Gaza residents struggle to make do despite a largely polluted aquifer, purchasing clean water when they can for drinking and household use.

  • Saturday Oct. 22, 2011 8:14 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli injured in suspected Palestinian attack
    A suspected Palestinian assailant stabbed and seriously wounded an Israeli man in Jerusalem on Saturday, a police spokesman said.

  • Saturday Oct. 22, 2011 12:46 PM (EST+7)
    Sharon's son says comatose former PM still responsive
    In an interview to promote a new book, the son of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says that his father, who suffered a stroke six years ago, is still responsive.

  • Thursday Oct. 20, 2011 11:39 AM (EST+7)
    Rights groups call on Israel to release Palestinian children
    While there have been emotional scenes after the release of 477 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, concerns are being raised about the plight of 164 Palestinian children from the West Bank in Israeli custody.

  • Thursday Oct. 20, 2011 10:30 AM (EST+7)
    Pressure on Israel to ease blockade now that Shalit returned
    Speculation is rife that Israel could move to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip now that its soldier, Gilad Shalit, has been returned from captivity there.

  • Thursday Oct. 20, 2011 10:12 AM (EST+7)
    Diplomats: Palestinian UN bid seen decided in November
    A Palestinian quest for U.N. membership is likely to come to a head on or around Nov. 11, when Security Council ambassadors plan a final meeting to decide their response, diplomats said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Oct. 20, 2011 10:01 AM (EST+7)
    Blair: Mideast mediators want border proposals
    International mediators will press Israel and Palestinians to table their ideas on security arrangements and the borders for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict within three months, envoy Tony Blair said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Oct. 20, 2011 9:48 AM (EST+7)
    Fayyad: Time not ripe for Palestinian-Israeli talks
    The time is not right for meaningful Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Wednesday, saying they are only likely to produce a blame game rather than a settlement.

  • Wednesday Oct. 19, 2011 3:13 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza raucous with joy as prisoners freed
    Tears of happiness ran down the faces of many Palestinians as tens of thousands rallied in Gaza City’s al-Khatib square to greet prisoners released from jails in Israel on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Oct. 19, 2011 1:10 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's demographic policy traps thousands of foreign women
    Israel's obsession with maintaining a strong Jewish majority affects foreign workers living in Israel illegally, along with Palestinians, writes Mya Guernieri for Souciant.

  • Wednesday Oct. 19, 2011 12:03 PM (EST+7)
    UN concern at fate of Palestinian detainees
    The United Nations voiced concern on Tuesday that some of the Palestinian detainees released in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit may have not have been given any choice on where to go, which could constitute an illegal forced transfer.

  • Wednesday Oct. 19, 2011 11:47 AM (EST+7)
    Prisoners arrive in Turkey after captive swap
    Eleven Palestinians made V-for-victory signs as they arrived in Turkey early on Wednesday as part of the thousand-for-one prisoner exchange, television pictures showed.

  • Wednesday Oct. 19, 2011 11:33 AM (EST+7)
    US troubled by Israeli release of some Palestinians
    The United States has concerns about some of the 477 Palestinians Israel freed on Tuesday in exchange for an abducted Israeli soldier because they killed or injured U.S. citizens, a U.S. official said.

  • Tuesday Oct. 18, 2011 12:58 PM (EST+7)
    Mass prisoner swap executed and captive Israeli soldier freed
    Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit returned home to a national outpouring of joy on Tuesday after five years in captivity as hundreds of Palestinian prisoners exchanged for him were greeted with kisses from Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip.

  • Monday Oct. 17, 2011 8:49 AM (EST+7)
    Israel moves 430 Palestinians near prisoner swap venue
    Israel bused 430 Palestinian prisoners under heavy guard to a holding facility in the Negev desert on Sunday in preparation for them to be exchanged on Tuesday for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, officials said.

  • Saturday Oct. 15, 2011 12:30 PM (EST+7)
    Glee and sadness as Gaza families learn which prisoners to come home
    "I do not know how to greet my father,” said 24-year-old Asef Kullab. He had just learned that his father will be released this week in a planned prisoner’s swap between Hamas and Israel.

  • Saturday Oct. 15, 2011 11:25 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian swap due in Sinai next week
    Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will be freed from five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip some time next week in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

  • Saturday Oct. 15, 2011 11:13 AM (EST+7)
    UN says new Israeli settlement plans 'unacceptable'
    U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticized Israel on Friday over reports that it plans to build 2,600 more housing units in East Jerusalem, saying further settlement activity was "unacceptable."

  • Thursday Oct. 13, 2011 10:58 AM (EST+7)
    Tunnels boost Gaza mosque construction
    An increased flow of building materials entering the Gaza Strip via underground tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border has allowed reconstruction work to begin on hundreds of religious sites damaged or destroyed during the 23-day Israeli offensive which ended in January 2009.

  • Wednesday Oct. 12, 2011 8:02 PM (EST+7)
    Barghouti's fate now firmly in Israel's hands
    Left out of a prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel, the Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti must now wait for a different type of deal to get him out of the Israeli jail where he is serving multiple life sentences.

  • Wednesday Oct. 12, 2011 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    Israel spills few secrets on prisoner swap
    Prospects of a long-elusive deal with Hamas to secure the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners began to take off in July, Israel's negotiator said on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Oct. 12, 2011 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Hamas steals Abbas thunder with prisoner deal
    Hamas has jumped back into the Middle East spotlight with a prisoner swap deal with Israel that will score points over President Mahmoud Abbas and steal some of the thunder he generated by pushing for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.

  • Tuesday Oct. 11, 2011 1:33 PM (EST+7)
    COMMENT: Politics not law protected Livni in UK
    When Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni recently visited London, it wasn't changes in the law that protected her from arrest for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

  • Tuesday Oct. 11, 2011 1:22 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: A new Palestinian intifada?
    There are several reasons why Palestinians shouldn't be expected to launch a new uprising any time soon, writes author and academic Wendy Pearlman in Foreign Policy.

  • Tuesday Oct. 11, 2011 1:05 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian killed in mysterious Gaza blast
    A Palestinian man was killed along Gaza's border with Israel Monday in an explosion, reports the Associated Press.

  • Tuesday Oct. 11, 2011 12:37 PM (EST+7)
    UK's Ofcom rejects Erekat complaint against al-Jazeera
    British communications regulator Ofcom rejected a complaint from ex-Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat that Al Jazeera had treated him unfairly in its Palestine Papers documentary series broadcast earlier this year.

  • Monday Oct. 10, 2011 2:22 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians to push heritage agenda at UNESCO
    The Palestinians will seek World Heritage status for the birthplace of Jesus once the U.N. cultural agency admits them as a full member, and will then nominate other sites on Israeli-occupied land for the same standing, an official said.


  • Monday Oct. 10, 2011 2:16 PM (EST+7)
    Israel arrests second mosque arson suspect
    Israeli police on Sunday said they arrested a second suspect following an arson attack on a mosque blamed on a pro-settler militant group, known by its slogan "price tag".

  • Monday Oct. 10, 2011 1:35 PM (EST+7)
    EU asks Israel, Palestinians to meet soon
    The European Union said on Sunday it plans to invite Israeli and Palestinian representatives to meet "in the coming days" to discuss resuming peace negotiations.

  • Saturday Oct. 8, 2011 8:08 PM (EST+7)
    Muslim, Christian graves desecrated in Israeli city
    Headstones at a Muslim and a Christian cemetery were desecrated by unknown assailants in Jaffa on Saturday, the Jewish holy fast day of Yom Kippur, an Israeli website said.

  • Saturday Oct. 8, 2011 12:11 PM (EST+7)
    Jaffa family to sue police after violent eviction
    A Palestinian family from Jaffa has said it will sue Israeli police for violently evicting them from a home in which they were squatting, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Saturday Oct. 8, 2011 10:40 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces state to change 'Jewish' classification
    In its troubled peace talks with the Palestinians, Israel has demanded that it should be recognized as a Jewish state, but there is deep domestic division on what that means.

  • Thursday Oct. 6, 2011 3:50 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians show support for striking prisoners
    At the door of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, families of prisoners and Palestinian political factions have set up a tent in solidarity with their jailed relatives who are now ten days into a hunger strike protesting their conditions in Israeli jails.

  • Thursday Oct. 6, 2011 2:22 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's Livni in Britain after war crimes law change
    Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni was in Britain for talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Thursday, the first senior Israeli figure to visit since a change in a war crimes law kept her away for fear of arrest.

  • Thursday Oct. 6, 2011 2:08 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians near UNESCO membership
    Palestinians moved a step closer to full membership of the U.N. cultural agency on Wednesday when its board decided to let 193 member countries vote on admission this month.

  • Thursday Oct. 6, 2011 1:54 PM (EST+7)
    Israel accuses deputy envoy to US of security breach
    Israel's deputy ambassador to the United States was dismissed after admitting a serious security breach that required "blood, sweat and tears" to repair, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Thursday.

  • Wednesday Oct. 5, 2011 9:12 AM (EST+7)
    Mideast 'Quartet' envoys to meet on Sunday
    Envoys from the Middle East "Quartet" -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- will meet in Brussels on Sunday to try to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace, the State Department said.

  • Tuesday Oct. 4, 2011 1:01 PM (EST+7)
    Falling test scores try Palestinian educators
    Falling math and science scores prompted Palestinian officials and education experts to take measures to improve teaching standards and elevate student performance. 

  • Tuesday Oct. 4, 2011 9:14 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians say Israeli prison hunger strike grows
    Hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails have joined a hunger strike to protest against worsening prison conditions, the Palestinian minister for prisoner affairs said on Monday.

  • Tuesday Oct. 4, 2011 9:02 AM (EST+7)
    US scrambles to keep Palestinian aid flowing
    The Obama administration is lobbying Congress to unblock $200 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority that was frozen due to its bid for U.N. recognition of statehood over U.S. and Israeli objections.

  • Monday Oct. 3, 2011 10:26 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Germany incensed after Israeli snub on settlements
    German chancellor Angela Merkel was outraged when Israel announced construction in the settlement of Gilo just hours after she had asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a quiet moratorium, reports Haaretz.

  • Monday Oct. 3, 2011 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    Residents march to protest mosque burning in Israel
    Residents of the Galilee village of Tuba Zangaria clashed with Israeli police Monday after a mosque in the village was burned and vandalized, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Monday Oct. 3, 2011 9:06 AM (EST+7)
    US defense secretary warns of Israeli isolation
    Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned on Sunday that Israel is becoming increasingly isolated in the Middle East and said U.S. security commitments should enable it to take "risks for peace."

  • Sunday Oct. 2, 2011 5:39 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians unhappy with envoy Tony Blair
    Palestinian officials are going public with long-whispered complaints that international Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, is biased towards Israel.

  • Sunday Oct. 2, 2011 1:58 PM (EST+7)
    Israel accepts Quartet call for peace talks
    Israel accepted on Sunday a call by international mediators to resume peace talks with the Palestinians and urged President Mahmoud Abbas to do the same rather than pursue a U.N. bid for statehood recognition.

  • Sunday Oct. 2, 2011 10:22 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli air strike wounds three Palestinians in Gaza
    An Israeli air strike wounded three Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday, the Israeli military and Palestinian medical officials said.

  • Saturday Oct. 1, 2011 3:43 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas to embark on diplomatic tour
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will soon set out on a diplomatic tour intended to shore up support for his petition for member state status at the United Nations, reports Xinua.

  • Saturday Oct. 1, 2011 9:57 AM (EST+7)
    Congress blocks Palestinian civil society funding
    The United States Congress has blocked the allocation of nearly $200 million in funding for Palestinians and is threatening to freeze more programs, reports the Independent.

  • Saturday Oct. 1, 2011 9:32 AM (EST+7)
    PLO declines Mideast Quartet's 'talks now' bid
    The Palestine Liberation Organization effectively rejected on Thursday a proposal by the European Union, the United States and Russia to resume suspended peace negotiations with Israel next month without precondition.

  • Saturday Oct. 1, 2011 9:16 AM (EST+7)
    UN experts to review Palestinian state application
    The United Nations Security Council membership committee decided on Friday to send the Palestinian application to a panel of experts, reports the New York Times.

  • Thursday Sept. 29, 2011 1:14 PM (EST+7)
    Shale processing could bring oil to Israel
    About an hour's drive from Jerusalem, technicians are exploring the possibility of extracting oil and gas from Israel's shale deposits.

  • Thursday Sept. 29, 2011 12:55 PM (EST+7)
    PLO unhappy with Blair role as Quartet envoy
    Palestinian officials tell The Independent that they are unsatisfied with Tony Blair's role as envoy for the Quartet Middle East working group.

  • Thursday Sept. 29, 2011 10:35 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Statehood bid up in air as leaders return home
    Following Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas' application for UN membership, a wide array of possibilities remain regarding the future viability of Palestinian statehood.

  • Wednesday Sept. 28, 2011 2:27 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Irvine Muslim students convicted of shouting at Israeli ambassador
    Ten Muslim college students were convicted in a US court of interrupting a speech by the Israeli ambassador on the University of California Irvine campus, reports Jon Wiener at The Nation.

  • Wednesday Sept. 28, 2011 12:24 PM (EST+7)
    POLL: Obama popularity surges in Israel after UN
    U.S. President Barack Obama's popularity has risen sharply in Israel after he spoke out forcibly against a Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations last week, according to a poll published by the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Sept. 28, 2011 12:08 PM (EST+7)
    US, EU condemn Israeli plan to expand settlement
    Israel approved on Tuesday the construction of 1,100 settlement homes on annexed land in the West Bank, complicating global efforts to renew peace talks and defuse a crisis over a Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations.

  • Tuesday Sept. 27, 2011 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    Al-Jazeera bureau chief released with suspended sentence
    Al-Jazeera's Kabul bureau chief, Samer Allawi, was released Monday with a suspended sentence after spending six weeks in Israeli prison.

  • Tuesday Sept. 27, 2011 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    Saudi Arabia urges world to accept Palestinians' UN bid
    Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal urged the United Nations on Monday to accept the Palestinians' request for full membership in the world body and to recognize it as an independent state.

  • Tuesday Sept. 27, 2011 9:29 AM (EST+7)
    UN council considers Palestinian UN membership bid
    A divided U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors on Monday for its first discussion of last week's Palestinian application for full U.N. membership as a state, a move seen as certain to fail.

  • Monday Sept. 26, 2011 11:13 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli military protests proposed budget cuts
    Israel's military is balking at proposed budget cuts that would slash its spending by more than half, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Monday Sept. 26, 2011 10:58 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to compensate family of slain Palestinian girl
    An Israeli judge has ordered the government to pay approximately $400,000 in compensation to the family of Abir Aramin, who was killed in 2007 by a rubber bullet fired to the head, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Monday Sept. 26, 2011 9:41 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: US, Palestinians race for votes at the UN Security Council
    The Palestinians' initiative to seek U.N. recognition as a state, which goes to the Security Council on Monday, faces an uphill struggle to secure the nine votes needed for approval.

  • Monday Sept. 26, 2011 9:28 AM (EST+7)
    Issue of Israel as Jewish state sank Quartet moves
    The issue of whether and how to suggest that Israel should be a Jewish state ultimately sank diplomatic efforts to draft a substantive statement to revive peace talks, sources familiar with the matter said.

  • Sunday Sept. 25, 2011 1:18 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli leaders express support for Quartet plan
    Ahead of a cabinet meeting scheduled for Monday, Israeli politicians are expressing support for a Quartet plan to return Palestinians and Israelis to negotiations.

  • Sunday Sept. 25, 2011 10:15 AM (EST+7)
    Israel FM sees "tough" reaction to Palestine vote
    Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday there would be "tough repercussions" if the United Nations approved a Palestinian application for statehood.

  • Saturday Sept. 24, 2011 4:33 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians want statehood bid decided in two weeks
    The Palestinians want the United Nations Security Council to decide on their bid for full membership of the world body within a fortnight, a leading official in the Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday.

  • Saturday Sept. 24, 2011 10:12 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Obama administration sold Israel bunker buster bombs
    Several months after taking office and during a dispute over Israel's settlement construction, Barack Obama authorized the sale of 55 deep-penetrating bombs known as "bunker busters."

  • Saturday Sept. 24, 2011 9:26 AM (EST+7)
    Quartet sets timetable for new Mideast talks
    The "Quartet" of Middle East mediators proposed on Friday that Israel and the Palestinians should meet within one month to agree an agenda for new peace talks with a goal of a deal by the end of 2012.

  • Saturday Sept. 24, 2011 9:10 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas stakes Palestinian claim to state at UN
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked the United Nations on Friday to recognize a state for his people, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the world body as a "theater of the absurd" and said only direct talks could deliver peace.

  • Thursday Sept. 22, 2011 6:17 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian anger mounts at Obama's Mideast policy
    U.S. President Barack Obama's opposition to the Palestinians' bid for membership of the United Nations is turning their deep disappointment with his Middle East policy to outright anger.

  • Thursday Sept. 22, 2011 10:34 AM (EST+7)
    France's Sarkozy proposes 1-yr Mideast peace map
    French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed on Wednesday that the United Nations give the Palestinians status as a U.N. observer state while setting out a roadmap for peace within one year.

  • Thursday Sept. 22, 2011 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians to give UN council time to mull statehood bid
    The Palestinians -- despite firm U.S. and Israeli opposition -- will give the U.N. Security Council "some time" to study their application for full membership in the United Nations, a senior Palestinian official said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011 3:48 PM (EST+7)
    Thousands rally in Ramallah for UN statehood
    Thousands of Palestinians rallied in Ramallah’s downtown in support of Palestine Liberation Organization head Mahmoud Abbas in his effort to gain international recognition of a Palestinian state.

  • Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011 11:13 AM (EST+7)
    Fears dominate in enclosed Qalqilya before UN bid
    Despite waves of optimism in the West Bank as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas prepares to ask the United Nations to recognize Palestine as a state this Friday, many people in Qalqilya fear that the bid will lead to greater economic hardship.

  • Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011 9:50 AM (EST+7)
    In West Bank, settlers march against Palestinian state
    Jewish settlers protested on Tuesday in the West Bank against Palestinian plans to seek United Nations endorsement of their statehood and clashed with Palestinians in at least one village, underscoring growing tensions in the territory.

  • Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011 9:21 AM (EST+7)
    Israel says may hold Palestinian taxes on UN bid
    Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz on Tuesday threatened severe financial ramifications if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas makes good on a plan to request U.N. membership for a Palestinian state this week.

  • Wednesday Sept. 21, 2011 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Long-shot scenario might avert Mideast diplomatic clash
    A scenario is emerging that might prevent an Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic clash at the United Nations this week but analysts and officials say it will require near perfect timing and diplomacy to pull it off.

  • Tuesday Sept. 20, 2011 10:08 AM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Palestinian PM cautious about coming UN bid
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has again expressed reservations about the Palestinians' expected request for member state status at the United Nations.

  • Tuesday Sept. 20, 2011 9:06 AM (EST+7)
    In UN week, Saudi says to ease Palestinian crisis
    Saudi Arabia will pay $200 million to the Palestinian Authority, the official Palestinian news agency said on Monday, funds that will ease a financial crisis faced by the authority as it prepares to apply for full U.N. membership this week.

  • Monday Sept. 19, 2011 2:04 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas defiant as 'all hell' breaks out over UN plan
    President Mahmoud Abbas said he is sticking to his plan to seek full United Nations membership for a Palestinian state although "all hell has broken out" over the move opposed by the United States and Israel.

  • Monday Sept. 19, 2011 1:49 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian villagers prepare for settler attacks
    Palestinian grassroots activists are training residents how to handle attacks by Jewish settlers in light of increased tension over Palestinians' bid for statehood at the United Nations, reports IPS.

  • Monday Sept. 19, 2011 1:36 PM (EST+7)
    POLL: World survey shows support for Palestinian state
    Nearly half of the public in 19 countries support granting Palestinians statehood at the United Nations, found a BBC-GlobeScan poll. Twenty-one percent of respondents said their government should oppose the move.

  • Monday Sept. 19, 2011 1:24 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian successes stifled by ongoing occupation
    As Palestinians seek recognition of a state at the United Nations this week, the reality on the ground speaks of growing Israeli occupation. In this feature, the Associated Press explores Palestinian frustration with the 20-year peace process with Israel.

  • Monday Sept. 19, 2011 12:04 PM (EST+7)
    New York meetings open to avert Palestinian crisis
    A last-ditch international push began in New York on Sunday to try to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and avert a crisis over Palestinian statehood at the United Nations.

  • Sunday Sept. 18, 2011 10:55 AM (EST+7)
    VIEW: One photographer documents Palestinian lives
    Photographer David Levene toured with Oxfam aid organizations, photographing Palestinians in the West Bank. 

  • Sunday Sept. 18, 2011 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli settlers plan marches on Palestinian towns
    Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank say they will "take the initiative" by marching on Palestinian towns, reports Ynet. 

  • Saturday Sept. 17, 2011 7:30 PM (EST+7)
    Mideast Quartet envoys to meet in New York on Sunday
    Envoys from the quartet of Middle East negotiators will meet on Sunday in a last-ditch push to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and avert a showdown over Palestinian statehood at the U.N., an EU diplomat said on Saturday.

  • Saturday Sept. 17, 2011 4:58 PM (EST+7)
    UN bid moves forward amidst legal debate
    The Palestinian initiative to become a United Nations member state has led to speculation about the legal ramifications of the move. While officials say that they will continue to represent all Palestinians, critics worry that the statehood bid will delegitimize the traditional role of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the representative of all Palestinian people.

  • Saturday Sept. 17, 2011 11:15 AM (EST+7)
    UK law on rights arrests ends row with Israel
    A British law limiting citizens' rights to seek the arrest of foreign politicians for alleged war crimes took effect on Thursday, removing a thorn in British-Israeli relations.

  • Saturday Sept. 17, 2011 11:04 AM (EST+7)
    Israel calls for continuing aid for Palestinians
    Israel is urging the international community to continue aid to the Palestinians just as U.S. lawmakers are contemplating an aid cutoff if the Palestinians press for statehood at the United Nations.

  • Saturday Sept. 17, 2011 10:56 AM (EST+7)
    Obama to discuss Israel with Turkey's Erdogan
    U.S. President Barack Obama will meet Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at the U.N. General Assembly in New York next week and urge him to repair relations with Israel to mend a damaging split between two key U.S. allies in the region.

  • Saturday Sept. 17, 2011 10:16 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas: Palestinians to seek full UN membership
    President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday he would demand full membership of the United Nations for a Palestinian state when he goes to the U.N. General Assembly next week, setting up a diplomatic clash with Israel and the United States.

  • Wednesday Sept. 14, 2011 10:02 AM (EST+7)
    Some pro-Israel groups defend US aid to Palestinians
    Worried about possible U.S. aid cuts to the Palestinians, some American Jewish groups find themselves in the peculiar position of defending the funding, particularly money that supports Palestinian security forces.

  • Wednesday Sept. 14, 2011 9:50 AM (EST+7)
    Israel jails Palestinian for settler family murders
    An Israeli military court jailed a Palestinian for life on Tuesday for stabbing to death a Jewish settler couple and three of their children while they slept in a West Bank settlement in March.

  • Wednesday Sept. 14, 2011 9:38 AM (EST+7)
    UN experts say Israel's blockade of Gaza illegal
    Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip violates international law, a panel of human rights experts reporting to a U.N. body said on Tuesday, disputing a conclusion reached by a separate U.N. probe into Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship.

  • Tuesday Sept. 13, 2011 4:36 PM (EST+7)
    US envoys head back to the Middle East
    Two senior U.S. envoys will return to the Middle East this week in hopes of reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and averting a Palestinian bid to seek U.N. recognition of their statehood, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Sept. 13, 2011 11:40 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Hamas ambiguity on Palestinian statehood bid is calculated
    When Palestinians led by President Mahmoud Abbas appeal this fall to the United Nations for its blessing of a Palestinian state, opposition group Hamas may well remain silent on the issue.

  • Tuesday Sept. 13, 2011 10:03 AM (EST+7)
    Arabs to push for Palestinian statehood bid
    Arab states will push for a fully-fledged Palestinian state at the United Nations next week, the Qatari prime minister said on Monday, despite a U.S. threat to block such a move.

  • Monday Sept. 12, 2011 10:36 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Palestinians scaling back UN statehood bid
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has informed three European diplomats that Palestinians are not planning to seek statehood at the United Nations Security Council, a move certain to be vetoed by the United States, reports Haaretz.

  • Monday Sept. 12, 2011 9:17 AM (EST+7)
    World Bank: Cash crisis risks Palestinian state building
    Progress made by the Palestinians in building institutions for statehood could be undermined by a fiscal crisis caused by a shortfall in foreign aid, the World Bank said on Monday.

  • Sunday Sept. 11, 2011 3:21 PM (EST+7)
    Birzeit university protests 'price tag' attack
    Vandals smeared Birzeit University and a nearby mosque with racist graffiti early Friday, leading the university’s student council to hold a demonstration condemning the acts.

  • Sunday Sept. 11, 2011 11:51 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Foreign powers try to steer Palestinian UN bid
    European countries, particularly France, are working with Palestinians to guide their bid for statehood at the United Nations, convinced that the peace process begun at Oslo over a decade ago has run its course.

  • Sunday Sept. 11, 2011 9:36 AM (EST+7)
    US intervened in Egypt embassy crisis, says Netanyahu
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described on Saturday how he watched TV images of crowds storming Israel's embassy in Cairo as he reassured its guards by phone and sought U.S. help in mobilizing an Egyptian rescue.

  • Saturday Sept. 10, 2011 11:48 AM (EST+7)
    UN racism conference to be boycotted by Israel supporters
    A United Nations racism conference on racism is expected to be boycotted by western allies of Israel, which says the conference unfairly singles it out, reports IPS.

  • Saturday Sept. 10, 2011 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    US weighs contingencies of Palestinian UN push
    The United States said on Friday it has begun talking to Israel and the Palestinians about how to deal with the aftermath of a Palestinian bid for full U.N. membership despite U.S. and Israeli opposition.

  • Saturday Sept. 10, 2011 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli envoy leaves after Cairo embassy attack
    Israel flew its ambassador home on Saturday after Egyptians stormed the building housing the Israeli mission in Cairo, plunging Egypt's ruling army deeper into its toughest diplomatic crisis since taking over from Hosni Mubarak.

  • Thursday Sept. 8, 2011 4:44 PM (EST+7)
    Settlers suspected in vandalism at Israeli army base
    An Israeli army base in the occupied West Bank was vandalized on Wednesday with pro-settler graffiti daubed on its walls, a military statement said, in what appeared to be revenge for the dismantling of an unauthorized settler outpost.

  • Thursday Sept. 8, 2011 10:00 AM (EST+7)
    Medics: Palestinian militant killed in Gaza Strip
    A Palestinian militant was killed and two others were wounded in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Gaza hospital officials and militants said, in an explosion they blamed on an Israeli air strike, but the military denied this.

  • Thursday Sept. 8, 2011 9:51 AM (EST+7)
    Obama urged to wield UN veto against Palestinians
    President Barack Obama should say clearly and publicly the United States will use its veto on the U.N. Security Council to block any Palestinian bid to gain U.N. membership, a senior Republican lawmaker said on Wednesday.

  • Tuesday Sept. 6, 2011 2:25 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza and West Bank add time to growing differences
    Since the end of the Muslim fast month of Ramadan, the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been operating on different time zones.

  • Tuesday Sept. 6, 2011 1:29 PM (EST+7)
    Tourists feel the heat of tense Israeli-Turkey ties
    Israeli passengers said they were segregated and searched at Istanbul airport on Monday and Turkish tourists made similar complaints about treatment in Israel, accounts that further stoked a heated feud between the two countries.

  • Tuesday Sept. 6, 2011 12:21 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian official: Abbas met Israel's Barak
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak last week, Palestinian officials said on Monday, his first publicly declared meeting with an Israeli government official for almost a year.

  • Tuesday Sept. 6, 2011 12:09 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians keeping options open on UN
    The Palestinians have yet to decide how they will press their statehood agenda at the United Nations this month, a Palestinian official said, indicating less certainty than had previously been signalled on details of the plan.

  • Monday Sept. 5, 2011 12:01 PM (EST+7)
    West Bank mosque hit after settler outpost torn down
    Jewish settlers set fire to part of a mosque in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinians said, an attack that looked like a reprisal for Israel's dismantling of three buildings in an unauthorized settlement outpost hours earlier.

  • Monday Sept. 5, 2011 11:45 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt cracks down on Gaza smuggling tunnels
    Egypt has renewed efforts to find and block smuggling tunnels leading from its territory into the Gaza Strip, reports the Guardian.

    Read more on Gaza's blockade...

  • Monday Sept. 5, 2011 9:07 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's Netanyahu says won't apologize to Turkey
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he would not apologize to Turkey over an Israeli raid that killed nine Turks on a ship bound for Gaza, reiterating his position after Ankara downgraded its relations with the Jewish state.

  • Sunday Sept. 4, 2011 10:58 AM (EST+7)
    NYT: US tries to stall Palestinian statehood bid
    Washington has launched an effort to avoid a clash stemming from plans by Palestinians to seek recognition as a state at the United Nations, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing senior U.S. officials and foreign diplomats.

  • Sunday Sept. 4, 2011 10:46 AM (EST+7)
    Biggest rally in Israel's history presses PM
    Hundreds of thousands marched on Saturday for lower living costs in the largest such rally in Israel's history, bolstering a social change movement and mounting pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take on economic reform.

  • Sunday Sept. 4, 2011 10:34 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey to raise Israel's blockade at ICJ next week
    Turkey said on Saturday that it would apply next week for an investigation by the International Court of Justice into the legality of Israel's naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

  • Saturday Sept. 3, 2011 9:00 AM (EST+7)
    EU states divided on Palestinian statehood bid
    European Union governments sought a common approach on Friday to a possible Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations this month but deep policy differences looked set to undermine the efforts.

  • Saturday Sept. 3, 2011 8:42 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey expels Israeli diplomats after UN report
    Turkey expelled Israel's envoy and froze military cooperation with the Jewish state on Friday after a U.N. report on the deaths of nine Turks in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound ship failed to trigger an apology.

    Read the Palmer Report

  • Tuesday Aug. 30, 2011 7:39 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza's girl surfer battles sewage and social taboos
    Twelve-year-old Sabah Abu Ghanim rides the waves in Gaza on her family's 22-year-old surfboard, reports the Guardian.

  • Tuesday Aug. 30, 2011 7:28 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli military preparing settlers for September clashes
    Israel's military is recruiting settlers in the occupied West Bank to participate in the efforts to defend against Palestinian clashes in September, when Palestinians seek statehood at the United Nations, reports Haaretz.

  • Tuesday Aug. 30, 2011 7:20 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Palestinian UN plan driven by strategy document
    The Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations is being driven by a Palestinian policy document drafted by numerous leading figures, writes Haaretz.

  • Monday Aug. 29, 2011 5:30 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians prepare symbolic UN 'chair'
    Palestinians in a carpentry shop in Jenin were putting the final touches on a chair that symbolizes their quest for a seat at the United Nations in September, reports the Associated Press.

  • Monday Aug. 29, 2011 5:20 PM (EST+7)
    Police: Palestinian injures eight in Tel Aviv
    A Palestinian from the occupied West Bank commandeered a taxi in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv before dawn on Monday, stabbing the driver and then injuring seven others, including police officers, after crashing into a roadblock, a police spokeswoman said.

  • Sunday Aug. 28, 2011 10:46 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis protest living costs but in smaller numbers
    Thousands of Israelis protested high living costs on Saturday in Tel Aviv, but the rally failed to attract the huge masses that took to the streets in past weeks, a sign that security concerns may have trumped the call for social change

  • Sunday Aug. 28, 2011 10:12 AM (EST+7)
    ‘Olive revolution’ protest snuffed out at Qalandiya checkpoint
    Protestors at Qalandiya checkpoint Friday were met with teargas and stun grenades Friday in a demonstration against Israeli control of Jerusalem.

  • Saturday Aug. 27, 2011 1:54 PM (EST+7)
    Honduras recognizes Palestine as independent state
    Honduras on Friday recognized Palestine as an independent state amid a drive by the Arab League to upgrade it to full membership status in the United Nations.

  • Saturday Aug. 27, 2011 1:44 PM (EST+7)
    In an instant, an Israeli airstrike rips a family apart
     A boy, his father, and his uncle are killed by an Israeli missile strike, altering forever a Gaza family. 

  • Thursday Aug. 25, 2011 3:18 PM (EST+7)
    ON THE GROUND: Right wing America goes on display in Jerusalem
    Conservative Americans and Israelis met near the Western Wall to hear Glenn Beck speak at his "Reviving Courage" rally.

  • Thursday Aug. 25, 2011 1:36 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli air strikes kills Gaza armed men
    Israeli air strikes killed two Gaza militants, one a local commander of the Islamic Jihad group in the Gaza Strip, and wounded four others who fired rockets at Israel, despite a two-day-old truce, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.

  • Thursday Aug. 25, 2011 1:23 AM (EST+7)
    Glenn Beck rallies for Israel near Jerusalem holy sites
    On the fringes of Jerusalem's most volatile holy sites, U.S. conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck declared his support for Israel on Wednesday at a rally showcasing fundamentalist Christian backing for the Jewish state.

  • Wednesday Aug. 24, 2011 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    Diplomat: Egypt is not withdrawing Israel envoy
    Egypt is not preparing to withdraw its ambassador to Israel, an Egyptian diplomat said on Tuesday, playing down an earlier threat to bring home the envoy in protest at the killing of five Egyptian security personnel near the Israeli border.

  • Tuesday Aug. 23, 2011 3:57 PM (EST+7)
    Jenin’s Freedom Theater expects detainee releases in ongoing crackdown
    Two of three Palestinians involved with Jenin’s Freedom Theater and detained by the Israeli military in recent weeks are expected to be released Tuesday, and a third detainee is reportedly to be released on Wednesday

  • Tuesday Aug. 23, 2011 11:48 AM (EST+7)
    City ignoring classroom shortages, inadequacies in East Jerusalem
    East Jerusalem is suffering from a sever shortage of classrooms, and those that exist are not ready for the new year, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Tuesday Aug. 23, 2011 11:36 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas postpones municipal elections indefinitely
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered municipal council elections planned for October postponed, without setting a new date, reports the AP.

  • Tuesday Aug. 23, 2011 11:15 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza's changing middle class garners resentment
    A more visible middle class in the impoverished Gaza Strip is garnering resentment from residents, reports the Washington Post.

  • Tuesday Aug. 23, 2011 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Palestinian tour guide arrested despite permit
    Blogger Aziz Abu Sarah describes how Israeli police arrested him and his Palestinian tour guide, despite that the guide was carrying all the proper documents to work in Israel.

  • Tuesday Aug. 23, 2011 10:09 AM (EST+7)
    Israel protests to Spain over UN vote
    Israel formally protested to Spain on Monday at comments by Madrid's foreign minister on a vote at the United Nations General Assembly next month to upgrade the diplomatic status of the Palestinians.

  • Monday Aug. 22, 2011 9:35 PM (EST+7)
    UN report on Israel's flotilla raid delayed again
    The handover of a long-postponed U.N. inquiry report on an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound ship in 2010 that killed nine Turks has been delayed again, a U.N. spokesman said on Monday.

  • Monday Aug. 22, 2011 3:50 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt cabinet to meet as Israel tension linger
    Egypt's cabinet was due on Monday to discuss growing lawlessness along the border with Israel as pressure grew for a tough response to the killing of five Egyptian security personnel that has inflamed tension between the two neighbors.

  • Monday Aug. 22, 2011 3:27 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian minority joins Israeli protests - with different goals
    While Jewish Israeli protesters spoke of the high cost of living in Israel, Palestinian Israeli protestors discussed the need to prevent housing demolition and dispossession.

  • Monday Aug. 22, 2011 1:21 PM (EST+7)
    Official: Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza truce
    Israel and the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, have agreed to a ceasefire after five days of cross-border violence, officials said on Monday.

  • Sunday Aug. 21, 2011 3:30 PM (EST+7)
    Arab League condemns Israel attacks on Gaza
    The Arab League on Sunday condemned Israeli air assaults on the Gaza Strip and said the United Nations must take action to end the attacks, in which 15 people have died.

  • Sunday Aug. 21, 2011 1:45 PM (EST+7)
    Settler youth suspected of beating Palestinian boy
    Thirteen settlers were detained on suspicion of beating a 10-year-old Palestinian boy, reports Ynet.

  • Sunday Aug. 21, 2011 9:33 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt says Israeli response to deaths insufficient
    Egypt welcomed a joint investigation with Israel on the killing of five Egyptian security personnel during an Israeli border operation, but said on Sunday the response was insufficient given the gravity of the situation.

  • Sunday Aug. 21, 2011 8:49 AM (EST+7)
    Israel regrets Egypt deaths, pledges probe
    Israel regrets the deaths of Egyptian security personnel during a clash with gunmen this week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Saturday after Cairo announced it was recalling its ambassador to Tel Aviv in protest.

  • Saturday Aug. 20, 2011 2:08 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt recalls envoy in Israel over deaths
    Egypt withdrew its ambassador from Israel on Saturday, saying that the killing of five Egyptian security personnel as Israeli forces pursued cross-border raiders was a breach of its 1979 peace treaty with the Jewish state.

  • Saturday Aug. 20, 2011 12:42 PM (EST+7)
    Arab League to hold meeting on Gaza Sunday
    The Arab League will hold an urgent meeting on Sunday to discuss Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip that killed 15 Palestinians, a spokesman said.

  • Saturday Aug. 20, 2011 12:14 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's protests to continue - as memorial
    Israel's "July 14 " protests will continue as planned on Saturday, recast as a memorial for eight Israelis killed by seven attackers in southern Israel Thursday, reports Dimi Reider.

  • Saturday Aug. 20, 2011 12:02 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian quarry workers strike for collective bargaining agreement
    Several dozen Palestinian quarry workers have been on strike since June, hoping to sign a collective bargaining agreement with their settlement employers, reports IPS.

  • Saturday Aug. 20, 2011 11:48 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Hamas bans students from study in US
    Hamas officials have banned eight students awarded scholarships to study in the United States from traveling there, reports the Associated Press and the New York Times.

  • Saturday Aug. 20, 2011 9:27 AM (EST+7)
    Israel-Gaza attacks stoke tension with Cairo
    Israeli aircraft struck militant outposts in Gaza and Palestinians fired rockets back on Friday following deadly gun attacks along the desert border with Egypt that have raised tensions between Israel and the new rulers in Cairo.

  • Friday Aug. 19, 2011 2:00 AM (EST+7)
    Gunmen kill 7 in Israel; Israel targets Gaza armed groups
    Gunmen killed seven people in southern Israel on Thursday in attacks along the Egyptian border and Israel responded with an air strike in the Gaza Strip that killed six Palestinians, including the leaders of a group it blamed for the violence.

  • Thursday Aug. 18, 2011 11:46 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli ‘no-go’ area in Gaza threatens people and agriculture
    About 700 meters from Gaza’s northern boundary with Israel, 24-year-old shepherd Salman Abu Jarad leads 30 sheep through a thirsty field planted with watermelon in Beit Lahiya.

  • Thursday Aug. 18, 2011 9:54 AM (EST+7)
    Israel firm on no apology to Turkey for ship raid
    Israel will stick to its refusal to apologize to Turkey for killing nine of its citizens on a Gaza-bound ship, an Israeli official said on Wednesday, entrenching a position that Ankara said would kill any prospects for reconciliation.

  • Wednesday Aug. 17, 2011 12:14 PM (EST+7)
    Right-wing Israeli politicians promote West Bank annexation
    A new media campaign will start Wednesday to advocate that Israel annex the West Bank to punish Palestinians for seeking statehood at the United Nations.

  • Wednesday Aug. 17, 2011 9:57 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas chief in Cairo to talk on reconciliation, prisoners
    The head of the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, arrived in Cairo on Tuesday, a senior Egyptian security official said, amid reports that a new round of talks on a prisoner swap with Israel was due to start in Egypt.

  • Wednesday Aug. 17, 2011 9:35 AM (EST+7)
    Mideast Quartet alarmed by Israeli settlement plans
    The so-called Middle East Quartet of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations on Tuesday said they were alarmed by Israel's latest announcements about new settlement plans.

  • Wednesday Aug. 17, 2011 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Israel holds Palestinian journalist for al-Jazeera
    Israel has arrested the Palestinian head of Al Jazeera's Afghanistan bureau after he visited the occupied West Bank, charging him with belonging to Hamas, the satellite station said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Aug. 16, 2011 11:18 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians welcome UN move, despite low expectations
    Despite the Palestinian Authority’s announcement on Sunday that Palestinians will seek United Nations recognition on September 20, most Palestinians think the bid is unlikely to lead to the country’s recognition as an independent state.

  • Tuesday Aug. 16, 2011 10:00 AM (EST+7)
    UN: Thousands flee Palestinian refugee camp in Syria
    Thousands of people fled a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian city of Latakia, some fleeing gunfire and others leaving on orders from the Syrian authorities, a spokesman for the U.N. agency which cares for Palestinian refugees said.

  • Tuesday Aug. 16, 2011 9:42 AM (EST+7)
    US senator seeks to cut aid to elite Israeli units
    US Senator Patrick Leahy is promoting legislation that would cut aid to elite Israeli units that have been linked to human rights abuses against Palestinians.

  • Tuesday Aug. 16, 2011 9:36 AM (EST+7)
    US says deeply troubled by Israeli settlement plans
    The United States said on Monday it found reports of new Israeli settlement building plans deeply troubling and counterproductive to the U.S. effort to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

  • Tuesday Aug. 16, 2011 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    Source: Israeli strike kills Gaza gunman, injures civilians
    Israeli air strikes launched on Tuesday killed one gunman and wounded five other people, Hamas medical sources said.

  • Monday Aug. 15, 2011 5:11 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to build 277 homes in Ariel settlement in West Bank
    Israel announced on Monday approval for building 277 homes in a West Bank settlement, despite U.S. and international pressure to curb expansion on occupied land and as Palestinians prepare for a statehood bid at the United Nations.

  • Monday Aug. 15, 2011 12:34 PM (EST+7)
    Dozens of US congressmen make 'pilgrimage' to Israel
    Eighty-one United States congressmen are slated to visit Israel during the coming weeks, with the first group arriving on Monday.

  • Monday Aug. 15, 2011 11:55 AM (EST+7)
    US restarts work of aid groups in Gaza
    The United States on Sunday resumed the operations of the aid organizations it funds in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip after the Islamist group retracted its demand to scrutinize confidential documents about their work, a U.S. official said.

  • Monday Aug. 15, 2011 11:41 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas criticized Fateh over election plan
    Hamas on Sunday accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fateh movement of violating a reconciliation agreement by opening voter registration for local elections due to be held in October in the occupied West Bank.

  • Monday Aug. 15, 2011 10:15 AM (EST+7)
    Israel plays down Sept face off with Palestinians
    Israel's defense minister played down on Sunday the prospect that fighting with the Palestinians will flare up when they apply for full U.N. membership next month in the absence of peace talks.

  • Sunday Aug. 14, 2011 12:39 PM (EST+7)
    Prisoners use bedsheets to escape Lebanese jail
    Five prisoners escaped from Lebanon's biggest jail on Saturday, using bedsheets to climb down a wall and then mingling with prison visitors before getting away, police said.

  • Sunday Aug. 14, 2011 10:07 AM (EST+7)
    FM: Palestinians to seek UN statehood vote next month
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will submit an application for full U.N. membership at the General Assembly next month, his foreign minister said on Saturday, without specifying exactly when the request would be made.

  • Saturday Aug. 13, 2011 3:57 PM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem light rail to begin operations - maybe
    After years of delays, Jerusalem's light rail is scheduled to begin operating on Friday, August 19. That is - if it gets the proper safety certification, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Saturday Aug. 13, 2011 11:34 AM (EST+7)
    Israel okays 1,600 settler homes for East Jerusalem
    Israel's interior minister has given final approval for a plan to build 1,600 settler homes in East Jerusalem, a project whose announcement last year during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden caused a diplomatic rift with Washington.

  • Saturday Aug. 13, 2011 11:24 AM (EST+7)
    US suspends work of aid groups in Gaza Strip
    The United States has suspended operations of the aid organizations it funds in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip because the Islamist group had demanded confidential information about their work, a U.S. official told Reuters on Friday.

  • Thursday Aug. 11, 2011 10:15 AM (EST+7)
    Pol warns Israel against annulling peace agreements
    A former adviser to prime minister Ariel Sharon has published an opinion piece warning Israelis against annulling the Oslo peace agreements with Palestinian to punish them for seeking statehood at the United Nations.

  • Thursday Aug. 11, 2011 10:06 AM (EST+7)
    West Bank comedy show slapped with lawsuits
    Last Ramadan, the Palestinian comedy show, Watan ala Watar, or Country on a String, got rave reviews.

  • Wednesday Aug. 10, 2011 1:22 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian detainees jailed for years without trial
    Hundreds of Palestinian detainees languish in Israeli jails under administrative detention, a military proceeding that allows their imprisonment without proper trial, reports IPS.

  • Tuesday Aug. 9, 2011 10:10 AM (EST+7)
    Israel deploys drones over northern Mediterranean
    The Israeli military has deployed unmanned surveillance drones over natural gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea that it claims, despite Lebanese objections, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Tuesday Aug. 9, 2011 9:55 AM (EST+7)
    Jenin theater bewildered at arrests
    With the arrest of a third actor in the theater in the Jenin refugee camp, leaders have been left to wonder at a wave of Israeli military intimidation,reports the Independent.

  • Monday Aug. 8, 2011 2:21 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas and PA to release rival prisoners before September
    Palestinian factions Hamas and Fateh, meeting in Cairo this week, have agreed to release all rival prisoners from jails in the West Bank and Gaza Strip before the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan, reports the Associated Press.

  • Monday Aug. 8, 2011 9:35 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli FM wants to cut ties with Abbas over UN bid
    Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday Israel should sever contacts with the Palestinian Authority over its plans to ask the United Nations in September to upgrade the Palestinians' status in the world body.

  • Sunday Aug. 7, 2011 10:57 AM (EST+7)
    Quarter million Israelis march for economic reform
    A quarter-million Israelis marched on Saturday for lower living costs in an escalating protest that has catapulted the economy onto the political agenda and put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

  • Saturday Aug. 6, 2011 10:28 AM (EST+7)
    WATCH: Bottleneck at Qalandiya checkpoint as worshipers seek to pass
    Thousands of Palestinians crossed Qalandiya checkpoint on foot on the first Friday of Ramadan, as the major crossing point was closed to vehicular traffic.

  • Saturday Aug. 6, 2011 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    Israel deploys defense system amid Gaza escalation
    Israel has deployed a new interceptor missile battery to the coastal town of Ashkelon following the latest barrage of rockets that militants fired from the Gaza Strip over the past two days, the military said on Friday.

  • Saturday Aug. 6, 2011 10:03 AM (EST+7)
    EU struggles to win influence in Middle East
    The European Union is working to build its credentials as a Middle East power broker but its efforts are complicated by internal divisions over Palestinian plans to seek UN recognition of a Palestinian state.

  • Saturday Aug. 6, 2011 9:53 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Palestine's UN bid, between history and hot air
    President Mahmoud Abbas' attempt to upgrade the Palestinians' status at the United Nations, despite U.S. and Israeli opposition, signals a bolder approach by a leader keen to forge a legacy after years of failed peace talks.

  • Thursday Aug. 4, 2011 3:15 PM (EST+7)
    Arab League meets on Palestinian statehood
    The Arab League met Wednesday to work on a Palestinian draft resolution to the United Nations seeking statehood, al-Jazeera reported.

  • Thursday Aug. 4, 2011 3:08 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey absent from joint US, Israel navy drills
    For the second year in a row, Turkey has abstained from participating in joint naval exercises with Israel and the United States, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Thursday Aug. 4, 2011 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli protesters scoff at new housing law
    Israel's parliament passed a law on Wednesday aimed at cutting housing prices, but protesters seeking wider economic reforms pledged to step up their campaign against rising living costs.

  • Wednesday Aug. 3, 2011 2:10 PM (EST+7)
    Court convicts Palestinian of settler family murder
    An Israeli military court found a Palestinian man guilty of murdering five Israeli family members in the occupied West Bank in March, an army spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 3, 2011 10:14 AM (EST+7)
    State seeks hearing in Dirani lawsuit
    Israeli officials are seeking an additional hearing after Israel's high court ruled that former Amal leader, Lebanese Mustafa Dirani, may continue in his efforts to sue the state for torture during his years in detention, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Wednesday Aug. 3, 2011 9:29 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli court: Evacuate W. Bank settlers without delay
    Israel's supreme court ordered the evacuation of a hilltop outpost where some 250 Jewish settlers live without further delay on Tuesday, upholding a petition made by Palestinians and an anti-settler group over five years ago.

  • Tuesday Aug. 2, 2011 9:45 AM (EST+7)
    Bedouin women bear brunt of disparities in Israel
    More than 180,000 Bedouin live in Israel's Negev desert, but there is a big gap in terms of life opportunities between those Bedouin who live in 35 unrecognized villages, and those luckier ones for whom Israel has created seven towns or who live in seven officially recognized villages, say human rights workers.

  • Tuesday Aug. 2, 2011 9:35 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Palestinian-Israeli meeting scuttled by Netanyahu
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nixed a high-level Palestinian-Israeli meeting in Jordan at the last minute, reports the Associated Press.

  • Tuesday Aug. 2, 2011 9:04 AM (EST+7)
    Official: Israel PM ready to discuss border 'package'
    Israel has told Middle East power brokers it was ready to discuss a proposed package on borders with Palestinians to help Western powers revive stalled peace talks, an Israeli official said on Monday.

  • Monday Aug. 1, 2011 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    Israel says troops fire back at Lebanese soldier
    Israeli troops opened fire across the border with Lebanon on Monday at a Lebanese soldier who shot at them, an Israeli military source said.

  • Monday Aug. 1, 2011 9:16 AM (EST+7)
    Israel troops kill two Palestinians in West Bank
    Israeli soldiers shot and killed two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Monday, medical officials and the military said.

  • Sunday July 31, 2011 9:10 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian govt to pay full wages after strike threat
    The Palestinian Authority will pay its employees' salaries in full in August but still faces a financial crisis which forced it to pay only half wages in July, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Sunday.

  • Sunday July 31, 2011 9:04 PM (EST+7)
    Israel warns of 'anarchy' if it meets all reform demands
    Israel's government hit back on Sunday at protests against the rising cost of living, saying some reforms being demanded might lead to economic crises like those besetting parts of Europe and the United States.

  • Sunday July 31, 2011 2:05 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt gas line to Israel hit yet again
    The pipeline that delivers natural gas from Egypt to Israel was sabotaged for the fifth time in six months on Saturday, the Jerusalem Post reports.

  • Sunday July 31, 2011 10:05 AM (EST+7)
    COMMENT: 'Proud to be Israeli'
    Israeli journalist Gideon Levy describes the euphoria he felt attending Saturday night's demonstration in Tel Aviv, where tens of thousands marched calling for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop down.

  • Saturday July 30, 2011 12:26 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: Netanyahu's only resort could be war
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's popularity is fading fast in light of his slow response to housing protests and strikes, writes blogger Yossi Gurvitz.

  • Saturday July 30, 2011 12:12 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Israeli soldiers take over protester's Twitter account
    Israeli soldiers commandeered the cell phone of a protester headed to the Ramallah-area village of Nabi Saleh Friday, sending out numerous messages from an open Twitter account before returning it, reports Joseph Dana. 

  • Saturday July 30, 2011 12:00 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians plan for mass demonstrations
    Hundreds of Palestinians met at in the Hebron area last week to strategize for demonstrations in support of the Palestinian Authority's bid for statehood at the United Nations in September, reports IPS.

  • Saturday July 30, 2011 10:34 AM (EST+7)
    Spokesperson: Gaza children set kite-flying record
    Some 15,000 children flew kites over the Gaza Strip on Thursday, claiming a new world record for most kites flown simultaneously and raising cheers in the Palestinian enclave that is more used to poverty and conflict.

  • Saturday July 30, 2011 10:22 AM (EST+7)
    Israel sees diluted apology to Turkey on ship raid
    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak floated a watered-down apology to Turkey on Friday for the killing of nine of its citizens aboard a pro-Palestinian activist ship that tried to run the Gaza Strip blockade.

  • Thursday July 28, 2011 3:10 PM (EST+7)
    UN summer camp vandalized again in Gaza
    Ten men vandalized a summer camp run by the United Nations refugee agency in the Gaza Strip Wednesday, reports AFP.

  • Thursday July 28, 2011 9:29 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas urges Palestinian protest to support UN bid
    President Mahmoud Abbas urged Palestinians on Wednesday to step up peaceful protests against Israel, urging "popular resistance" inspired by the Arab Spring to back a diplomatic offensive at the United Nations.

  • Wednesday July 27, 2011 12:34 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza fishermen pocket pennies after Israeli attacks
    Palestinian fishermen fight a daily battle with Israeli gunships and water cannon, trying to make a living for their families. Now, even the boat of an international monitoring group is attacked, reports the Guardian from the sea.

  • Wednesday July 27, 2011 12:05 PM (EST+7)
    Anxiety increases among Palestinian children
    The number of children with post-traumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders including depression has increased in the occupied Palestinian territory.

  • Wednesday July 27, 2011 11:50 AM (EST+7)
    UN Mideast coordinator warns of possible deterioration
    The United Nations' envoy to the Middle East warned the Security Council Tuesday that, without a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, conditions in the region could quickly deteriorate, reports the Associated Press.

  • Wednesday July 27, 2011 10:29 AM (EST+7)
    Six months on, Egypt's revolt disappoints Gazans
    Many Palestinians who find themselves again penned into Gaza for Ramadan are blaming Egypt, the neighboring Arab power which, after toppling President Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11, had pledged to free up travel across the shared border.

  • Wednesday July 27, 2011 10:20 AM (EST+7)
    Israel, Palestinians lock horns over UN recognition
    Israeli and Palestinian envoys squared off on Tuesday over plans to seek U.N. recognition of a state of Palestine in September, which Israel rejected as an attempt to bypass direct peace talks.

  • Tuesday July 26, 2011 12:22 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas executes two Gazans as spies for Israel
    Gaza's Hamas government on Tuesday executed a Palestinian father and son convicted of spying for Israel in defiance of President Mahmoud Abbas, who by law has final say in implementing such rulings.

  • Tuesday July 26, 2011 11:03 AM (EST+7)
    Housing, wage crises hit Netanyahu poll rating
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approval rating has plunged as protests over the high cost of living multiply in Israel, a poll published on Tuesday found.

  • Tuesday July 26, 2011 10:19 AM (EST+7)
    Settlement grocery cracks down on Palestinian-Israeli 'fraternization'
    A grocery store located in a settlement in the Bethlehem area is blocking Palestinian baggers from working with Jewish cashiers after a rabbi complained about a rumored relationship, reports Haaretz.

  • Tuesday July 26, 2011 9:50 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's laws tear apart those united in marriage
    Israeli laws have increasingly made it impossible for Palestinians living in Jerusalem to marry those from the West Bank.

  • Monday July 25, 2011 10:28 PM (EST+7)
    At Israel's request, UN flotilla report delayed
    The United Nations has once again delayed a report on last year's flotilla incident, after Israel asked for more time for diplomacy with Turkey, reports Haaretz, citing an Israeli government official.

  • Monday July 25, 2011 12:14 PM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: A tour of Gaza's tunnels
    Author Alexandra Robinson got a first-hand view of Gaza's tunnels and the industry that runs them. In this account at the Palestine Chronicle, she describes the sometimes-tight security around the tunnels and what they actually look like.

  • Monday July 25, 2011 11:47 AM (EST+7)
    Army: Dead Sea smugglers intercepted
    Israel's military reported intercepting a boat on the Dead Sea Monday carrying two Palestinians, assault rifles and ammunition, says AP.

  • Sunday July 24, 2011 12:36 PM (EST+7)
    Nablus dig to become archeological park
    Palestinian archeologists, with the help of Dutch counterparts and the UN, are planning to open an archeological park in the heart of Nablus next year.

  • Sunday July 24, 2011 11:57 AM (EST+7)
    Syria's Palestinians take sides against the regime
    As Syrian security continues its crackdown on demonstrators, Palestinian refugees in the country are joining in the protests, reports Globalpost.

  • Sunday July 24, 2011 11:02 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey PM demands Israel apology for flotilla dead
    Normal ties between Turkey and Israel are "unthinkable" until Israel apologizes for the nine Turks killed when Israeli troops stormed a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, Prime Miniser Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

  • Saturday July 23, 2011 11:57 AM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: 100 hours in Israeli detention
    US activist Laura Durkay describes what happened when dozens of pro-Palestinian activists tried to travel from Europe and the US to the West Bank on July 8.

  • Saturday July 23, 2011 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    Israel torn on apologizing to Turks over ship attack
    Israel is debating whether to say sorry for storming a Gaza-bound Turkish activist ship last year, after its jurists recommended satisfying Ankara's demand for an apology to help fend off war-crimes lawsuits.

  • Saturday July 23, 2011 9:16 AM (EST+7)
    Israel sees Libya as new source of arms for Gaza
    Libya has become a new source of smuggled weaponry for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a senior Israeli official said on Thursday.

  • Thursday July 21, 2011 10:55 AM (EST+7)
    OPINION: Shareholders take on US firm's Israel investments
    Physician and activist Alice Rothschild explains on Mondoweiss why she is asking retirement giant TIAA-CREF to divest from Israeli companies.

  • Thursday July 21, 2011 10:47 AM (EST+7)
    Wife battering, sexual abuse gets attention in Gaza
    Most safe-houses in the Gaza Strip are meant to provide protection for armed militants on Israel's target list. Now Gaza is offering protected shelter to battered Palestinian women.

  • Thursday July 21, 2011 10:27 AM (EST+7)
    Barghouti urges Palestinian march to back UN bid
    Jailed leader Marwan Barghouti has called on Palestinians to stage mass rallies in September in support of a diplomatic bid to gain U.N. membership for a state of Palestine.

  • Wednesday July 20, 2011 10:57 AM (EST+7)
    Erekat: 'I do the negotiations'
    Saeb Erekat, for years the head Palestinian negotiator in peace talks with Israel, has confirmed to The National that his resignation in February in the wake of leaks from his office never resulted in his stepping down.

  • Wednesday July 20, 2011 10:25 AM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: Sailing on a bucket, surrounded by commandos
    Veteran Haaretz journalist Amira Hass describes what happened when the Dignite-Karame was commandeered by Israeli marines off the coast of Gaza Tuesday.

  • Wednesday July 20, 2011 10:02 AM (EST+7)
    NZ prime minister denies Mossad infiltrated Christchurch
    New Zealand's prime minister John Key says his country's intelligence agencies found no evidence of Mossad infiltration in Christchurch before and after the city's devastating February 22 earthquake.

  • Wednesday July 20, 2011 9:38 AM (EST+7)
    Israel bolsters borders, wary of September protests
    Israel will reinforce its border defenses in anticipation of protests by supporters of a Palestinian state in September and could target protest leaders with live ammunition, a military commander said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday July 19, 2011 1:52 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Israeli navy boards Gaza-bound yacht
    The Israeli navy on Tuesday boarded a French yacht carrying pro-Palestinian activists intending to sail to the blockaded Gaza Strip and forced it to go to Ashdod port, a military spokeswoman said.

  • Tuesday July 19, 2011 11:38 AM (EST+7)
    Norway backs Palestinian path to UN vote
    Norway, host of the 1993 Palestinian-Israeli peace accords, said on Monday it was "perfectly legitimate" for Palestinians to take their case for statehood to the United Nations for voting in September.

  • Tuesday July 19, 2011 11:26 AM (EST+7)
    Report says 835 young Palestinians held for stonethrowing
    Israel has over the past five years arrested 835 Palestinian youths for stone-throwing, sentencing most of them to prison time, a rights organization said in a report on Monday.

  • Monday July 18, 2011 2:03 PM (EST+7)
    Tutu calls for retirement company divestment
    Archbishop Desmond Tutu, winner of the Nobel prize and champion of South African's struggle against apartheid, has called for a US retirement company to divest from corporations that benefit from Israel's occupation.

  • Monday July 18, 2011 1:31 PM (EST+7)
    Arab parliamentarian barred from Knesset activity
    An ethics panel has punished Palestinian parliamentarian Hanin Zoabi for participating in last year's flotilla by barring her from all activities except voting in the Knesset, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Monday July 18, 2011 1:16 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza human rights defenders fear coming UN report
    Rights groups and Palestinians are worried that a United Nations report due out in July will weaken the legal position against Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.

  • Sunday July 17, 2011 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    Expert: Israel planning September Iran attack
    Israel is planning an attack on Iran in September, a former CIA official told a US radio station.

  • Sunday July 17, 2011 9:43 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Report: US sought Quartet approval for Bush-era settlement assurances
    The United States sought to include assurances offered by the previous Bush administration accepting the existence of some Israeli settlements in a Quartet statement last week, Haaretz reports.

  • Sunday July 17, 2011 9:26 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza goods trapped by borders
    Palestinian entrepreneur Waddah Bseiso once sold two million dollars a year in furniture overseas. Today, the Gazan businessman can only sell his goods in Gaza, where a glut of furniture drives prices and demand down, reports Interpress News.

  • Saturday July 16, 2011 10:37 AM (EST+7)
    PHOTOS: Thousands march in Jerusalem for Palestinian state
    Thousands of mostly Israelis marched in East Jerusalem on Friday in support of a Palestinian state.

  • Saturday July 16, 2011 10:13 AM (EST+7)
    Islamic leader released from UK jail on bail
    Sheikh Raed Salah, Islamic leader in Israel, was released on bail Friday from a British prison, reports al-Jazeera.

  • Saturday July 16, 2011 9:05 AM (EST+7)
    Medics: Gaza gunman wounded in Israeli airstrike
    An Israeli air strike wounded a Palestinian gunman in the Gaza Strip before dawn on Saturday, medics in the Hamas Islamist controlled territory said.

  • Thursday July 14, 2011 2:59 PM (EST+7)
    Arabs to seek full Palestine upgrade at UN
    The Arab League will apply to upgrade the Palestinians to full member status at the United Nations, according to a draft statement from a league meeting in Qatar on Thursday.

  • Thursday July 14, 2011 12:57 PM (EST+7)
    French vessel "Dignity" still headed to Gaza
    A French flagged ship, the "Karama" or "Dignity", is the only vessel of an internationally-organized flotilla to have made it to open water. The boat, says its organizers, is still headed to Gaza to break Israel's sea blockade.

  • Thursday July 14, 2011 12:36 PM (EST+7)
    Men-only economic conference in Jerusalem raises ire
    Women were barred from entering a Jerusalem economic conference held by an ultra-orthodox newspaper last week, causing inquiries to city and Jewish Agency officials.

  • Thursday July 14, 2011 12:04 PM (EST+7)
    Activists point to precedent in W. Bank deportation case
    Two 69-year-old internationals who sought to visit the West Bank were released from Israeli detention Wednesday after a judge ruled that the interior ministry had overstepped its authority.

  • Thursday July 14, 2011 10:13 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli PM defends law against settlement boycott
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday defended a contentious new law which could lead to financial penalties for anyone in Israel advocating a boycott of West Bank settlements.

  • Wednesday July 13, 2011 12:12 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli police won't be charged in girl's death
    Israeli policemen will not be charged in the death of a 10-year-old Palestinian girl after a court ruled that too much time had passed to carry out a proper investigation, reports The Independent.

  • Wednesday July 13, 2011 11:16 AM (EST+7)
    US officials urge Arabs to resume Palestinian aid
    The Obama administration on Wednesday called on Arab governments to resume previous levels of assistance to the Palestinians, and raised warning flags over aid cuts contemplated by U.S. lawmakers.

  • Wednesday July 13, 2011 11:10 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians hold US responsible for Israel policy
    The Palestinian leadership, in unusually harsh criticism of Washington, on Tuesday held the United States responsible for "racist" Israeli policies it said had sabotaged the peace process.

  • Wednesday July 13, 2011 10:53 AM (EST+7)
    Medics: Israeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank
    Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian in the West Bank on Wednesday during an operation in a refugee camp outside Nablus, a Palestinian medic and residents of the camp said.

  • Tuesday July 12, 2011 12:53 PM (EST+7)
    TV pundit Beck applauded at Knesset
    Conservative US pundit Glenn Beck spoke to an Israeli Knesset sub-committee Monday, slamming the media for bias against Israel, reports CNN.

  • Tuesday July 12, 2011 12:46 PM (EST+7)
    Rights groups to appeal anti-boycott law
    Several Israeli human rights organizations announced Monday that they will appeal a new law that penalizes those who advocate a boycott of Israel or its settlements, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Tuesday July 12, 2011 9:47 AM (EST+7)
    Israel passes law punishing settlement boycotters
    Advocating a boycott of West Bank settlements could lead to financial penalties in Israel under a new law passed on Monday with the blessing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

  • Tuesday July 12, 2011 9:35 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Palestinians start to feel pain from new strategy
    The Palestinians' drive to forge a new Middle East strategy, opposed by Israel and the United States, is starting to exact a financial price that will test their resolve.

  • Tuesday July 12, 2011 9:27 AM (EST+7)
    No sign of Mideast talks after Quartet meeting
    The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators failed to announce any progress toward reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after a lengthy meeting on Monday, saying there are still gaps between the two sides.

  • Monday July 11, 2011 1:53 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Quartet statement to mention Obama ideas
    Members of the Quartet meeting in Washington Monday are expected to back ideas proposed by US President Barack Obama in a May 19 speech that called for a return to negotiations on the basis of the 1967 borders with land swaps, reports Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

  • Monday July 11, 2011 12:58 PM (EST+7)
    Testimony over in Corrie lawsuit
    An Israeli court heard its last witness Sunday in a lawsuit charging the Israeli military with the death of US activist Rachel Corrie, reports the Associated Press.

  • Monday July 11, 2011 12:38 PM (EST+7)
    Israel parliament to vote on anti-boycott bill
    Israel's parliament is set Monday to vote on the second and third readings of a bill to sanction people or organizations that advocate for a boycott against Israel.

  • Monday July 11, 2011 12:30 PM (EST+7)
    Activists slowly being deported from Israel
    Israeli officials deported 38 activists that sought to visit Palestinians in the occupied West Bank but were detained at Ben Gurion airport last weekend, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Sunday July 10, 2011 12:23 PM (EST+7)
    Israel FM says Turkey 'shut door' on rapprochement
    Turkey's leader has "shut the door" on reconciliation with Israel by insisting it end the Gaza blockade and apologize for storming a Turkish ship sailing towards the Palestinian enclave, Israel's top diplomat said on Sunday.

  • Sunday July 10, 2011 8:53 AM (EST+7)
    'Tahrir' ship pulls out of dwindling flotilla
    A Canadian flagged ship, the Tahrir, decided Saturday night to pull out of the flotilla bound for Gaza.

  • Saturday July 9, 2011 1:48 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Airlines say 'difficult' to deport activists
    Airlines will be hard-pressed to deport some 120 pro-Palestinian activists detained at Israel's Ben Gurion airport since Friday, an airline official told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

  • Saturday July 9, 2011 10:27 AM (EST+7)
    Journal calls risks of checkpoint births 'crime'
    Respected medical journal The Lancet publishes findings on the health impacts of Israel checkpoints and other measures of occupation.

  • Saturday July 9, 2011 10:00 AM (EST+7)
    Israel orders pro-Palestinian air passengers deported
    Israel on Friday ordered the deportation of at least 65 incoming air passengers suspected of being pro-Palestinian activists and prevented hundreds of others from boarding flights for Tel Aviv.

  • Saturday July 9, 2011 9:46 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey insists on apology to normalize Israel ties
    Turkey's prime minister said on Friday Israel must apologize for a bloody raid on a Turkish ship bound for Gaza last year and lift its blockade of the territory if it wants to normalize ties, but Israel rejected the call.

  • Thursday July 7, 2011 9:28 AM (EST+7)
    PHOTO ESSAY: Gazan women in pictures
    In a photo essay for al-Jazeera, photographer Tanya Habjouqa illustrates the lives of Palestinian women living in the Gaza Strip.

  • Thursday July 7, 2011 9:18 AM (EST+7)
    For Israel, a Balkan bloom despite Palestine chill
    Stagnant peacemaking with the Palestinians has not stopped a blossoming of Israel's relations with Balkan states focused on liberalizing their societies and economies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday July 7, 2011 9:08 AM (EST+7)
    UN: Israel, protesters at fault in Lebanese border clash
    Israel used force "not commensurate to the threat" when it fired live ammunition during a Palestinian demonstration in May, but the protesters also behaved in a provocative and violent way, a U.N. report released on Wednesday said.

  • Wednesday July 6, 2011 12:03 PM (EST+7)
    Leftist to plan for E. Jerusalem in new coalition
    Palestinian residents of Jerusalem may be in for a positive change, as an Israeli opponent of house demolitions and an advocate for their rights takes the helm in city government.

  • Wednesday July 6, 2011 11:47 AM (EST+7)
    Israel gears up for pro-Palestinian 'fly-in'
    Numerous Israeli agencies are gearing up to meet hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists planning to fly into Tel Aviv Friday.

  • Wednesday July 6, 2011 11:02 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Gaza flotilla a taste of future diplomatic furor
    Pro-Palestinian activists hoping to sail to Gaza this week fully expected their flotilla to be blocked by Israeli marines. Instead, to their shock, the mission was holed even before they put to sea -- by Greece.

  • Wednesday July 6, 2011 10:52 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli airstrike kills two Palestinian gunmen
    The Israeli air force fired into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing two gunmen from an al-Qaeda-affiliated Palestinian faction who approached the boundary fence, medical officials and militant sources said.

  • Wednesday July 6, 2011 10:45 AM (EST+7)
    Israel: No suicide bombers in handover of dead
    The remains of Hamas suicide bombers and commanders will not be included in a planned handover of bodies of Palestinian militants to the Palestinian Authority, Israel said on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday July 6, 2011 10:38 AM (EST+7)
    Council to debate Palestine UN membership in July
    The U.N. Security Council plans to discuss in July the possibility of Palestine becoming a United Nations member state, the Security Council president said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday July 5, 2011 9:57 AM (EST+7)
    Israel pushes on with settlement plans on annexed land
    Israel's Jerusalem municipality approved a plan on Monday to build hundreds of new homes for Jews on annexed land in the occupied West Bank, a council member said.

  • Tuesday July 5, 2011 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Greek coast guard intercepts Gaza-bound Canadian ship
    The Greek coastguard on Monday intercepted a Canadian ship which had set sail for Gaza carrying medicine and pro-Palestinian activists who had defied a ban by the Athens government, activists said.

  • Tuesday July 5, 2011 9:16 AM (EST+7)
    Streetcar named disaster, Jerusalem tram goes nowhere
    It's an ambitious project meant to shunt an ancient city into the 21st century, but Jerusalem's light rail is hitting one red light after another.

  • Tuesday July 5, 2011 9:07 AM (EST+7)
    Israel halts transfer of Palestinian bodies
    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday halted the handover of 84 bodies of Palestinian militants to Palestinian authorities, hours after the military said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had approved the move.

  • Monday July 4, 2011 11:15 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian soccer team advances in World Cup qualifiers
    The Palestinian team scraped by for a win in its Sunday qualifying match against Afghanistan, reports the Associated Press.

  • Monday July 4, 2011 10:50 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian supporters planning "fly-in" to Tel Aviv
    Pro-Palestinian activists plan to fly to Tel Aviv en mass Friday to draw attention to Israel's control over the movement of Palestinians and their supporters.

  • Monday July 4, 2011 9:57 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians, Israelis prepare for September insecurity
    Both Palestinians and Israelis are preparing for insecurity in the fall when Palestinians plan to ask the United Nations for statehood, reports the Associated Press.

  • Monday July 4, 2011 9:46 AM (EST+7)
    Greece offers humanitarian aid to Gaza with UN assist
    Greece offered to ferry humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Authority on Sunday after banning a pro-Palestinian flotilla bound for Gaza from departing from its ports and arresting the captain of one of the boats.

  • Monday July 4, 2011 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    Financial crisis forces Palestinian wage cuts
    The Palestinian Authority can only pay employees half their salaries this month because of a shortfall in foreign aid which it needs for its financial survival, the prime minister said on Sunday.

  • Sunday July 3, 2011 1:58 PM (EST+7)
    US soccer star plays for Palestine in qualifier
    An American Palestinian player is just one of Palestine's assets as it faces off against Afghanistan in a qualifying soccer match in al-Ram on Sunday, reports CNN.

  • Sunday July 3, 2011 1:28 PM (EST+7)
    Samaritans divine Palestinians' future
    A small religious group living in the Nablus hills has become the latest go-to for Palestinians trying to divine their future, reports the AFP.

  • Sunday July 3, 2011 1:05 PM (EST+7)
    Israel targets top rabbis for anti-Arab incitement
    Israeli police briefly detained a leading rabbi on Sunday as part of a widening probe into a treatise suspected of inciting the murder of Arabs.

  • Sunday July 3, 2011 11:00 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza flotilla aims to leave Greece next week
    A pro-Palestinian flotilla hopes to leave Greece early next week to challenge Israel's sea blockade of the Gaza Strip despite the arrest of the American captain of one of the vessels, organizers said on Saturday.

  • Saturday July 2, 2011 11:55 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas says Hamas row hobbles Palestinian bid at UN
    President Mahmoud Abbas urged Hamas on Saturday to relent in a dispute over the formation of unity government for the Palestinians, saying their bid to become a U.N. member state in September was at stake.

  • Saturday July 2, 2011 9:42 AM (EST+7)
    Mideast Quartet talks set for July 11
    The Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators -- the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations -- are scheduled to meet on July 11, a senior U.N. diplomat said on Friday.

  • Saturday July 2, 2011 9:34 AM (EST+7)
    Greece intercepts Gaza-bound American activists
    Greece prevented a boat of U.S. activists from sailing on Friday to join a flotilla of pro-Palestinian campaigners planning to challenge Israel's sea blockade of the Gaza Strip.

  • Thursday June 30, 2011 8:44 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Abbas seeks to delay unity deal until after UN bid
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas may seek to delay the implementation of a unity deal with Hamas until after Palestinians seek statehood at the UN in September, an official close to the leader told the Associated Press Thursday.

  • Thursday June 30, 2011 8:12 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza shelves stocked, but hope in short supply
    If pro-Palestinian activists unexpectedly manage to slip past Israel's naval blockade on the Gaza Strip in the coming days, they might be surprised by what they see in the Hamas-controlled enclave when they disembark.

  • Thursday June 30, 2011 8:05 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to restore Dead Sea shore
    Israel wants to harvest salt from the bottom of the Dead Sea in hopes of protecting its southern shore, but a $2 billion price tag has pitted the government against one of the country's largest companies.

  • Wednesday June 29, 2011 1:53 PM (EST+7)
    Islamic leader arrested in London, to be deported
    Islamic leader in Israel Sheikh Raed Salah has been detained in London and will be deported, British officials told the Guardian Wednesday, alleging that he entered the country illegally.

  • Wednesday June 29, 2011 1:40 PM (EST+7)
    Poll: Most Egyptians would keep peace with Israel
    Two-thirds of Egyptians think their country should keep a peace treaty with its neighbor Israel, a government poll indicated on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday June 29, 2011 8:38 AM (EST+7)
    Israel stations missile interceptor in north
    Israel deployed an Iron Dome rocket interceptor near the major northern city of Haifa on Tuesday a military spokeswoman said, highlighting its possible use in any future hostilities with Lebanese guerillas.

  • Tuesday June 28, 2011 10:59 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Despite delays, experts say unity government will be formed
    For weeks now, Palestinians have been waiting for their leaders to form a unity government. Instead, talks have repeatedly broken down and main factions Fateh and Hamas continue to clash in the press.

  • Tuesday June 28, 2011 9:35 AM (EST+7)
    Christian supporters of Israel complain of visa policies
    Israel's interior ministry is making it harder for Christian supporters to stay and work in the country, reports the head of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem.

  • Tuesday June 28, 2011 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    Media pundit Beck to address Knesset committee
    Conservative media pundit Glenn Beck is planning to address a Knesset committee in July, the Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.

  • Monday June 27, 2011 3:29 PM (EST+7)
    Rights group: Dead Gaza detainee possibly tortured
    A Palestinian detained in a Hamas jail has died and a human rights groups believes he may have been tortured, reports the AP.

  • Monday June 27, 2011 2:53 PM (EST+7)
    Israel denies fiscal pressure on Greece to prevent Gaza flotilla
    Israeli officials have denied using monetary pressure on fiscally-strapped Greece to force it to block boats headed for the Gaza Strip from leaving its ports, reported CNN Sunday.

  • Monday June 27, 2011 1:54 PM (EST+7)
    Israel reviews warning to Gaza flotilla reporters
    Israel said on Monday it was rethinking its threat to bar foreign journalists from entering the country for 10 years if they board a new aid flotilla that plans to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

  • Sunday June 26, 2011 1:55 PM (EST+7)
    World Zionists come out against religious indication on Israeli IDs
    The World Zionist Organization on Friday asked Israel not to reinstate a religious demarcation on national identity cards, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Sunday June 26, 2011 1:39 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli military begins tearing down part of Bilin Wall
    Israel's military says it has begun tearing down a section of the Wall near the West Bank village of Bilin, which has been protesting for years against the barrier, reports the AP.

  • Sunday June 26, 2011 1:13 PM (EST+7)
    Israel threatens to sanction foreign media joining Gaza-bound flotilla
    Israel is threatening to ban or otherwise sanction foreign journalists joining a flotilla planning to set sail for Gaza in the coming days, reports the AP.

  • Saturday June 25, 2011 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Remaining barrier focus of Bilin demonstration
    Palestinian protesters rammed a bulldozer on Friday into a contested barrier near the village of Bilin, days after the Israeli army said it would finally comply with a court order and reposition the fence.

  • Saturday June 25, 2011 9:06 AM (EST+7)
    US warns against new Gaza flotilla plans
    The United States warned activists on Friday against plans to send a new aid flotilla to challenge Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying it would be irresponsible and dangerous.

  • Thursday June 23, 2011 2:56 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: UK authority says Israel's Gaza blockade illegal
    In an interview published on a website organizing supporters of a coming flotilla to the Gaza Strip, a UK maritime law expert describes how Israel's blockade of the occupied territory is illegal.

  • Thursday June 23, 2011 2:01 PM (EST+7)
    Apple removes intifada app at Israeli request
    Apple Inc has removed at Israel's request an Arabic-language application from its iTunes store that called for a Palestinian uprising, an Israeli government statement said on Thursday.

  • Thursday June 23, 2011 1:52 PM (EST+7)
    ICRC demands Hamas provide proof that Shalit is alive
    The International Red Cross called on Hamas on Thursday to provide proof that Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is still alive nearly five years after his capture by Palestinian militants.

  • Wednesday June 22, 2011 1:06 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli soldier's Gaza captivity near five-year mark
    A black four-digit figure atop an encampment near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home flashes daily the number of days since Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was seized by Palestinian militants on a raid from Gaza.

  • Wednesday June 22, 2011 12:56 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to let $100 million of building goods into Gaza
    Israel has approved the building of $100 million worth of new houses and schools in the Gaza Strip, Israeli and U.N. officials said on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday June 22, 2011 12:49 PM (EST+7)
    Israel asks Apple to remove intifada phone app
    An Israeli minister has asked Apple Inc to remove an Arabic-language application from its iTunes store that calls for a Palestinian uprising.

  • Tuesday June 21, 2011 10:48 AM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: UN refugee agency hopeful on Palestinian UN bid
    The United Nations agency that deals with Palestinian refugees is hopeful that a Palestinian statehood bid at the UN in September will bring a solution for its constituency, says spokesperson Chris Gunness in an interview.

  • Tuesday June 21, 2011 10:40 AM (EST+7)
    COMMENT: An American Jew sails to Gaza
    American Jew Jane Hirschmann relates why she is joining a flotilla to break the siege on the Gaza Strip in late June in this comment for the Palestine Chronicle.

  • Tuesday June 21, 2011 10:28 AM (EST+7)
    Picasso canvas goes on display in Ramallah
    A Pablo Picasso masterpiece went on display in Ramallah on Monday after two years of preparations, reports the Associated Press.

  • Tuesday June 21, 2011 9:53 AM (EST+7)
    Obama tells Jewish donors he strongly backs Israel
    U.S. President Barack Obama reassured Jewish donors on Monday he strongly supports Israel, stressing close ties between the United States and the Jewish state, but also emphasizing that changes in the Middle East will require a fresh look at the region.

  • Monday June 20, 2011 2:08 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: UN's Ban seen as US ally, shoo-in for new term
    U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon may have almost blown his chances for re-election by antagonizing Moscow over the Balkans in 2008 but he has since focused on pleasing the United States, Russia and other big U.N. powers, making his re-election on Tuesday a certainty.

  • Monday June 20, 2011 1:53 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt warns of dangerous Israeli missteps in Shalit negotiations
    Egyptian officials have warned that Israeli negotiating positions threatening Hamas over its ongoing capture of soldier Gilad Shalit could result in Shalit's disappearance, reports Haaretz.

  • Monday June 20, 2011 11:05 AM (EST+7)
    Israel asks US to let spy out of jail for funeral
    Israel appealed to the United States on Sunday to allow imprisoned spy Jonathan Pollard out of jail to attend his father's funeral, Israeli Army Radio reported.

  • Sunday June 19, 2011 5:23 PM (EST+7)
    Meshaal, Abbas summit postponed
    A summit between the leaders of Palestinian factions Hamas and Fateh was postponed Sunday, as representatives said that disagreements still remained between the two groups, reports the Associated Press.

  • Sunday June 19, 2011 2:56 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: In Gaza's buffer zone, a family struggles to rebuild
    In Gaza's Juhr al-Dik, in a swathe of land under constant Israeli military surveillance and bombardment, the Abu Sa'ad family struggles to maintain normalcy. In this account, a reporter visits the family and their damaged home.

  • Sunday June 19, 2011 2:42 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian soccer scores goals
    Palestinian football has grown exponentially in recent years, with the construction of five stadiums and increased funding for the local federation. Next month, Palestinians will host their first ever World Cup qualifying match, reports the AP.

  • Saturday June 18, 2011 8:31 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Alice Walker prepares for Gaza flotilla
    Pulitzer-prize winning author Alice Walker is preparing to join a flotilla to the blockaded Gaza Strip through contemplation, she tells the Electronic Intifada.

  • Saturday June 18, 2011 11:49 AM (EST+7)
    In Gaza, blockade drives farming self-reliance
    In Gaza, the stifling Israeli blockade prevents the use of imported fertilizer. As a result, some farmers are going organic, seeking to feed their families and the rest of the Gaza Strip, reports the Guardian.

  • Saturday June 18, 2011 11:37 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza flotilla to sail without Mavi Marmara
    Turkish pro-Palestinian activists said on Friday an aid flotilla will sail for Gaza this month to defy an Israeli blockade, but without the Mavi Marmara ship that was stormed by Israeli commandos a year ago.

  • Thursday June 16, 2011 1:55 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Group blamed for Italian man's slaying speaks out
    The leader of an Islamist group in the Gaza Strip is interviewed about its involvement in the April kidnapping and killing of Italian Vittorio Arrigoni.

  • Thursday June 16, 2011 12:57 PM (EST+7)
    US officials to meet Israelis, Palestinians
    U.S. officials will meet Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian officials this week to try to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to peace talks, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday June 15, 2011 8:57 AM (EST+7)
    Fateh, Hamas see new Palestinian government next week
    Palestinian officials said on Tuesday they would be ready to unveil a new unity government at a meeting between Palestinian President and Fateh leader Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Cairo next week.

  • Tuesday June 14, 2011 9:06 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli officials disavow accused Egypt spy
    Israeli officials denied on Tuesday that a dual American-Israeli passport holder arrested in Cairo was working for its intelligence agencies, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Tuesday June 14, 2011 8:58 PM (EST+7)
    Abu Dis landfill poses threat to public health
    The Israeli-run landfill located in Abu Dis near Jerusalem poses a threat to public health, the Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.

  • Tuesday June 14, 2011 8:49 AM (EST+7)
    Jobless Gaza enters fifth year of Israeli blockade
    The Gaza Strip enters its fifth year of a full Israeli blockade by land, air and sea on Tuesday with unemployment at 45.2 percent, one of the highest rates in the world, a U.N. aid agency report said.

  • Monday June 13, 2011 10:32 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza's pharmaceutical supplies at crisis low
    Officials in Gaza are reporting that pharmaceutical supplies in local hospitals are at a critical low point, affecting the kinds of procedures that medical staff are able to perform.

  • Monday June 13, 2011 8:57 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas' Fateh expels Palestinian strong man
    The Western-backed Palestinian Fateh faction on Sunday expelled a former leader, once seen as a possible successor to President Mahmoud Abbas, the official WAFA news agency said, exposing divisions in the ruling movement.

  • Monday June 13, 2011 8:45 AM (EST+7)
    Fayyad PM candidacy clouds Palestinian unity deal
    Differences sharpened on Sunday over implementing a Palestinian reconciliation deal after the Fatah movement nominated Prime Minister Salam Fayyad to head a unity government and the Hamas Islamist group rejected him.

  • Saturday June 11, 2011 12:17 PM (EST+7)
    Cables disclose Israeli preparations for Palestinian UN bid
    A series of cables obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz show that Israel is preparing a major diplomatic offensive to combat a Palestinian statehood bid in the United Nations this fall.

  • Saturday June 11, 2011 11:47 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt gas line to Israel up and running
    Egyptian gas began flowing to Israel on Friday, after a weeks-long halt due to sabotage, reports CNN.

  • Saturday June 11, 2011 11:07 AM (EST+7)
    Leaders call for recognition of Palestinian unity government
    Nearly two dozen former officials and politicians have called for the United States and European Union to recognize a Palestinian government expected to be formed as a result of an accord between factions Hamas and Fateh.

  • Thursday June 9, 2011 2:08 PM (EST+7)
    Tortured for ransom in the Sinai desert
    GA had looked forward to leaving Eritrea with her husband and living a better life in Israel, until they found themselves kidnapped for money by local Bedouins in Egypt’s Sinai desert.

  • Thursday June 9, 2011 9:15 AM (EST+7)
    Rafah crossing with Egypt reopens after dispute
    The Gaza Strip's border crossing with Egypt reopened on Wednesday after a four-day closure caused by a dispute between Cairo and Gaza's Hamas rulers over travel arrangements, officials said.

  • Thursday June 9, 2011 8:57 AM (EST+7)
    Poll: Most Palestinians support UN statehood bid
    A majority of Palestinians support plans to seek recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations later this year, found a poll released Wednesday by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre.

  • Wednesday June 8, 2011 6:50 PM (EST+7)
    UN agency debunks Palestinian economic growth claims
    A United Nations agency reported Wednesday that the Palestinian economy continues to struggle with unemployment and inflation, despite claims of an economic boom.

  • Wednesday June 8, 2011 9:51 AM (EST+7)
    Strikes threaten to sweep Palestinian public sector
    Palestinian public sector workers are threatening to go on strike Thursday if they are not paid their monthly wages by then, reports Gulf News.

  • Wednesday June 8, 2011 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    Sources: Pro-Syrian Palestinian group kills 11 refugees
    Gunmen from a Palestinian faction loyal to Syria shot dead at least 11 Palestinians at a refugee camp near Damascus on Monday in a dispute over the group's backing for Damascus, Palestinian sources said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday June 7, 2011 1:41 PM (EST+7)
    UN chief says Gaza flotilla panel to report in July
    A much-delayed U.N. panel set up to investigate last year's Israeli attack on an aid convoy bound for Gaza is now due to report back next month, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said on Monday.

  • Tuesday June 7, 2011 1:00 PM (EST+7)
    Suspected settlers damage West Bank mosque
    Suspected Israeli settlers damaged a mosque in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, throwing a burning tire into it and scrawling Hebrew graffiti on its walls, an Israeli police spokesman said.

  • Tuesday June 7, 2011 12:41 PM (EST+7)
    Clinton meets Israeli, Palestinian peace envoys
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held separate meetings with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on Monday as the United States seeks to find a way to revive moribund peace talks.

  • Monday June 6, 2011 11:48 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli group threatens companies servicing planned flotilla
    An Israeli organization has sent letters warning maritime insurers and a telecommunications company that if they provide services to boats participating in a flotilla seeking to break Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, they will be sued in court.

  • Monday June 6, 2011 11:33 AM (EST+7)
    Youth charged with settler murders in military court
    Two Palestinian youths were charged in an Israeli military court Sunday with the stabbing and shooting deaths of five members of a family from the Israeli settlement of Itamar.

  • Monday June 6, 2011 10:51 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas halts Gaza border traffic in row with Egypt
    Islamist group Hamas stopped travelers from crossing into Egypt on Sunday in a row with Egyptian authorities over restrictions at the Rafah border that have dented Palestinians' hopes of ending Gaza's isolation.

  • Monday June 6, 2011 10:41 AM (EST+7)
    Syria says 23 killed in Sunday's Golan protest
    Syria said 23 people were killed in Sunday's protest near the Golan Heights, when Israeli troops fired at Palestinian demonstrators who marched to the frontier fence.

  • Sunday June 5, 2011 1:38 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu cool to French plan for negotiations
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded coolly on Sunday to France's proposal to convene Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Paris, saying the United States might want to pursue an initiative of its own.

  • Sunday June 5, 2011 1:08 PM (EST+7)
    Four dead as Israeli forces fire on Golan protesters
    Israeli troops opened fire on Sunday at Palestinian protesters in Syria who rushed towards a border fence and Syrian state television said four demonstrators were killed.

  • Sunday June 5, 2011 9:51 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian factions slam Abbas acceptance of French initiative
    Palestinian factions responded sharply Sunday to President Mahmoud Abbas' acceptance of a French initiative to restart Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, reports Xinua.

  • Sunday June 5, 2011 9:14 AM (EST+7)
    Americans joining flotilla to break Gaza blockade
    A ship carrying 34 Americans, among them writer Alice Walker, will join the flotilla headed to Gaza later this month to break Israel's naval blockade on the coastal territory, reports the New York Times.

  • Sunday June 5, 2011 8:48 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas welcomes French bid to revive Mideast talks
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday cautiously welcomed a French proposal to convene Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Paris to try to revive collapsed peace talks.

  • Saturday June 4, 2011 12:35 PM (EST+7)
    Witnesses: Palestinians storm shut Gaza crossing
    Egypt shut its border crossing with Gaza on Saturday for the first time since opening it on a routine basis last month, and angry Palestinians stormed the gates in protest, Hamas officials and witnesses said.

  • Saturday June 4, 2011 11:05 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians gear up for Sunday protests
    Palestinians in the occupied territories and the surrounding Arab states are preparing for numerous demonstrations on Sunday here and abroad, reports the Washington Post.

  • Saturday June 4, 2011 9:29 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu: Israel will prevent another border breach
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel would act with restraint and determination to prevent a crossing of its borders when Palestinians plan a mass protest along its frontiers next week.

  • Saturday June 4, 2011 9:11 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Palestinian unity deal going nowhere fast
    In the West Bank, men suspected of belonging to Hamas are still in jail for opposing President Mahmoud Abbas's Western-backed Palestinian Authority.

  • Thursday June 2, 2011 1:09 PM (EST+7)
    New Israeli settlement named 'Obama'
    In a politically-charged gesture of gratitude, Israeli officials are naming a new Israeli settlement after US President Barack Obama, according to reports.

  • Thursday June 2, 2011 12:58 PM (EST+7)
    WATCH: Marchers shout slurs on Jerusalem Day
    Thousands of Israelis marched in Jerusalem's Palestinian neighborhoods on Wednesday, celebrating the military's capture of the eastern half of the city in 1967.

  • Thursday June 2, 2011 11:59 AM (EST+7)
    Closing Gaza gap, Israel posts Iron Dome in Sderot
    Israel has deployed an Iron Dome rocket interceptor outside a Gaza border town that has borne the brunt of Palestinian shelling attacks, posing a new test for the fledgling system underwritten by Washington.

  • Wednesday June 1, 2011 7:25 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas says Egypt limiting passage from Gaza
    Gaza's Hamas rulers said on Wednesday that Egypt was limiting the number of people allowed to enter from Gaza, undermining a move announced last week to ease the blockade of the enclave imposed by Israel.

  • Wednesday June 1, 2011 1:30 PM (EST+7)
    Jewish worshipers step up visits in Palestinian Nablus
    Jewish worshipers are increasing in numbers in monthly arranged visits to a holy site in the major Palestinian city of Nablus, reports the Associated Press.

  • Wednesday June 1, 2011 9:11 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli military says will stop new Gaza flotilla
    Israel's top general said on Tuesday the military is making preparations to stop a new aid flotilla that pro-Palestinian groups plan to dispatch in late June to the Gaza Strip in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade.

  • Tuesday May 31, 2011 10:56 AM (EST+7)
    Proposed bill requires use of Hebrew names in Jerusalem
    An Israeli parliamentarian is proposing a bill that would require all Jerusalem neighborhoods to be called by Hebrew names in signs and official media reports, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Tuesday May 31, 2011 9:33 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian makes artistic marks on passports
    Art student Khaled Jarrar is offering international visitors to the occupied territories the opportunity to put a "Palestine" stamp in their passports.

  • Tuesday May 31, 2011 9:19 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza activists warn Israel not to block new convoy
    Pro-Palestinian activists told Israel on Monday not to interfere in a planned aid flotilla to Gaza in late June, barely a year after Israeli commandos boarded an aid ship killing eight Turks and one Turkish-American.

  • Monday May 30, 2011 2:40 PM (EST+7)
    Flotilla passengers to include British aid workers
    Some 30 British aid workers will join a flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip in June, reports the Independent.

  • Monday May 30, 2011 2:20 PM (EST+7)
    Educated, unemployed youth - a recipe for trouble
    The lack of job opportunities for young people in the occupied Palestinian territory has created an unemployment crisis that could further destabilize the Arab region, experts warn.

  • Monday May 30, 2011 1:02 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Israelis reject 1967 borders, but have few other ideas
    To ask Israeli officials how the border with a future Palestine should look is to invite a deluge of data -- from the regional military balance, to topographical surveys, to intelligence projections on Hamas strength.

  • Sunday May 29, 2011 1:02 PM (EST+7)
    Travelers sought as Gaza terminal empties quickly
    Hamas policemen at the Rafah border crossing toured nearby coffee shops on Saturday calling on travelers to Egypt to go to the terminal which emptied fast under Cairo's easier travel procedures.

  • Sunday May 29, 2011 12:43 PM (EST+7)
    Arab League to seek UN seat for Palestinian state
    The Arab League decided on Saturday to seek full U.N. membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital, ignoring opposition from the United States and Israel.

  • Saturday May 28, 2011 2:48 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt reopens border with Gaza
    Egypt permanently reopened the Rafah border crossing leading into the Gaza Strip Saturday, reports CNN.

  • Saturday May 28, 2011 2:35 PM (EST+7)
    Final hearing in Corrie case delayed
    The final hearing scheduled in Rachel Corrie's family's lawsuit against the Israeli military has been postponed to June, reports the Electronic Intifada.

  • Saturday May 28, 2011 9:00 AM (EST+7)
    Official: Palestinian UN bid can't bypass Sec. Council
    The Palestinians cannot circumvent the U.N. Security Council to avoid a likely U.S. veto if they try to join the United Nations as a sovereign state later this year, a top U.N. official said on Friday.

  • Saturday May 28, 2011 8:45 AM (EST+7)
    UN chief urges govts to discourage new Gaza convoys
    U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called on governments on Friday to discourage pro-Palestinian activists from sending a new aid flotilla to Gaza a year after Israeli commandos killed nine people aboard a previous convoy.

  • Thursday May 26, 2011 11:41 AM (EST+7)
    Poll shows support for Netanyahu on rise
    An Israeli poll carried out after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the United States shows that, despite apparent conflict with the White House, more Israelis now support their leader and are pleased with his actions, reports the Associated Press.

  • Thursday May 26, 2011 11:15 AM (EST+7)
    Ex-general: Israel can't find soldier held in Gaza
    Israel has failed to locate a soldier abducted to the Gaza Strip almost five years ago, making negotiations with Hamas the only option for retrieving him, the former Israeli armed forces chief said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday May 26, 2011 11:05 AM (EST+7)
    US to help Israel buy 4 more Iron Dome interceptors
    The Pentagon is planning to help Israel buy four more Iron Dome short-range anti-rocket batteries, the head of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday May 26, 2011 10:54 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt to open Gaza border crossing from May 28
    Egypt will open its border with the Gaza Strip "on a daily basis" starting from May 28, the state MENA news agency said on Wednesday, to ease entry restrictions for Palestinians.

  • Wednesday May 25, 2011 9:49 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu, amidst demands, says will give up some land
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said explicitly for the first time on Tuesday he was prepared to give up some settlements for peace, but he laid out familiar demands unlikely to draw the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

  • Tuesday May 24, 2011 10:02 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas defends unity deal after US criticism
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah in Amman, defended a unity deal with the Islamist group Hamas, reports the Associated Press.

  • Tuesday May 24, 2011 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu repeats Israel cannot return to '67 borders
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday again rejected U.S. President Barack Obama's vision of a Middle East peace deal based on the country's "indefensible" 1967 borders.

  • Tuesday May 24, 2011 9:16 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians' Fayyad had heart attack in US
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad suffered a heart attack while visiting the United States, and a hospital spokeswoman said he was in good condition on Monday.

  • Monday May 23, 2011 9:01 PM (EST+7)
    Russian hosts Hamas and Fateh, praises power share
    Russia hosted representatives of rival Palestinian factions Fateh and Hamas on Monday and praised a power-sharing deal that U.S. President Barack Obama has called an "enormous obstacle" to Middle East peace.

  • Monday May 23, 2011 11:23 AM (EST+7)
    VIEW: Refugee youth tell of their lives in photos
    The young winners of a photo contest sponsored by the United Nations agency dedicated to Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, show their work.

  • Monday May 23, 2011 8:55 AM (EST+7)
    Obama eases Israeli anger on Mideast peace vision
    President Barack Obama on Sunday eased Israeli anger over his new Middle East peace proposals when he made clear that the Jewish state would likely be able to negotiate keeping some settlements in any final deal with the Palestinians.

  • Sunday May 22, 2011 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    White House aide criticized for pro-Israel positions
    In a closed-door meeting with journalists, officials and Mideast experts, Jordan's King Abdullah criticized the role of White House adviser Dennis Ross, reports the New York Times.

  • Sunday May 22, 2011 9:39 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu says differences with Obama exaggerated
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied, before a speech on Sunday by President Barack Obama to a pro-Israel group, they were locked in crisis after their public dispute on Middle East peace.

  • Sunday May 22, 2011 9:29 AM (EST+7)
    Gunmen kill suspected spy for Israel in W. Bank
    Masked gunmen shot dead a West Bank man previously jailed as a suspected spy for Israel, the second apparent vigilante killing of a suspected spy this month, Palestinian security sources said on Saturday.

  • Saturday May 21, 2011 1:46 PM (EST+7)
    ADL chief Foxman supportive of Obama speech
    Unlike Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other right-wing supporters of Israel, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, a major pro-Israel group in the US, has said he saw a lot of "positives" in United States President Barack Obama's Thursday speech on the Middle East.

  • Saturday May 21, 2011 1:37 PM (EST+7)
    US designates 'Army of Islam' a terrorist group
    The United States State Department on Thursday issued a new directive designating the 'Army of Islam', a group mainly based in the Gaza Strip, as a terrorist group, reports CNN.

  • Saturday May 21, 2011 1:06 PM (EST+7)
    Israel considering temporary truck route to Rawabi
    Israeli military officials are considering allowing a Palestinian developer to open a temporary truck route through an area of the West Bank under Israeli military and civil control, where Palestinians are not usually given construction permission.

  • Saturday May 21, 2011 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    Despite Obama warning, Palestinians to pursue UN plan
    Palestinian official Nabil Shaath told the Associated Press Saturday that Palestinians will continue to pursue their bid for statehood at the United Nations this year, despite US President Barack Obama's comments one day earlier that his administration did not support the move.

  • Saturday May 21, 2011 9:10 AM (EST+7)
    US declines to confirm reported tense Netanyahu phone call
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, the U.S. State Department said but declined to confirm a report that it was an angry exchange.

  • Saturday May 21, 2011 8:54 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli rebuke of Obama exposes divide on Mideast
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly told President Barack Obama on Friday his vision of how to achieve Middle East peace was unrealistic, exposing a deep divide that could doom any US bid to revive peace talks.

  • Thursday May 19, 2011 4:17 PM (EST+7)
    Israel criticizes UN response to border deaths
    Israel on Wednesday criticized a UN envoy for blaming Israeli forces for the fatal shootings of 10 Palestinian protesters at a demonstration on Sunday at the Lebanese frontier, saying he had rushed to judgment.

  • Thursday May 19, 2011 3:55 PM (EST+7)
    Rehoused Lebanon refugees still long for Palestine
    Like the crowds of Palestinian refugees who rattled Israel's border fences this week, Subhia Loubani yearns to return to the homeland she had to flee when the Jewish state was created in 1948.

  • Wednesday May 18, 2011 10:17 AM (EST+7)
    Obama says Mideast peace bid needed more than ever
    US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the political upheaval sweeping the Arab world made it "more vital than ever" to revive long-stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

  • Wednesday May 18, 2011 10:06 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians yet to agree on govt after Cairo talks
    The Fateh movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and its Islamist rival Hamas ended two days of talks in Cairo on Tuesday without reaching a deal on setting up a new government.

  • Wednesday May 18, 2011 9:56 AM (EST+7)
    Rights group accuses PA and Hamas of torture
    A human rights body on Tuesday accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) of torture and arbitrary detention and warned it not to repeat the mistakes of Arab states by allowing security forces to become too powerful.

  • Tuesday May 17, 2011 12:37 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority delays local vote until Oct
    The Palestinian Authority announced on Tuesday it was postponing local elections scheduled for July until October, giving time to organize the vote in the Gaza Strip, now under control of Hamas.

  • Tuesday May 17, 2011 12:15 PM (EST+7)
    READ: Book explores Israeli awareness of emptied Palestinian villages
    Author Noga Kadman shares a chapter from her book, Erased from Space and Consciousness, that describes the early Israeli settler's thoughts about the emptied Palestinian villages that they were now inhabiting.

  • Tuesday May 17, 2011 10:25 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas calls for statehood in op-ed
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas begins an op-ed in the New York Times published Tuesday by referring to his family's flight from Safad in 1948, when Israel was established.

  • Tuesday May 17, 2011 10:03 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu: Palestinian unity govt not a peace partner
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, setting the stage for a high-profile US visit, said on Monday a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas Islamists could not be Israel's peace partner.

  • Tuesday May 17, 2011 9:55 AM (EST+7)
    Obama faces pivotal week on Mideast policy
    President Barack Obama's bid this week to reconnect with the Arab world after the killing of Osama bin Laden poses a daunting challenge complicated by an uneven US response to the region's uprisings and his failure to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace.

  • Tuesday May 17, 2011 9:47 AM (EST+7)
    UN condemns Israeli fire at Lebanon border protest
    The United Nations condemned on Monday Israel's "disproportionate, deadly force" against demonstrators mourning the anniversary of the founding of Israel.

  • Tuesday May 17, 2011 9:24 AM (EST+7)
    Syrian-Palestinian turns himself in after trip to Tel Aviv
    A man identifying himself as a Syrian civil servant said on Monday he hitch-hiked and rode a bus alongside Israeli soldiers to Tel Aviv after pushing through an Israeli frontier fence with Palestinian demonstrators.

  • Monday May 16, 2011 10:15 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's military worried border protests to continue
    Israel's military is worried that protests along its borders seen on Sunday could become the norm, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Monday May 16, 2011 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    Israel-Palestinian violence erupts on three borders
    Israeli troops shot Palestinian protesters who surged towards its frontiers with Syria, Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday, killing at least 13 people on the day Palestinians mourn the establishment of Israel in 1948.

  • Monday May 16, 2011 9:10 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to release tax funds to Palestinians
    Israel agreed on Sunday to release millions of dollars in suspended tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority (PA) after receiving assurances the money will not fall into the hands of the Islamist group Hamas.

  • Sunday May 15, 2011 2:49 PM (EST+7)
    Source: Four killed in Lebanon-Israel border shooting
    Four protesters were killed and 11 wounded in a shooting incident at the Lebanese-Israeli border where Palestinians were demonstrating on Sunday, security sources said.

  • Sunday May 15, 2011 2:00 PM (EST+7)
    UN official calls for end to Palestinian forced displacement
    A United Nations official visiting the occupied West Bank called on Saturday for an end to the forced displacement of Palestinians, reports CNN.

  • Sunday May 15, 2011 1:55 PM (EST+7)
    Israel media: Four dead in Golan Heights shooting
    Israeli gunfire killed four people after dozens of Palestinian refugees infiltrated the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria on Sunday during pro-Palestinian protests, Israeli media reports said.

  • Sunday May 15, 2011 12:58 PM (EST+7)
    French-Palestinian lawyer admits leak to al-Jazeera
    A French-Palestinian lawyer has admitted being the source of at least some of Palestinian negotiating documents leaked to al-Jazeera satellite channel, their contents broadcast earlier this year.

  • Sunday May 15, 2011 11:14 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas leader Hanieh delivers hard-line speech on Nakba day
    Gaza Prime Minister and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh told worshipers early Sunday that Palestinians have "great hope of bringing to an end the Zionist project in Palestine."

  • Saturday May 14, 2011 12:20 PM (EST+7)
    Jury out on promise to reopen Gaza border crossing
    Egypt’s new leadership has promised to open the Rafah crossing into Gaza permanently after more than five years of partial and occasionally full closure, but observers wonder how far this will go to ease the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.

  • Saturday May 14, 2011 10:46 AM (EST+7)
    US Mideast peace envoy Mitchell resigns
    US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell announced his resignation on Friday, throwing a new question mark over the Obama administration's failed effort to restart direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

  • Saturday May 14, 2011 10:38 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian teen dies after protest in Jerusalem
    A Palestinian teenager who was shot during protests in Jerusalem died on Saturday, hospital officials said, and Israeli police, expecting further demonstrations, deployed heavily in the streets.

  • Thursday May 12, 2011 2:46 PM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem's Armenians see numbers dwindling
    Armenians have had a presence in Jerusalem for 1,600 years, but as their numbers slowly drop, the community admits its future is unsure, reports the Associated Press.

  • Thursday May 12, 2011 1:34 PM (EST+7)
    Fayyad could yet survive as Palestinian PM
    Salam Fayyad could survive as prime minister of a new Palestinian government to be agreed by Fateh and Hamas if the rival groups continue to show the flexibility that brought about their surprise unity deal.

  • Thursday May 12, 2011 10:52 AM (EST+7)
    Obama to lay out new Mideast strategy
    US President Barack Obama will give a major speech, possibly as early as next week, laying out his new Middle East strategy after the killing of Osama bin Laden and amid upheaval in the Arab world, US officials said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday May 12, 2011 10:06 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian PM urges Arab donors to meet wage bill
    The Palestinian Authority appealed to Arab countries on Wednesday to pay the salaries of 155,000 government workers after Israel decided to suspend the transfer of tax funds to the PA.

  • Wednesday May 11, 2011 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    Report: 14 percent of West Bank Palestinians stripped of residency in 30-year policy
    A document obtained by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz describes a 30-year Israeli policy that stripped 140,000 Palestinians of their residency status.

  • Wednesday May 11, 2011 9:48 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's Netanyahu to address US Congress on May 24
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the US Congress on May 24 on a Washington visit that will cap a US-led diplomatic flurry seeking to advance stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

  • Wednesday May 11, 2011 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    Give unity deal a chance, says Palestinian PM
    Palestinian unity is crucial to peace with Israel and the pact between the secular Fateh and Islamist Hamas movements must be given a chance, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Friday.

  • Tuesday May 10, 2011 2:31 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza flotilla set for late June
    Organizers of a flotilla set to break the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip said they plan to leave port the third week in June, reports the Associated Press.

  • Tuesday May 10, 2011 1:58 PM (EST+7)
    German company pulls out of Israeli light rail project
    The German rail company Deutsche Bahn has pulled out of an Israeli project building a light rail train that passes in part through the occupied Palestinian territories, reports the Financial Times.

  • Tuesday May 10, 2011 11:43 AM (EST+7)
    Obama to host Jordan king for Middle East talks
    US President Barack Obama will host Jordan's King Abdullah on May 17 to discuss unrest across the Middle East and the quest for Arab-Israeli peace, the White House said on Monday.

  • Tuesday May 10, 2011 11:14 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians miss salaries for first time since '07
    The Palestinian Authority said on Monday it had not been able to pay public sector salaries for the first time since 2007 because of Israel's decision to halt the transfer of tax funds.e

  • Monday May 9, 2011 1:47 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: J Street seeking to stall Palestinian state bid
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must present a concrete plan for a two-state solution of the Palestinian conflict to the US Congress this month or face the prospect of fresh violence, a US lobbyist said.

  • Monday May 9, 2011 10:25 AM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: Settlers harass the farmers of Susya
    An Israeli university professor describes days spent defending the Palestinian villagers of Susya from the harassment of nearby settlers in this account published by the Palestine Monitor.

  • Monday May 9, 2011 9:02 AM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Hamas's Meshaal urges West to back Palestinian deal
    Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal urged the United States and the European Union on Sunday to support a reconciliation deal that ended a four-year rift with Fateh, saying the accord was the Palestinian people's choice.

  • Sunday May 8, 2011 10:26 AM (EST+7)
    Meshaal: Negotiations, resistance to be coordinated
    Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, speaking to the Wall Street Journal, says that now that a reconciliation deal has been inked with its rival Fateh, the groups will coordinate their positions on negotiations with and resistance to Israel.

  • Sunday May 8, 2011 9:39 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas breaks up Salafist bin Laden rally in Gaza Strip
    Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas on Saturday broke up a Salafist protest against the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a US raid in Pakistan this week.

  • Saturday May 7, 2011 9:03 AM (EST+7)
    Suspected Israeli collaborator killed in W. Bank
    Masked gunmen shot and killed a Palestinian man they thought was an Israeli collaborator in the occupied West Bank on Friday, medical and security sources said.

  • Saturday May 7, 2011 8:57 AM (EST+7)
    UN urges Israel not to withhold Palestinian funds
    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that Israel should not withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority following its unity deal with Hamas.

  • Saturday May 7, 2011 8:52 AM (EST+7)
    EU gives extra 85 million euros to Palestinians
    The European Union said on Friday it would provide an extra 85 million euros ($124 million) to the Palestinian Authority to help pay salaries of essential workers and to support vulnerable families.

  • Thursday May 5, 2011 10:35 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians end four-year rift at Cairo ceremony
    Palestinian leaders formally ended a four-year rift between the secular Fateh and Islamist Hamas groups at a ceremony in Egypt on Wednesday, a reconciliation they see as crucial to their drive for an independent state.

  • Thursday May 5, 2011 10:08 AM (EST+7)
    Reactions in Gaza mixed as Fateh and Hamas sign pact
    Thousands of Palestinians spontaneously poured into the streets of Gaza City Wednesday, celebrating the reconciliation agreement being signed by factions Fateh and Hamas in Cairo.

  • Wednesday May 4, 2011 12:17 PM (EST+7)
    A daughter defiant after Israeli soldiers arrest her father
    The daughter of Palestinian author Ahmad Qatamish, Hanin, was visiting from Cairo when Israeli soldiers broke into their home to arrest him.

  • Wednesday May 4, 2011 10:36 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's Wall blocks Palestinian health care
    Fuad Ahmed Jabo's mother was 70 when she died of a heart attack at their home in the Palestinian village of Tantour in Beit Jala, between Israeli-controlled Jerusalem and the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

  • Wednesday May 4, 2011 8:39 AM (EST+7)
    Small Palestinian factions ink reconciliation deal
    Smaller Palestinian factions signed a reconciliation deal on Tuesday ahead of a formal ceremony this week to celebrate the accord designed to end a four-year rift between the biggest factions, Hamas and Fateh.

  • Tuesday May 3, 2011 9:10 PM (EST+7)
    Barenboim conducts classical concert in the Gaza Strip
    Classical musician Daniel Barenboim, a supporter of Palestinian rights, broke new ground on Tuesday when he traveled to the Gaza Strip to conduct a concert.

  • Tuesday May 3, 2011 9:32 AM (EST+7)
    Hague: Britain welcomes end to Hamas-Fateh feud
    Britain welcomes a deal brokered by Egypt to end a four-year feud between Palestinian factions Hamas and Fateh, Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday.

  • Tuesday May 3, 2011 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    US top court to consider Jerusalem passport case
    The US Supreme Court said on Monday it would hear an appeal by parents who want Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to record Israel, not just Jerusalem, on their son's US passport.

  • Monday May 2, 2011 1:59 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas condemns killing of 'holy warrior' Bin Laden
    The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Monday condemned the killing by US forces of Osama bin Laden and mourned him as an "Arab holy warrior".

  • Monday May 2, 2011 12:26 PM (EST+7)
    Israel reviews approval of additional Palestinian security training
    Israeli officials are reviewing whether they will allow a new battalion of Palestinian security officers to travel to Jordan for training this month, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Monday May 2, 2011 10:33 AM (EST+7)
    Israel: Bin Laden killing good for democracies
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu celebrated the killing of Osama bin Laden by US forces on Sunday as a triumph for Washington and its allies in their "war on terror".

  • Monday May 2, 2011 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority: Bin Laden death good for peace
    The Western-backed Palestinian Authority said on Monday the killing of Osama bin Laden by US forces was "good for the cause of peace".

  • Sunday May 1, 2011 10:15 AM (EST+7)
    Village Lifta stands as living memory, soon to be remade
    The Palestinian village of Lifta, in the heart of Jerusalem, remains as a few stone walls overgrown with weeds.

  • Sunday May 1, 2011 8:56 AM (EST+7)
    Israel suspends tax transfer to Palestinians
    Israel said on Sunday it has suspended tax transfers to the Palestinians in response to their US-backed president's bid to forge an alliance with rival Hamas Islamists opposed to peace talks.

  • Saturday April 30, 2011 11:37 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt to open Rafah crossing
    Egyptian officials are planning to reopen the Rafah crossing to the Gaza Strip, officials said Saturday, reports the Washington Post.

  • Saturday April 30, 2011 11:19 AM (EST+7)
    Rift apparent in views of Palestinian unity deal
    Officials from the Palestinian factions of Fateh and Hamas express different views of the reconciliation agreement drafted in a surprise move last week. Each side says the motivation for the long-awaited deal came from the other side's weakness, reports the New York Times.

  • Saturday April 30, 2011 10:44 AM (EST+7)
    OPINION: The US should welcome the Palestinian unity deal
    While initial signs are that Washington is opposed to the recent agreement between Fateh and Hamas, analyst Khaled Elgindy argues that the White House should embrace the deal.

  • Saturday April 30, 2011 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    UN's Ban welcomes Palestinian unity deal
    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday cautiously welcomed a unity agreement aimed at ending the rivalry among ruling Palestinian factions, but stressed that it should not undermine peace with Israel.

  • Thursday April 28, 2011 2:25 PM (EST+7)
    Reconciliation deal jeopardizes US funding of Palestinians
    The announcement of a reconciliation deal between Palestinian factions Fateh and Hamas could mean the withdrawal of hundreds of millions in US funding for Palestinians, reports the New York Times.

  • Thursday April 28, 2011 2:15 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas hints talks still possible with Israel
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signaled on Thursday that peace talks with Israel would still be possible during the term of a new interim government formed as part of a unity deal with Hamas.

  • Thursday April 28, 2011 12:12 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu: Abbas must choose between Israel, Hamas
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas could not hope to forge a peace deal with Israel if he pursued a reconciliation accord with the Islamist group Hamas.

  • Thursday April 28, 2011 11:56 AM (EST+7)
    Fateh, Hamas end feud, agree to unity government
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fateh group inked a deal on Wednesday with bitter rival Hamas to end their long-running feud and form an interim government ahead of elections within a year.

  • Wednesday April 27, 2011 12:06 PM (EST+7)
    VIEW: A photo essay of the last Palestinian keffiyeh factory
    The Palestinian scarf, the keffiyeh, has long been a sign of Palestinian nationalism.

  • Wednesday April 27, 2011 9:29 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt gas pipeline to Israel, Jordan attacked
    Saboteurs blew up a pipeline running through Egypt's North Sinai on Wednesday that supplies gas to Israel and Jordan, a security source told Reuters.

  • Tuesday April 26, 2011 11:38 AM (EST+7)
    Poll: Most Egyptians would cancel peace treaty with Israel
    Most Egyptians favor annulling their country's peace treaty with Israel, found a Pew Research Center poll released Monday, according to the Jerusalem Post.

  • Tuesday April 26, 2011 10:56 AM (EST+7)
    Injured boy's family to sue Israeli military, Palestinian doctors
    The Palestinian family of a boy struck by a tear gas canister in the village of Nabi Saleh Friday says they will sue Palestinian medical officials and the Israeli military.

  • Tuesday April 26, 2011 10:02 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Some 20 Palestinians held in Guantanamo
    Some 20 Palestinians are being held at the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, says the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, reporting on documents obtained through the anti-secrecy website Wikileaks.

  • Monday April 25, 2011 11:14 AM (EST+7)
    Sharia courts must notify women of polygamy in new ruling
    Palestinian Islamic courts must now notify a first wife and the wife-to-be if a man is practicing polygamy, ordered the head of the court system on Sunday.

  • Monday April 25, 2011 10:54 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas slams Obama policies on Mideast
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas last week delivered a sharp critique of US president Barack Obama's policies on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, reports the US magazine Newsweek.

  • Monday April 25, 2011 9:04 AM (EST+7)
    Funeral in Italy for activist killed in Gaza
    Friends and family of Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian activist abducted and killed by al Qaeda aligned militants in the Gaza Strip, bid their last farewells at a funeral service on Sunday in his hometown in northern Italy.

  • Monday April 25, 2011 9:00 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli shot by police in West Bank, army says
    A Palestinian policeman shot dead an Israeli and wounded four others after they entered a holy site in a West Bank city without permission on Sunday, the Israeli military said.

  • Saturday April 23, 2011 7:01 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt detains ex-energy minister for questioning
    Egypt's public prosecutor on Thursday ordered former energy minister Sameh Fahmy and five other senior energy officials detained for questioning into a natural gas deal with Israel the government is reviewing.

  • Saturday April 23, 2011 6:35 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas sees US support for Palestinian statehood bid
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday it would "illogical" for the United States to block a Palestinian bid for statehood planned at the United Nations in September.

  • Saturday April 23, 2011 6:26 PM (EST+7)
    UN urges bold steps to relaunch Mideast peace
    The United Nations called on Thursday for "bold and decisive steps" to relaunch the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as the region awaits a possible new initiative by US President Barack Obama.

  • Thursday April 21, 2011 2:11 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: A lawmaker trapped by Israeli policies
    In June of last year, Israel ordered that four Hamas legislators be stripped of their right to live in Jerusalem.

  • Thursday April 21, 2011 1:54 PM (EST+7)
    Wall puts up barriers to education in Jerusalem
    In 16 Jerusalem-area communities, the Wall bars Palestinians from services. 

  • Thursday April 21, 2011 12:40 PM (EST+7)
    Prominent Israelis support Palestinian state
    Israeli intellectuals and artists are promoting the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, the group said in a statement Wednesday, reports the Associated Press.

  • Wednesday April 20, 2011 1:21 PM (EST+7)
    Israel indicts Australian for alleged Hamas links
    Israel has arrested an Australian who tried to enter the country as a tourist, charging him with working for the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

  • Wednesday April 20, 2011 9:32 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas: Killers of Italian activist die in Gaza raid
    Hamas security forces in Gaza stormed a building where killers of a pro-Palestinian Italian activist were hiding on Tuesday and two of the al Qaeda-inspired militants died in the raid, Hamas said.

  • Tuesday April 19, 2011 3:02 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Quartet may endorse Palestinian state on '67 borders
    The Middle East Quartet - a working group comprised of representatives of the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia - may endorse a Palestinian state if Israel doesn't act soon to reinvigorate a flagging peace process, reported a US newspaper Tuesday.

  • Tuesday April 19, 2011 2:50 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians to seek UN intervention if no peace
    Palestinians are planning to take their cause to the United Nations if no deal is reached with Israel by September, UN diplomat Riyad Mansour told the Associated Press in an interview.

  • Tuesday April 19, 2011 12:51 PM (EST+7)
    Hundreds in Gaza honor slain Italian activist
    Hundreds of Palestinians marched in a symbolic funeral procession on Monday in memory of a pro-Palestinian Italian activist killed by al Qaeda sympathizers in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

  • Monday April 18, 2011 1:03 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas seeking three in Italian's killing
    Hamas officials are looking for three men in connection with the killing of Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni in the Gaza Strip last week, reports the Associated Press.

  • Monday April 18, 2011 12:29 PM (EST+7)
    Thousands of Palestinian prisoners observe hunger strike
    Thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails observed a one-day hunger strike Sunday in a call for political unity, reports Arab News.

  • Monday April 18, 2011 12:08 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Nabi Saleh protest organizer jailed indefinitely
    An organizer of protests in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh will be jailed until the end of his trial, ruled an Israeli military court Sunday.

  • Monday April 18, 2011 11:51 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Two Palestinians from Awarta charged in settler killings
    Israeli police have arrested two Palestinian teenagers on suspicion of stabbing to death a Jewish couple and three of their children while they slept in a West Bank settlement, a police spokesman said on Sunday.

  • Sunday April 17, 2011 2:37 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians to build airport, railway
    The Palestinian Authority is planning to build an airport in between Jerusalem and Jericho and a railway connecting the West Bank with the Gaza Strip, reports Arab News.

  • Sunday April 17, 2011 12:45 PM (EST+7)
    Christians mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem
    Christians are commemorating Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, reports the Associated Press.

  • Saturday April 16, 2011 10:13 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians shocked by the murder of 'Vittorio the Gazan'
    Shock and grief spread in Gaza on Friday with the news of the killing of Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni.

  • Saturday April 16, 2011 10:01 AM (EST+7)
    Qaeda sympathizers kill abducted Italian activist
    Hamas found the body on Friday of a pro-Palestinian Italian activist who was killed by al Qaeda sympathizers in the Gaza Strip, raising questions about Hamas's control over the beleaguered enclave.

  • Saturday April 16, 2011 9:51 AM (EST+7)
    Israel strikes Hamas targets after rocket fire
    Israel responded to Palestinian rocket fire with two air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Friday, officials said, ending a lull in violence since an informal ceasefire took effect earlier in the week.

  • Thursday April 14, 2011 12:59 PM (EST+7)
    VIEW: Photos from Awarta village document Israeli raid
    Photos taken by an Israeli human rights organization document the destruction wrought in a home in the Palestinian village of Awarta during 12 hours of Israeli military curfew.

  • Thursday April 14, 2011 11:11 AM (EST+7)
    Three members of Goldstone commission respond to controversy
    Three members of a UN commission into Israel's 2008-09 war in Gaza have responded to calls for their report to be revised.

  • Thursday April 14, 2011 10:58 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's Lieberman told he may face graft charges
    Israel's attorney-general told Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday he could be indicted on graft charges that would likely force his resignation and shake up the rightist coalition government.

  • Thursday April 14, 2011 10:42 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians seek $5 billion for 3-year development
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will brief Western representatives in Brussels on Wednesday on his bid for nearly $5 billion in investment to launch a Palestinian state.

  • Thursday April 14, 2011 8:47 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians: New US peace push must come soon
    The United States must move fast on its planned drive to revive Middle East talks before Palestinians seek recognition as a state, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday April 13, 2011 11:52 AM (EST+7)
    Four Palestinians killed in tunnel collapse
    Four Palestinians were killed Tuesday when a tunnel in which they were working collapsed, reports CNN.

  • Wednesday April 13, 2011 9:32 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton: US plans new push in Arab-Israel peace
    The United States plans a new push to promote comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday, suggesting a stronger US hand in trying to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

  • Tuesday April 12, 2011 10:35 AM (EST+7)
    Friday Quartet meeting postponed at US request
    A meeting of the Quartet planned for Friday has been postponed at the request of the United States, reports the Associated Press. 

  • Tuesday April 12, 2011 9:31 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians to tell West they are ready for statehood
    The Palestinians are ready for statehood, according to a report to be presented to major aid donor countries in Brussels this week by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

  • Monday April 11, 2011 1:02 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Egypt suspends construction of Gaza wall
    Egypt has suspended construction on a wall intended to stop smuggling into the Gaza Strip, reports an Israeli newspaper Monday.

  • Monday April 11, 2011 12:43 PM (EST+7)
    German mediation over captive Israeli soldier faces failure
    Years of German mediation between Hamas and Israel over a prisoner swap that would free captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, believed to be held in the Gaza Strip, may be coming to an end.

  • Monday April 11, 2011 12:09 PM (EST+7)
    Sudan says found proof of Israeli strike
    Sudan said on Sunday that remnants of a missile used in a mysterious attack that killed two people on April 5 proved that Israel carried out the strike.

  • Monday April 11, 2011 12:03 PM (EST+7)
    Israel hails success of new rocket interceptor
    Israel said on Sunday its new Iron Dome interceptor had successfully protected two major cities from Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza in the past few days, and other countries were already expressing interest.

  • Monday April 11, 2011 11:43 AM (EST+7)
    Arab League calls for no-fly zone over Gaza
    The Arab League called on the United Nations on Sunday to impose a no-fly zone over Gaza and lift an Israeli siege of the territory after a flare-up of violence that is stoking fears of a wider escalation.

  • Sunday April 10, 2011 9:49 AM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Israel's south prepares for war
    Amidst the escalation between Hamas and Israel's military, blogger Dahlia Scheindlin visits Israel's south.

  • Sunday April 10, 2011 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas says willing to end recent fighting with Israel
    The Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers said on Sunday they wanted to end the recent round of fighting with Israel after Israel's defense minister signaled willingness to agree to a ceasefire.

  • Sunday April 10, 2011 9:15 AM (EST+7)
    Barak says Israel open to Gaza ceasefire with Hamas
    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday that Israel was willing to accept a mutual ceasefire with Hamas militants in Gaza after days of deadly violence.

  • Saturday April 9, 2011 1:12 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas threatens to escalate if Israeli raids persist
    Militant group Hamas said on Saturday it would escalate it attacks against Israel to include a wider range of targets if Israel failed to halt its aerial assaults on the Gaza Strip.

  • Saturday April 9, 2011 12:12 PM (EST+7)
    Former Israeli security official calls for extensive Gaza operation
    A former Israeli security official said on Saturday that Israel should consider a sweeping ground operation in the Gaza Strip, similar to that carried out in the West Bank in 2002.

  • Saturday April 9, 2011 10:48 AM (EST+7)
    Sudan to report Israel to UN Security Council
    Sudan's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it would report Israel to the UN Security Council about a missile attack on its east that killed two people.

  • Saturday April 9, 2011 10:39 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's Peres says Goldstone backtrack not enough
    Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Thursday that jurist Richard Goldstone's bid to qualify his controversial report on Israel's 2008-09 Gaza campaign was not enough to cancel out "libels" in the report.

  • Saturday April 9, 2011 10:12 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza death toll climbs as four armed men killed
    Israel killed four Palestinian armed men and wounded half a dozen others as it kept up air raids in the Gaza Strip for a third day, responding to increased rocket fire, Palestinian medics said.

  • Thursday April 7, 2011 1:42 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians charge man in actor's death
    A Palestinian man has been charged in the slaying of actor and activist Juliano Mer-Khamis in the Jenin refugee camp earlier this week, reports AFP.

  • Thursday April 7, 2011 12:59 PM (EST+7)
    Record number of Palestinians made homeless by demolitions
    The number of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem demolished by Israeli authorities increased for the third consecutive month in March, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency.

  • Thursday April 7, 2011 11:41 AM (EST+7)
    Sudan accuses Israel of attack near main port city
    Sudan accused Israel of launching a missile strike that killed two people near its main port city, in an attack that raised concerns about Khartoum's ability to stop arms trafficking across its remote east.

  • Thursday April 7, 2011 11:33 AM (EST+7)
    World Bank praises Palestinian state-building drive
    The World Bank gave a strong endorsement on Thursday to Palestinian efforts to set up an independent state, saying core Palestinian institutions compared favorably with those in established nations.

  • Thursday April 7, 2011 11:18 AM (EST+7)
    US envoy Rice wants Gaza war report to 'disappear'
    Susan Rice, the US envoy to the United Nations, said on Wednesday she wanted a controversial report on Israel's 2008-09 Gaza offensive to "disappear" but did not think it could be amended even though its author now says he may have been wrong.

  • Wednesday April 6, 2011 12:45 PM (EST+7)
    Obama: Mideast peace bid needed amid region's unrest
    US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday it was more urgent than ever to seize the opportunity to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts even as unrest swept the broader Middle East.

  • Wednesday April 6, 2011 12:38 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians: Hamas suspect held in W. Bank actor killing
    A top Palestinian security official said police had arrested a member of the Islamist Hamas group over the assassination of award-winning Arab-Israeli actor and director, Juliano Mer Khamis.

  • Wednesday April 6, 2011 12:34 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill Palestinian on Gaza border
    Israeli troops killed a Palestinian man near the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, a Palestinian medical worker and the Israeli military said.

  • Tuesday April 5, 2011 11:15 AM (EST+7)
    Minister: Goldstone to visit Israel
    Israel's interior minister says that international jurist Richard Goldstone has accepted an invitation to visit Israel, reports the Associated Press. 

  • Tuesday April 5, 2011 9:23 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli figures to propose peace plan
    Several prominent Israelis plan to unveil a peace initiative Wednesday, in an effort to break what they view as Israel's international isolation and drum up public support for peace.

  • Tuesday April 5, 2011 8:46 AM (EST+7)
    Israel charges Gaza engineer as rocket mastermind
    Israel on Monday charged a detained Palestinian engineer with hundreds of counts of attempted murder, accusing him of developing missiles that the Islamist group Hamas fired from Gaza against Israelis.

  • Monday April 4, 2011 2:01 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Arab revolts set to transform Middle East
    The astonishing popular protests against Arab autocrats that have churned the region for three months are the authentic birth pangs of a new Middle East.

  • Monday April 4, 2011 12:26 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to fight European court cases with Goldstone op-ed
    Israel plans to fight possible court cases brought against its officials in Europe using an opinion piece published by international jurist Richard Goldstone, reports the Jerusalem Post. 

  • Monday April 4, 2011 12:14 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Historian Ilan Pappe weighs in on peace talks
    Israeli historian Ilan Pappe tells an interviewer for the Palestine Chronicle that he has little faith in stalled peace talks between Palestinians and Israel.I

  • Sunday April 3, 2011 9:34 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt's army rulers to meet Palestinian president
    Egypt's military rulers will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday to seek ways to ease tension between his Fateh movement and its rival Hamas, Egypt's state news agency said on Saturday.

  • Sunday April 3, 2011 9:26 AM (EST+7)
    Israel urges UN to cancel Gaza war crimes report
    Israel on Saturday called on the UN to cancel a report which said it had committed war crimes during its December 2008-January 2009 Gaza offensive, after its author said he may have been wrong.

  • Sunday April 3, 2011 9:18 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas toes Syrian line in anti-Assad protests
    The Palestinian group Hamas sent its support on Saturday to Syria's ruling hierarchy and said unprecedented protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule must not compromise Syria "rejectionist" stand against Israel.

  • Saturday April 2, 2011 11:45 AM (EST+7)
    Poll: Young Israelis moving right
    A poll released last week shows that Israel's youth have moved dramatically to the right since a similar poll in 1998, reports Haaretz.

  • Saturday April 2, 2011 9:45 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Netanyahu, Barack plan speeches to each other
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address a joint session of Congress in seven weeks, while US President Barack Obama may be coming to Israel to address the Knesset.

  • Saturday April 2, 2011 9:24 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli airstrike kills three militants in Gaza
    Israeli aircraft killed three Palestinian gunmen in the southern Gaza Strip early on Saturday, medical officials and the Israeli army said.

  • Thursday March 31, 2011 12:43 PM (EST+7)
    Envoy urges Ukraine to act over disappeared Palestinian
    The Palestinian ambassador in Ukraine on Thursday denied that a Palestinian man who went missing in Ukraine and is now being held in an Israeli jail was a member of Hamas.

  • Thursday March 31, 2011 11:17 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli minister proposes Gaza artificial island
    Israel is considering building an artificial island with sea and air ports off blockaded Gaza, as a long-term solution to shipping goods into the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave, the transport minister said.

  • Thursday March 31, 2011 10:27 AM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem bishop appeals Israel's residency denial
    Jerusalem's Anglican bishop, a Palestinian, is engaged in a legal battle with Israel over its refusal to extend his residency permit, a church official said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday March 31, 2011 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu confirms Gaza man held by Israel
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that a Palestinian man from Gaza held by Israel after what relatives called an overseas abduction was a Hamas member who had given "valuable information".

  • Wednesday March 30, 2011 9:48 AM (EST+7)
    One boy lost to his family in Gaza fighting
    Ten-year-old Mahmoud Jalal al-Hilu was playing outside when an Israeli tank shell took his life and that of three others.

  • Wednesday March 30, 2011 9:21 AM (EST+7)
    Facebook drops 'third intifada' page
    After an appeal from an Israeli official, the social networking site Facebook has deleted a page established calling for a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

  • Wednesday March 30, 2011 9:11 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli airstrike kills Gaza gunman on motorbike
    Israeli aircraft killed a Palestinian gunman and wounded another as they rode a motorcycle in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, medical officials said.

  • Tuesday March 29, 2011 2:17 PM (EST+7)
    UN agency hobbled by unwieldy customs at Gaza border
    UNRWA describes the lengthy process of bringing basic humanitarian supplies into Gaza as unduly complicated and costly.

  • Tuesday March 29, 2011 1:55 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli officials warn of drought
    With annual rainfall lagging behind regional norms for the seventh consecutive year, Israeli officials are warning of drought this summer.

  • Tuesday March 29, 2011 9:13 AM (EST+7)
    Israel eases steps to revoke citizenship
    Israel passed a law on Monday that eases the process of revoking citizenship in a step denounced as a move to threaten primarily its Arab minority.

  • Monday March 28, 2011 11:53 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli cabinet approves incentives for Tunisian Jewish immigrants
    The Israeli cabinet Sunday approved incentives for Tunisian Jews seeking to immigrate to Israel.

  • Monday March 28, 2011 10:50 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza youth movement on the run
    The organizers of demonstrations for unity that kicked off on March 15 appear to be cutting their political teeth and shaping new ideas, reports Time Magazine.

  • Sunday March 27, 2011 3:51 PM (EST+7)
    Israel deploys first anti-rocket system near Gaza
    Israel deployed a long-anticipated rocket shield outside the Gaza Strip on Sunday but cautioned Israelis under fire from the Hamas-run territory that they would not be completely protected.

  • Sunday March 27, 2011 12:47 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas meets Hamas leaders amidst Israeli warnings
    A meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and several representatives of the Islamist movement Hamas Saturday was met with Israeli recriminations. 

  • Sunday March 27, 2011 11:22 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza armed groups signal ready to halt fire
    Gaza armed groups signaled on Saturday they would halt rocket fire at Israel if the Jewish state stopped shootings as well, after a surge in cross-border violence prompted fears of a possible escalation into war.

  • Sunday March 27, 2011 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    Medics: Israeli airstrike kills two Palestinian gunmen
    Israeli aircraft on Sunday killed two Palestinian armed men in the northern Gaza Strip, medics and officials from the enclave's rulers Hamas said.

  • Saturday March 26, 2011 1:55 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to deploy rocket shield system near Gaza
    Israel has brought forward plans to deploy an "Iron Dome" rocket interceptor system because of increased mortar and rocket fire from the Hamas Islamist ruled Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said on Friday.

  • Saturday March 26, 2011 1:50 PM (EST+7)
    Rockets fired from Gaza strike Israel after lull
    Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel on Saturday after a brief lull in violence along a frontier where tensions have risen in the past week.

  • Thursday March 24, 2011 12:56 PM (EST+7)
    S. African university to end cooperation with Israeli university
    The University of Johannesburg in South Africa has decided to terminate its relationship with Ben Gurion University.

  • Thursday March 24, 2011 9:35 AM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem bombing kills woman after seven-year lull
    A bomb planted in a bag exploded near a bus stop in a Jewish district of Jerusalem on Wednesday, killing a woman and injuring at least 30 people, in an attack police blamed on Palestinian militants.

  • Thursday March 24, 2011 9:19 AM (EST+7)
    Israel strikes targets in Gaza after day of rockets
    Israeli aircraft struck targets in the Gaza Strip in the early hours on Thursday, a day after Palestinian militants fired more than a dozen rockets and mortars across the border, striking deep into Israel.

  • Tuesday March 22, 2011 9:12 AM (EST+7)
    Three Palestinians injured in settler attacks
    Three Palestinians were injured Monday in two separate attacks by Israeli settlers in the Hebron area.

  • Tuesday March 22, 2011 8:41 AM (EST+7)
    UN investigator: Israel engaged in ethnic cleansing
    Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem and eviction of Palestinians from their homes there is a form of ethnic cleansing, a United Nations investigator said on Monday.

  • Tuesday March 22, 2011 8:31 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli airstrikes wound 19 in Gaza
    Israel launched air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Monday, wounding at least 19 people, after militants fired mortar shells and rockets into the Jewish state, witnesses and militant groups said.

  • Monday March 21, 2011 12:53 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza protesters vow to continue, despite Hamas crackdown
    Protesters in Gaza calling for an end to political division say they are committed to continuing their demonstrations, despite a heavy-handed crackdown by Hamas forces.

  • Monday March 21, 2011 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    "Hydro-diplomacy" needed to avert Arab water wars
    The United Nations should promote "hydro-diplomacy" to defuse any tensions over water in regions like the Middle East and North Africa where scarce supplies have the potential to spark future conflicts, experts said on Sunday.

  • Monday March 21, 2011 9:34 AM (EST+7)
    Israel says holding missing Palestinian engineer
    Israel acknowledged on Sunday it was holding and investigating a Gaza engineer but banned details of the Palestinian's arrest, which his relatives said was carried out as an abduction last month in Ukraine.

  • Sunday March 20, 2011 12:33 PM (EST+7)
    Gaddafi wins little Arab sympathy as West strikes
    Many Arabs welcomed Western military action in Libya on Saturday as a sign the world would not tolerate oppression, but their support was tinged with concern at another foreign intervention in the Arab world.

  • Sunday March 20, 2011 12:27 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli gunfire kills two Palestinians in Gaza Strip
    Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire on Saturday near Gaza's border with Israel, medical officials said on Sunday after their bodies were recovered.

  • Sunday March 20, 2011 9:21 AM (EST+7)
    Armed men attack Reuters Gaza bureau
    Several armed men entered Reuters' office in Gaza on Saturday, threatened employees with guns and took away a video camera, apparently after they spotted a reporter filming a demonstration from the building.

  • Saturday March 19, 2011 1:29 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Violence escalates between Israel and Hamas
    Saturday saw a sharp escalation in violence between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

  • Saturday March 19, 2011 12:41 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Despite adversity, American presses on to help Palestinian children
    In this interview, the founder of the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund is candid about his motivations and the challenges he faces.

  • Saturday March 19, 2011 12:00 PM (EST+7)
    UN rights council to consider referring Gaza war crimes probe to world court
    A draft resolution recommending that the United Nations General Assembly ask the International Criminal Court to probe possible war crimes in the Gaza Strip will be considered on Monday, reports the Associated Press.

  • Saturday March 19, 2011 11:16 AM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Veteran reporter Helen Thomas 'goes for broke'
    In her first in-depth interview after being fired for making comments on Israel, veteran journalist Helen Thomas rails against Palestinian suffering and Israeli policies.

  • Thursday March 17, 2011 11:55 AM (EST+7)
    Ukraine PM hedges on report Israel seized Palestinian
    Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov voiced alarm on Thursday at Palestinian assertions that Israeli agents kidnapped an engineer from Gaza who was visiting his country last month.

  • Thursday March 17, 2011 9:30 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas says willing to go to Gaza to end split
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday he was ready to go to the Gaza Strip immediately to try to end divisions with the Hamas Islamist movement that controls the territory.

  • Wednesday March 16, 2011 2:33 PM (EST+7)
    Blockade frustrates Gaza students
    The next generation in the Gaza Strip may be less educated, less professional and perhaps more radical because an Israeli blockade has restricted educational and employment opportunities, say UN and other sources.

  • Wednesday March 16, 2011 10:59 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Israeli warplanes bomb Gaza security target, killing two
    Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at a security compound in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Hamas officials said.

  • Wednesday March 16, 2011 9:38 AM (EST+7)
    Uruguay recognizes Palestinian state
    Uruguay said on Tuesday it had recognized a Palestinian state, becoming the latest in a string of Latin American countries to make an endorsement in recent months the United States has called premature.

  • Wednesday March 16, 2011 9:11 AM (EST+7)
    Winesses: Hamas supporters attack crowd in Gaza
    Violence broke out after a rally for Palestinian unity in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday when Hamas supporters beat other participants with clubs, witnesses said, though the Islamist group denied being behind any violence.

  • Tuesday March 15, 2011 4:17 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza unity rally marred by violence
    A youth-led demonstration for political unity in Gaza City descended into violence Tuesday afternoon after Hamas supporters tried to edge out the initial group.

  • Tuesday March 15, 2011 3:11 PM (EST+7)
    Grassroots leader freed from Israeli jail
    A Palestinian leader of protests against Israel's West Bank Wall was released from jail on Monday after spending 15 months in prison, reports AFP.

  • Tuesday March 15, 2011 1:48 PM (EST+7)
    Several thousand call for unity from Ramallah
    Several thousand people rallied in Ramallah Tuesday, calling for an end to political division and the Israeli occupation.

  • Tuesday March 15, 2011 1:15 PM (EST+7)
    Israel intercepts suspected weapons ship
    Israeli naval commandos on Tuesday boarded a Liberian-flagged merchant ship in the Mediterranean suspected of smuggling weapons to the Gaza Strip,the military said.

  • Tuesday March 15, 2011 1:50 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Palestinian youth activists face many hurdles
    As Palestinian activists gear up for demonstrations called for March 15, the hurdles they face are becoming more visible.

  • Monday March 14, 2011 4:02 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians launch unity rally in Gaza
    Some 500 Palestinians, answering a rallying call on Facebook, demonstrated on Monday in Gaza's main square for reconciliation between Hamas Islamists who run the Gaza Strip and President Mahmoud Abbas's rival Fateh group.

  • Monday March 14, 2011 9:55 AM (EST+7)
    Settlement killings inhuman, Abbas tells Israel
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday condemned the killing of five members of a Jewish settler family and told Israel he was determined to help catch those responsible.

  • Sunday March 13, 2011 6:02 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians honor highjack leader, defying Israel
    Palestinians from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fateh faction named a town square on Sunday after the leader of a 1978 bus hijacking in which 35 Israelis were killed.

  • Sunday March 13, 2011 5:37 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli settlers rampage through Palestinian villages
    On Saturday morning, when word spread that an Israeli couple and three of their children had been killed in the night in the settlement of Itamar, Palestinians braced for retaliation.

  • Sunday March 13, 2011 9:13 AM (EST+7)
    Israel approves 500 new settlement homes
    A ministerial committee on settlements approved the construction of 500 new homes in the occupied West Bank Saturday night after the killing of five Israelis in the settlement of Itamar.

  • Sunday March 13, 2011 8:53 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Jewish couple and three children killed in W.Bank
    A Palestinian infiltrator killed five Israelis in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank early on Saturday, an Israeli military spokeswoman said.

  • Saturday March 12, 2011 9:51 AM (EST+7)
    Exorcism, charlatans flourish in impoverished Gaza
    There are a lot of demons to chase in this poverty-riddled Palestinian enclave, say a growing number of Koranic exorcists who have set up shop in Gaza, offering to end the torments of their sometimes highly disturbed patients.

  • Thursday March 10, 2011 8:05 PM (EST+7)
    Rival factions snub Hamas unity offer
    Hamas has presented what it described as a new Palestinian unity initiative, a move widely seen as an attempt to preempt any public pressure for change in the territory it runs while revolt flares in the Arab world.

  • Thursday March 10, 2011 7:54 PM (EST+7)
    Ukraine police search for missing Palestinian
    Ukrainian police said on Thursday they were investigating the disappearance of a Palestinian engineer who, his family says, was abducted on a train in Ukraine and spirited away to Israel where he is in jail.

  • Thursday March 10, 2011 9:55 AM (EST+7)
    PM: Denmark upgrades Palestinian diplomatic status
    Denmark will upgrade the status of the Palestinian delegation in Copenhagen, the country's prime minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said in a press conference Wednesday, according to the AFP.

  • Thursday March 10, 2011 9:27 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians claim first match on home soil despite loss
    Palestine celebrated their first official match on home soil on Wednesday during a bittersweet evening when their Under-21 side lost an Olympic Games qualifier to Thailand 6-5 on penalties.

  • Wednesday March 9, 2011 2:08 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli historian hoping for revolt in Jordan
    The "best revolution" that Tom Segev can imagine would bring down the Jordanian monarch.

  • Wednesday March 9, 2011 11:01 AM (EST+7)
    Shaath: 'We want Hamas removed from terrorism lists'
    The Palestinian Authority has discussed with European diplomats the possibility of removing Hamas from international terrorism lists, negotiator Nabil Shaath told reporters in Cairo, according to the Jerusalem Post.

  • Wednesday March 9, 2011 10:27 AM (EST+7)
    BLOG: US hikers on trial in Iran have Palestinian connection
    In February, two American hikers picked up in 2009 by Iranian security forces in the mountains along the Iraq-Iran border went on trial for espionage.

  • Wednesday March 9, 2011 8:56 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians dismiss talk of interim peace plan
    Palestinians on Tuesday dismissed any attempt by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take interim steps towards peace now that US-sponsored statehood negotiations are frozen.

  • Tuesday March 8, 2011 2:04 PM (EST+7)
    ‘March 15’ youth hope to end Palestinian schism
    Palestinian young people are organizing demonstrations on March 15 to pressure their political factions to end years of infighting.

  • Tuesday March 8, 2011 9:48 AM (EST+7)
    Britain raises status of Palestinian London office
    Britain said on Monday it was raising the status of the Palestinian Authority's London office, though the move fell short of diplomatic recognition.

  • Tuesday March 8, 2011 9:42 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas makes first contact with new Egyptian leaders
    Gaza's Hamas rulers on Monday contacted Egypt's new leadership for the first time since a popular revolt toppled Hosni Mubarak from power last month, a statement from the Islamist group said.

  • Tuesday March 8, 2011 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Source: Netanyahu formulating 'steps on the ground'
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is formulating a plan to break a diplomatic deadlock by offering Palestinians some limited "steps on the ground" in the absence of direct peace talks, an Israeli official said.

  • Monday March 7, 2011 3:29 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: An Arab-Israeli woman fighting on all fronts
    Israeli-Arab lawmaker Hanin Zoabi says she doesn't care if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is resolved through a two-state solution or the creation of one state.

  • Monday March 7, 2011 2:31 PM (EST+7)
    Israel reaches out to Palestinians over Gaza gas
    Israeli officials have asked Palestinians to reopen negotiations over untapped natural gas fields off the Gaza coast, reports the Israeli publication Globes.

  • Monday March 7, 2011 10:46 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza food supply tight as Karni crossing closed
    The complete closure of Karni crossing on the Israel-Gaza border announced on March 2 will make the delivery of food aid to Gaza more difficult, according to UN agencies assisting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip where over half the population is estimated to be food insecure.

  • Monday March 7, 2011 9:27 AM (EST+7)
    Israel plans work at Jerusalem holy site
    Israel has given preliminary approval for renovations at a contested holy site in East Jerusalem where rebuilding has triggered violence in the past, a city official said on Sunday.

  • Sunday March 6, 2011 1:24 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: Young Palestinians agitate for change
    Palestinian young people are inspired by the revolutions sweeping the Arab world, reports journalist Sandy Tolan.

  • Sunday March 6, 2011 1:20 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli warplanes raid Gaza City
    Israeli warplanes carried out four raids in the Gaza Strip late Saturday, reported eyewitnesses to the AFP.

  • Sunday March 6, 2011 11:27 AM (EST+7)
    University of Vermont asked to divest for Palestinians
    The University of Vermont in the United States has been asked to review a proposal to divest from companies that benefit from Israel's occupation.

  • Saturday March 5, 2011 3:00 PM (EST+7)
    Christian Zionists linked to Bedouin village demolitions
    The Negev village of Arakib has been demolished 18 times to make way for a reforestation project being funded by Christian Zionists, reports the Guardian.

  • Saturday March 5, 2011 2:23 PM (EST+7)
    Israel says joint manufacturing with Egypt on track
    Egyptian factories that use products from Israel under a US-sponsored trade deal have resumed work, overcoming disruptions caused by the power struggle in Cairo, an Israeli official said on Saturday.

  • Saturday March 5, 2011 1:15 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Gaza engineer kidnapped in Ukraine, held in Israel
    The chief engineer of Gaza's only power plant has been kidnapped by the Mossad and is being held secretly in Israel, reports blogger Richard Silverstein.

  • Saturday March 5, 2011 1:10 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas arrests head of al-Qaeda-linked group in Gaza
    Hamas forces arrested a top commander of an al-Qaeda-linked group in Gaza this week, sources close to the enclave's Islamist rulers said on Friday.

  • Saturday March 5, 2011 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    Fateh seeks to oust Fayyad
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' dominant Fateh political faction has demanded that he sack Western-backed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, according to a letter shown to Reuters on Thursday.

  • Thursday March 3, 2011 6:35 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: A response to Tom Friedman's Israel theory
    New York Times commentator Thomas Friedman, after visiting Egypt, has come up with one more reason for the country's revolt against its leadership: Israel.

  • Thursday March 3, 2011 12:35 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli diplomat says he can no longer defend policies
    A veteran Israeli diplomat has resigned his post, saying he can no longer defend Israeli positions towards the Palestinians.

  • Thursday March 3, 2011 12:25 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza banks close in protest at Hamas cash seizure
    Banks in the Gaza Strip closed on Thursday in protest against Hamas's seizure of $250,000 in cash in a dispute between the Islamist movement that runs the enclave and its West Bank rival, the Palestinian Authority.

  • Wednesday March 2, 2011 3:17 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli military demolishes W. Bank wells
    Israeli bulldozers demolished three wells in the southern West Bank on Wednesday, reports the AFP.

  • Wednesday March 2, 2011 10:07 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians reject Israel lean to temporary solution
    Israel is considering pursuing an interim peace agreement with the Palestinians, a senior official said on Tuesday, signaling the government might abandon efforts to secure a single, comprehensive accord.

  • Tuesday March 1, 2011 3:18 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians walk out of UN human rights council in protest
    Angered by comments made by the US secretary of state, the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations Human Rights Council walked out in protest during Monday's meeting in Geneva.

  • Tuesday March 1, 2011 1:29 PM (EST+7)
    Settlers rampage in W. Bank after outpost dismantled
    Israeli settlers damaged houses and cars in two Palestinian villages on Tuesday, witnesses said, in an apparent show of anger over Israel's demolition of homes in an unauthorized settler outpost.

  • Monday Feb. 28, 2011 6:05 PM (EST+7)
    Barak says Israel open to serious peace efforts with Syria
    Israel would be ready to talk peace with Syria if Damascus were serious about doing so, according to Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a sharp contrast from from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's previous attitude towards peacemaking while the Middle East is in turmoil.

  • Monday Feb. 28, 2011 5:38 PM (EST+7)
    Clashes at settlement leave 15 injured
    Fifteen people were injured and eight got arrested during clashes on Monday between security forces and settlers in the West Bank settlement of Havat Gilad.

  • Monday Feb. 28, 2011 2:41 PM (EST+7)
    Fateh denounces Fayyad unity government proposal
    Palestinian faction Fateh has denounced a proposal fielded by Salam Fayyad that the new Palestinian cabinet include Hamas, reports Gulf News.

  • Monday Feb. 28, 2011 12:43 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas quashes small pro-unity rally in Gaza
    A Hamas security man surveyed the scene on Monday -- 10 activists drawn by a Facebook page invitation to a Gaza rally for Palestinian unity.

  • Monday Feb. 28, 2011 10:47 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Concerns over rising violence in West Bank
    Violence between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the West Bank appears to be worsening, say UN agencies, NGOs, and the Israeli and Palestinian communities living there.

  • Monday Feb. 28, 2011 9:26 AM (EST+7)
    Medics: Blast kills Gaza activist, two wounded
    An explosion killed a Palestinian militant and wounded two others in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, medics and militants said.

  • Sunday Feb. 27, 2011 9:24 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli probe finds Shehadeh killing legitimate, civilian deaths justified
    A report submitted to Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu Sunday concluded that the IDF soldiers responsible for killing senior Hamas figure Salah Shehadeh in Gaza along with 13 civilians in 2002 should not be prosecuted with criminal charges.

  • Sunday Feb. 27, 2011 2:45 PM (EST+7)
    Official: Israel seeks to expel hundreds of Jerusalem-area Bedouin
    Some 600 Bedouin living in the south-eastern suburbs of Jerusalem have been given eviction notices by the Israeli military, a Palestinian official said Sunday.

  • Sunday Feb. 27, 2011 1:59 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Mideast envoy calls Libya's Gaddafi
    Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair called Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Friday twice, first asking him to stop using violence against protesters and then asking him to step down, reports the Independent.

  • Saturday Feb. 26, 2011 3:16 PM (EST+7)
    Medics: Two wounded in Israeli bombing raid on Gaza
    Israeli warplanes bombed at least four targets in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, wounding a seven-month-old girl and one Palestinian man, medics in the coastal territory said.

  • Saturday Feb. 26, 2011 12:02 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza's Islamist rulers hounding secular community
    Secular life in Gaza is largely restricted to homes after four years of Hamas rule, reports the Associated Press.

  • Saturday Feb. 26, 2011 10:07 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli and Palestinian forces break up Hebron demonstration
    A 600-strong protest in the city of Hebron was suppressed Friday by Israeli army and police forces and then dispersed by Palestinian Authority police.

  • Friday Feb. 25, 2011 1:13 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Egyptian intelligence official to visit Ramallah Monday
    Egypt's deputy head of intelligence is expected to visit the West Bank for meetings on Palestinian reconciliation, reported an Egyptian website Saturday.

  • Thursday Feb. 24, 2011 9:24 AM (EST+7)
    Airstrikes in Gaza after rocket strikes Israeli city
    A rocket launched from the Gaza Strip landed in a residential street in the Israeli city of Beersheba on Wednesday and Israel responded with air strikes in the Gaza Strip, officials on both sides said.

  • Wednesday Feb. 23, 2011 8:07 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu allows 300 Palestinians to return from Libya
    Israel will allow 300 Palestinians in Libya to enter the Palestinian territories in the coming days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Feb. 23, 2011 6:08 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS-Hamas growing stronger, without firing a shot
    The unrest that has transformed the Arab world outside the tiny coastal enclave has boosted the standing of the Islamist group within Gaza and strengthened its position against the rival Palestinian Authority, which holds sway in the West Bank.

  • Wednesday Feb. 23, 2011 5:43 PM (EST+7)
    Obama likely to pick Shapiro as Israel ambassador
    President Barack Obama is expected to nominate Dan Shapiro, a top adviser who has helped craft the US response to popular unrest sweeping the Middle East, to be Washington's ambassador to Israel, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Feb. 23, 2011 4:43 PM (EST+7)
    Records reveal four were arrested in stabbing of Arab youth

    RAMALLAH, Feb 23 (JMCC) - Police have confirmed that four Jewish boys were arrested earlier this month for alledgedly attacking and killing a 24-year old Arab boy in Jerusalem. After a gag order on the case was lifted, it was revealed two of the Jewish boys were from illegal settlements in the West Bank, the other two were Jerusalemites, and all were intoxicated when the violence occured.


  • Wednesday Feb. 23, 2011 2:12 PM (EST+7)
    PLO takes position on Libya unrest
    Palestinians support Libyans in their search "for freedom, democracy and an end to tyranny," PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi said Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Feb. 23, 2011 1:05 PM (EST+7)
    Gazans injured by Israeli tank shells
    As many as eleven Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces fired two tank shells at armed Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip Wednesday, medical sources reported.

  • Wednesday Feb. 23, 2011 10:45 AM (EST+7)
    WATCH: Journalist tries to arrest Israeli foreign minister
    When journalist David Cronin tried to carry out a citizen's arrest of Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman in Brussels Tuesday, he did so thinking of his experiences on a trip to the occupied Palestinian territories.

  • Wednesday Feb. 23, 2011 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian house inside cage in Jewish settlement
    A Palestinian house in the village of Beit Ijza has over the years been surrounded by an Israeli settlement. Now the family that lives there is even fenced off from both the settlement and the nearby Palestinian village, reports the Associated Press.

  • Tuesday Feb. 22, 2011 9:05 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: End the soft bigotry
    The 25 January and Jasmine revolutions are sparking resistance to worn autocrats across the Arab world, and Issander El Amrani see a type of "soft bigotry" suddenly ablaze too.

  • Tuesday Feb. 22, 2011 4:51 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt opens border for travellers from Gaza Strip
    Egypt on Tuesday reopened its border with the Gaza Strip for limited Palestinian passage in both directions for the first time in almost a month, said the Islamist Hamas movement, which controls the territory.

  • Tuesday Feb. 22, 2011 2:10 PM (EST+7)
    Weaker NGO bill becomes Israeli law
    Israel's parliament passed a law Monday requiring non-governmental organizations to submit quarterly reports on funding and disclose foreign donors in publications and online materials.

  • Tuesday Feb. 22, 2011 1:21 PM (EST+7)
    After Gaza trip, US journalist has notes, camera searched on trips home
    After visiting the Gaza Strip in 2008, US journalist Brandon Jourdan has found that trips back into the United States are now a burden. Repeatedly, he has been taken aside and had his notes and photographs searched and copied by officials when entering the United States.

  • Tuesday Feb. 22, 2011 1:13 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt reopens border to travelers from Gaza Strip
    Egypt on Tuesday reopened its border with the Gaza Strip for limited Palestinian passage in both directions for the first time in almost a month, said the Islamist Hamas movement, which controls the territory.

  • Tuesday Feb. 22, 2011 1:02 PM (EST+7)
    Jordan's monarch torn between East Bank establishment and reforms
    Jordan's King Abdullah faces unprecedented calls by a mix of Islamists, liberals and traditional supporters for moves towards a constitutional monarchy, Jordanian politicians said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Feb. 22, 2011 10:50 AM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Palestinian officials must learn the lessons, says analyst
    Palestinian officials are in danger of doing "too little, too late," says Palestinian analyst Saleh Abdel Jawad, even as they struggle to respond to the series of crises that are sweeping the Arab world.

  • Tuesday Feb. 22, 2011 8:55 AM (EST+7)
    Saudi slams US veto in rare criticism of Washington
    Saudi Arabia voiced regret on Monday over a US veto of a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements on occupied land, in a rare criticism of Washington by its close Arab ally.

  • Monday Feb. 21, 2011 6:12 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli embassy in Oslo asked to relocate
    The Israeli Embassy in Oslo, Norway was officially notified that it must move to another location within a year according to Israeli media, signaling a deteriorating relationship between the two countries.


  • Monday Feb. 21, 2011 5:22 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian version of Alice in Wonderland plays in Jenin
    A Palestinian version of Alice in Wonderland called 'Break the Wall" is performing in the West Bank city of Jenin.

  • Monday Feb. 21, 2011 12:46 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians protest US veto
    Several hundred Palestinians, many of them Fateh loyalists and government workers, demonstrated in Ramallah Sunday to voice objection to United States policies, reports the Washington Post.

  • Monday Feb. 21, 2011 11:01 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Hawks winning in Israeli debate over Iran strike
    The struggle over the appointment of Israel's new chief of staff is really about whether or not Israel should attack Iran, writes Conn N. Hallinan for the blog Dispatches from the Edge.

  • Monday Feb. 21, 2011 10:26 AM (EST+7)
    Spokesman: Fateh wants reconciliation with Hamas
    The Palestinian faction Fateh seeks to reconcile with its rival Hamas, said a spokesperson for the group Sunday.

  • Sunday Feb. 20, 2011 9:34 PM (EST+7)
    Clinton: Israeli settlements "illegitimate"
    In an interview that aired on ABC News, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton stated that the US continues to hold the position that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are "illegitimate".

  • Sunday Feb. 20, 2011 6:41 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian soccer team to play historic game
    The Palestinian national football team will play an international qualifier game in the West Bank for the first time, Palestinian officials said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Feb. 20, 2011 4:51 PM (EST+7)
    Fayyad makes an offer to Hamas to join unity cabinet

    A proposal by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad seeks Hamas involvement in the upcoming elections without interrupting its control over the Gaza Strip.


  • Sunday Feb. 20, 2011 12:23 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: US visa delayed, boycott book author slams Washington's policies
    The author of a book on the movement to boycott Israel will be forced to cancel an April speaking tour in the United States due to visa delays, said his publisher Friday, charging that US officials are targeting him for his views.

  • Sunday Feb. 20, 2011 10:30 AM (EST+7)
    Government committee to consider applying Israeli law to settlements
    An Israeli government committee will meet Sunday to consider legislation placing Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank under Israel law.

  • Sunday Feb. 20, 2011 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis protest settlement veto in front of US embassy
    Dozens of Israelis protested Saturday evening in front of the United States embassy in Tel Aviv, holding placards calling for the end of Israel's occupation.

  • Saturday Feb. 19, 2011 7:42 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas: Palestinians will not spurn US despite veto
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he would continue to cooperate with the United States despite Washington's veto of a U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlements on occupied land.

  • Saturday Feb. 19, 2011 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians say US veto does not support peace
    Palestinians said on Friday the US veto of an Arab-sponsored UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement building on occupied land harmed the cause of peace by letting Israel escape its obligations.

  • Friday Feb. 18, 2011 10:07 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians rebuff Obama over UN resolution
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday turned down Washington's request to withdraw a UN Security Council resolution demanding Israel halt settlement expansion on occupied Palestinian land.

  • Friday Feb. 18, 2011 9:47 PM (EST+7)
    Despite promised US veto, PA to seek UNSC settlement condemnation
    The Palestinian Authority will press ahead with it's settlement condemnation at the United Nations Security Council - despite US President Barak Obama stating he would veto any such resolution.

  • Friday Feb. 18, 2011 6:36 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt decides to open Gaza crossing partially
    Egyptian authorities decided on Friday to open the Rafah border crossing into the Gaza Strip for humanitarian cases and to allow Palestinians stuck in Egypt to return to the enclave, state television reported.

  • Friday Feb. 18, 2011 5:31 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Palestinian writers shun McEwan over Israeli honor
    Having shrugged off calls to refuse an Israeli literary honor, Ian McEwan has found himself boycotted by Palestinian writers with whom he had sought to help foster peaceful dialogue.

  • Friday Feb. 18, 2011 5:26 PM (EST+7)
    Brotherhood says won't impose view on Israel treaty
    The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's best-organized political force, said on Friday any decision on the country's peace treaty with Israel was up to the Egyptian people and it would not impose its view on them.

  • Friday Feb. 18, 2011 4:23 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Change in Egypt to ratchet pressure on Israel
    Egypt's revolution and upheavals across the region herald a shift in the balance of power between Israel and its neighbors, as Arabs push out autocrats who often put U.S. and European ties before their people's demands

  • Friday Feb. 18, 2011 1:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israel education minister pushes Hebron school visits
    Israel's education minister is proposing sending Israeli children on school trips to the flashpoint Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank town of Hebron, he said Wednesday.

  • Friday Feb. 18, 2011 10:05 AM (EST+7)
    OPINION: After Egypt uprising, Israel can't afford to ignore nonviolent Palestinian protesters
    The popular uprising in Egypt ended a thirty years long Presidency in eighteen days, and with relatively few casualties. It sets a new, unprecedented, benchmark of success for non-violent movements in Israel and the Palestinian territories

  • Thursday Feb. 17, 2011 4:52 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrate to end factional divisions
    Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in the West Bank town of Ramallah Thursday, calling for an end to internal political divisions.

  • Thursday Feb. 17, 2011 1:57 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas casts doubt on Palestinian elections
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that an election promised by September would not be held if Hamas refused to allow voting in the Gaza Strip.

  • Thursday Feb. 17, 2011 11:00 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu: Israel must prepare for worst in Egypt
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that while he hoped Egypt's efforts to achieve democracy succeeded, he had to "prepare for the worst" as well.

  • Thursday Feb. 17, 2011 10:34 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian medics: Israeli troops kill three in Gaza
    Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Palestinian men in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, said Palestinian medics who recovered the bodies near a border zone.

  • Thursday Feb. 17, 2011 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    US seeks compromise on UN settlement resolution
    The United States on Tuesday said it would not oppose a United Nations Security Council statement rejecting the "legitimacy" of Israeli settlements, in a bid to avoid vetoing a stronger resolution calling settlements "illegal".

  • Wednesday Feb. 16, 2011 8:32 PM (EST+7)
    Israel warns, oil price rises as Iranian ships pass through Suez
    Israel said on Wednesday it had alerted "friendly nations" in the Middle East about 2 Iranian warships planning to pass through Egypt's Suez Canal for Syria.

  • Wednesday Feb. 16, 2011 2:26 PM (EST+7)
    Russia criticizes outside interference in Mideast
    Russia criticized calls by outside powers for revolution or for specific types of democracy in the Middle East on Tuesday, saying such calls could be counter-productive.

  • Wednesday Feb. 16, 2011 11:53 AM (EST+7)
    Israel approves more Egyptian troops in Sinai
    Israel has agreed to a second limited deployment of Egyptian troops to secure the demilitarised north Sinai, where suspected sabotage has disrupted gas supply from Egypt, an official said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Feb. 16, 2011 9:57 AM (EST+7)
    Ashton presses Israel to move on peace process
    EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton met with Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman Tuesday. 

  • Tuesday Feb. 15, 2011 9:37 PM (EST+7)
    Apology and compensation for flotilla Turkey's 'red line'
    Turkey will insist on an apology from Israel for its bloody raid on a Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship as a condition for mending ties, regardless of the findings of a UN investigation, a Turkish diplomatic official said.

  • Tuesday Feb. 15, 2011 8:29 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt's uprising through Palestinian eyes
    The Egyptian revolution, far from complete, will bring a tectonic shift to Israel's occupation of Palestine, according Maath Musleh, a Jerusalem-based social media consultant.

  • Tuesday Feb. 15, 2011 5:58 PM (EST+7)
    Israel closes four abroad missions after 'unusual occurrences'
    Israel has closed four of its diplomatic missions temporarily, in what one security source said on Tuesday could be linked to the anniversary of the assassinations of two Lebanese guerrilla masterminds.

  • Tuesday Feb. 15, 2011 4:55 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to build military academies in E Jerusalem
    The Israeli military is planning to build new national security and military academies on Mount Scopus, beyond the Green Line demarcating Israeli and Palestinian control.

  • Tuesday Feb. 15, 2011 1:55 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli activists slam proposed anti-boycott bill
    Israeli activists have slammed a proposed parliamentary bill that would criminalize political activities supporting or encouraging a boycott of Israel.

  • Tuesday Feb. 15, 2011 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    Proposed US budget gives record aid to Israel
    The Obama administration delivered a budget request to Congress Monday that included a record $3.075 billion in military aid to Israel.

  • Tuesday Feb. 15, 2011 9:31 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority settles US lawsuit over 1996 slayings
    The Palestinian Authority has settled a US lawsuit over the shooting deaths of a Jewish American couple in Israel in 1996.

  • Monday Feb. 14, 2011 8:32 PM (EST+7)
    West Bank dips in red for Valentines
    Traces of red could be found in the West Bank streets of Nablus and Ramallah on Valentines Day, where stores were full of red roses, red dolls and red sponge models.

  • Monday Feb. 14, 2011 4:33 PM (EST+7)
    Silwan’s youth tell of fear, dull days under house arrest
    Seventeen Silwan boys have been placed under house arrest by Israeli authorities. JMCC.org talks to them about their confinement. 

  • Monday Feb. 14, 2011 3:40 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian peace negotiation unit disbanded
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has decided to disband the Negotiations Support Unit (NSU) which provided him with technical help during long-running peace talks with Israel, an official said on Monday.

  • Monday Feb. 14, 2011 3:22 PM (EST+7)
    Intra-Palestinian strife hits health care in Gaza
    The main reason for the worsening shortages of essential drugs and medical supplies in the Gaza Strip is that the Palestinian Authority  ministry of health in the West Bank has not delivered enough drugs and medical supplies to Gaza, according to the World Health Organization, international aid organizations and Gaza health ministry officials.

  • Monday Feb. 14, 2011 3:09 PM (EST+7)
    Rights groups establish forum for Palestinian press freedoms
    Seventeen Palestinian human rights and media groups established a forum for the defense of press freedoms Sunday, after what they said was a rise in violations.

  • Monday Feb. 14, 2011 11:09 AM (EST+7)
    Officials: Palestinian Authority cabinet resigns
    The Palestinian cabinet resigned on Monday and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will select new ministers at the request of President Mahmoud Abbas, officials said.

  • Monday Feb. 14, 2011 8:57 AM (EST+7)
    Gaddafi tells Palestinians: revolt against Israel
    Palestinian refugees should capitalize on the wave of popular revolts in the Middle East by massing peacefully on the borders of Israel until it gives in to their demands, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Feb. 13, 2011 8:16 PM (EST+7)
    On US TV, Egypt, Israel officials stress continuity
    Egypt's envoy to the United States said on Sunday his country's peace treaty with Israel would stand because it benefited Egypt, while Israel's defense minister said he did not see any risk to their bilateral relationship.

  • Sunday Feb. 13, 2011 7:22 PM (EST+7)
    Erekat said resignation unrelated to content of leaks
    Saeb Erekat, Palestinian chief negotiator, said Sunday that his resignation was unrelated to the content of the controversial documents leaked by Al-Jazeera news channel.

  • Sunday Feb. 13, 2011 2:26 PM (EST+7)
    Fayyad: Push for statehood in 2011 continues
    Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad renewed his commitment to continue building Palestinian institutions, thereby wooing the international community to support Palestinian statehood in late 2011.

  • Sunday Feb. 13, 2011 2:24 PM (EST+7)
    Israel and Egyptian military leadership make contact
    Israel and Egypt's new military rulers have made initial contact and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday welcomed their pledge to stand by Cairo's peace treaty with the Jewish state.

  • Sunday Feb. 13, 2011 2:04 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian factions question call for elections
    After the surprise announcement Saturday that the Palestinian Authority would hold presidential and parliamentary elections before September, Palestinian politicians scrambled to process the news.

  • Sunday Feb. 13, 2011 10:06 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority calls elections, Hamas rejects
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Saturday for elections before September, but rival Islamist group Hamas quickly rejected the move, underscoring a crippling division among Palestinians.

  • Saturday Feb. 12, 2011 11:12 AM (EST+7)
    Arabs hope change will sweep region after Mubarak
    Arabs celebrated the fall of President Hosni Mubarak on Friday, praising the determination of Egypt's protesters and hoping their demands for change would echo through the Middle East.

  • Saturday Feb. 12, 2011 11:06 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians in the West Bank celebrate Egyptian president's resignation
    Egyptian and Palestinian flags entwined in Manara Square in Ramallah Friday evening where Palestinians celebrated the resignation of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak with confetti and blow horns.

  • Friday Feb. 11, 2011 9:31 PM (EST+7)
    Mubarak slammed US in phone call with Israeli
    Hosni Mubarak had harsh words for the United States and what he described as its misguided quest for democracy in the Middle East in a telephone call with an Israeli lawmaker a day before he quit as Egypt's president.

  • Friday Feb. 11, 2011 7:22 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza celebrates Mubarak exit; Hamas demands change
    Palestinians in Gaza let off fireworks and shot into the air to celebrate the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Friday, and the Islamist group Hamas called on Egypt's new rulers to change his policies.

  • Friday Feb. 11, 2011 7:21 PM (EST+7)
    Israel voices hopes for peace after Mubarak quits
    Israel hopes the resignation on Friday of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will bring no change to its peaceful relations with Cairo, a senior Israeli official said.

  • Friday Feb. 11, 2011 4:44 PM (EST+7)
    Jewish extremists kill Palestinian, wound another
    A 24-year old Palestinian was stabbed to death in the early hours of this morning by a group of Jewish men in West Jerusalem.

  • Friday Feb. 11, 2011 12:00 PM (EST+7)
    Military guards palace as Mubarak refuses to go
    Protesters enraged at President Hosni Mubarak's refusal to quit pledged to march from Tahrir Square to the presidential palace on Friday, raising fears of a confrontation between elite troops and demonstrators.


  • Friday Feb. 11, 2011 11:52 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli advisor's visit to US hints at backstage diplomacy
    Ron Dermer, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior adviser, traveled to Washington this week with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, fueling speculation that even as the situation in Egypt is keeping the Israeli- Palestinian track off the front burner, diplomatic maneuvering is taking place behind the scenes to try and renew negotiations.

  • Thursday Feb. 10, 2011 11:33 PM (EST+7)
    Mubarak says to transfer power, but not quitting
    Hosni Mubarak, struggling to cling on as Egypt's president in the face of unprecedented protests over poverty, corruption and oppression, said on Thursday he would transfer powers to his vice president.

  • Thursday Feb. 10, 2011 8:49 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli marathon to pass through Hebron
    A ten-kilometer run sponsored by the Israeli ministry of sport will be routed through the Palestinian town of Hebron Friday.

  • Thursday Feb. 10, 2011 8:16 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians: UN to meet on settlements next week
    The United Nations Security Council is expected to meet next week to vote on a resolution condemning Israeli settlements, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in Ramallah Thursday.

  • Thursday Feb. 10, 2011 11:58 AM (EST+7)
    Facebook protest planned in Gaza
    A Facebook page is calling on Gazans to demonstrate in support of "change" after prayers on Friday, reports the AFP.

  • Wednesday Feb. 9, 2011 8:13 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's Barak in US for talks amid Egypt crisis
    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak began meetings in Washington on Wednesday as the two allies weighed the impact of Egypt's political crisis on stability in the Middle East.

  • Wednesday Feb. 9, 2011 7:35 PM (EST+7)
    Security Council trip to tackle Palestinian Israeli issue likely
    The United Nations Security Council is considering a trip to the Middle East with the goal of addressing the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

  • Wednesday Feb. 9, 2011 3:27 PM (EST+7)
    Official call for Palestinian elections meets controversy
    The Palestinian Authority cabinet on Tuesday announced that municipal elections will be held in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on July 9. It will be the first vote since 2006 and some Palestinians see the move as little more than an effort to avoid the spread of protests looming in neighboring Egypt.

  • Wednesday Feb. 9, 2011 12:44 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli bulldozers demolish West Bank village for fourth time
    Israeli bulldozers demolished the Nablus-area village of Khirbet Tana for the fourth time Wednesday morning, reported the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa.

  • Wednesday Feb. 9, 2011 11:50 AM (EST+7)
    Egyptian regime change hope for Gaza
    Possible regime change in Egypt, sparked by mass popular protests against President Hosni Mubarak since January 25, could usher in a new leadership not as committed to maintaining the Gaza blockade, observers say.

  • Wednesday Feb. 9, 2011 11:36 AM (EST+7)
    UK foreign secretary warns Israel over 'belligerent' rhetoric
    Britain's foreign secretary William Hague is pressing Israel and the United States to move forward with Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and warned Israel against using "belligerent language."

  • Wednesday Feb. 9, 2011 10:47 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's military spokesman visited UK incognito for fear of protests
    The chief spokesman of Israel's armed forces said on Tuesday he had visited Britain incognito and under guard for fear of being targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters.

  • Wednesday Feb. 9, 2011 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    Russia urges UN council visit Mideast to promote peace
    Russia proposed on Tuesday that the UN Security Council make its first visit to the Middle East in more than three decades to help restart stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

  • Wednesday Feb. 9, 2011 9:32 AM (EST+7)
    11 Palestinians injured in early morning airstrikes
    Eleven Palestinians were injured in early morning airstrikes in the Gaza Strip Wednesday, reports the Palestinian news agency, Wafa.

  • Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011 7:49 PM (EST+7)
    Jordan's tribes criticize queen's role, Palestinian heritage
    Jordanian tribal figures have issued a petition urging King Abdullah to end his Palestinian wife's role in politics, in a new challenge to the monarch grappling with fallout from uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

  • Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011 7:26 PM (EST+7)
    French, US defense leadership calls for preventative Middle East reform
    US and French defense officials met at the Pentagon today and called on Middle Eastern governments to quickly reform in the face of political upheaval in Tunisia and Egypt.

  • Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011 2:30 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians to hold local vote July 9
    The Palestinian Authority cabinet in Ramallah announced Tuesday that local council elections will be held on July 9 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, reports AFP.

  • Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011 12:32 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: How will Egypt protests impact the peace process?
    Two Israeli and two Palestinian commentators weigh in on the question of how events in Egypt will impact the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

  • Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011 12:27 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Peace process on hold
    Until the events in Egypt and the rest of the region come to a resolution, observers are saying that the Palestinian-Israeli peace process will be on indefinite hold.

  • Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011 11:13 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Clashes in desert region Sinai
    Armed men clashed Monday with the Egyptian army on the Egypt side of the Gaza-Egypt border, reports the New York Times.

  • Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011 10:58 AM (EST+7)
    Wikileaks: Israel saw Suleiman as succeeding Mubarak
    Israel has long regarded Omar Suleiman, just appointed Egypt's vice president, as its preferred successor to President Hosni Mubarak, according to a US diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks.


  • Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011 10:43 AM (EST+7)
    Sheikh Jarrah families say 'no' to planned eviction
    Approximately 30 people gathered in front of the Jerusalem municipality Monday, denouncing the recent decision to approve two new Jewish-only settlements in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

  • Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011 10:39 AM (EST+7)
    US activist rejects FBI raid after Palestinian trips
    Four months after the US Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the home of Chicago activist Hatem Abudayyeh, he calls the ongoing probe a "witch hunt."

  • Monday Feb. 7, 2011 8:32 PM (EST+7)
    Israel pushes forward disputed East Jerusalem buildings
    The Jerusalem municipality on Monday pushed ahead with plans to build 13 new apartments for Jews in the eastern part of the city, angering Palestinians who want the land as the capital of a future state.

  • Monday Feb. 7, 2011 3:48 PM (EST+7)
    After Egypt, West rethinks its realpolitik
    Astonished by the uprising in Egypt, Western countries anxious to be on the right side of history have started to reassess ties to army-backed Arab strongmen stubbornly opposed to democracy.

  • Monday Feb. 7, 2011 3:31 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Israeli military shirks protection for Palestinian children
    The Israeli military has routinely put Palestinian children in danger of settler attacks on their way to school in the South Hebron Hills, according to a report released by Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams.

  • Monday Feb. 7, 2011 12:57 PM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem council to approve Sheikh Jarrah settlement housing
    An Israeli housing council is slated to approve new settlement homes in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah Monday.

  • Sunday Feb. 6, 2011 9:22 PM (EST+7)
    Treaty with Israel is ‘rock solid,’ ElBaradei says
    Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program that Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel is “rock solid.”


  • Sunday Feb. 6, 2011 7:05 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli ex-soldier admits leaking secret papers
    A former Israeli soldier pleaded guilty on Sunday to leaking classified military documents to a newspaper which later reported allegations of a policy to assassinate Palestinian militants.

  • Sunday Feb. 6, 2011 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    Human rights groups ask UN chief to implement Goldstone war crimes report
    Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations are asking the United Nations human rights chief to follow up on a UN report alleging war crimes by Israel and Palestinian armed groups.

  • Sunday Feb. 6, 2011 8:55 AM (EST+7)
    Quartet urges Israel, Arabs to heed Egypt risk
    Israel and the Palestinians should recognize the security risk posed by the turmoil in Egypt and urgently speed up peace efforts, the Quartet of Middle East peace brokers said on Saturday.

  • Saturday Feb. 5, 2011 9:24 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas commander back in Gaza after Egypt jailbreak
    A senior Hamas commander returned to the Gaza Strip on Saturday after breaking out of a Cairo jail during the political upheaval in Egypt, sources in the Palestinian Islamist movement said.

  • Saturday Feb. 5, 2011 4:48 PM (EST+7)
    Fateh supporters disrupt pro-Egypt democracy rally
    Tens of Fateh supporters disrupted a pro-Egypt democracy demonstration in Ramallah on Saturday.

  • Saturday Feb. 5, 2011 2:31 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians reject economic package from Israel
    Lead Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has come out in opposition to an economic packaged announced by Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday.

  • Saturday Feb. 5, 2011 12:31 PM (EST+7)
    Clinton warns of 'perfect storm' in Middle East
    The Middle East faces a "perfect storm" of unrest and regional leaders must quickly enact real democratic reforms or risk even greater instability, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday.

  • Saturday Feb. 5, 2011 12:28 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Egypt gas pipeline attacked, Israel and Jordan flow hit

    Saboteurs blew up a pipeline that runs through Egypt's North Sinai, state television said, disrupting flows to Israel, after Islamist groups called on militants to exploit the unrest that has rocked the government.


  • Saturday Feb. 5, 2011 9:39 AM (EST+7)
    Israel offers Palestinians outline of economic package
    Israel announced on Friday a series of economic and other steps intended to support Palestinians, it said.

  • Friday Feb. 4, 2011 7:33 PM (EST+7)
    Israel, Palestinians float Gaza gas rapprochement
    Israel and the Palestinians are eyeing talks to develop a gas field off the Gaza coast and other initiatives for an independent Palestinian infrastructure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday.

  • Friday Feb. 4, 2011 3:51 PM (EST+7)
    PA to seek less foreign aid in 2011
    The Palestinian Authority will ask for substantially less foreign aid from a donor conference this year than in the past and hopes to wean itself off budget assistance by 2013, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Friday.

  • Friday Feb. 4, 2011 3:40 PM (EST+7)
    Gazans feed hungry Egyptian troops
    Egyptian soldiers isolated on the Gaza border by 10 days of internal upheaval are getting bread, canned goods and other food supplies from the enclave, which is usually on the receiving end of food aid.

  • Friday Feb. 4, 2011 2:55 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu, PLO look to the West
    Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Dr. Hanan Ashrawi have called on Western governments for help during Egypt's massive protests and failed regional peace negotiations.

  • Friday Feb. 4, 2011 12:35 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas Islamists permit anti-Mubarak rally in Gaza
    Hundreds of Palestinians waving Egyptian flags demonstrated in Gaza on Thursday in favour of the rallies against President Hosni Mubarak, in the first display of public support permitted by the enclave's Islamist ruler, Hamas.

  • Friday Feb. 4, 2011 9:12 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian fund conference set for June
     Donor countries will hold a meeting in Paris in June on further funds for the Palestinian Authority (PA) after a first aid push of the kind in 2007, according to a statement issued after talks in the French capital on Thursday.


  • Thursday Feb. 3, 2011 9:16 PM (EST+7)
    Fayyad said Palestinian conflict sparking protests
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad partly attributed the regional unrest to the failure to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a press conference in Paris Thursday.

  • Thursday Feb. 3, 2011 3:43 PM (EST+7)
    EYEWITNESS: Brutal scenes unfold in Cairo
    Thousands of people armed with machetes, sticks, knives and Molotov cocktails encircled Cairo’s Tahrir square Wednesday and clashed with anti-government protesters calling for the deposition of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. 

  • Thursday Feb. 3, 2011 1:12 PM (EST+7)
    Amid regional unrest, Palestinians plan for elections
    As thousands of Egyptian protesters continue to pour into the streets of Cairo, the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah has announced that it will hold local elections “as soon as possible” in the West Bank and Gaza in what appears to be an effort to curb potential Palestinian unrest.

  • Thursday Feb. 3, 2011 1:08 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Palestinians expect a boost from new Egypt
    Palestinians are likely to benefit from a change of regime in Egypt, irrespective of whether they are in the camp of those seeking peace with Israel or those who advocate conflict, analysts say.

  • Thursday Feb. 3, 2011 9:24 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt solidarity protest violently dispersed
    More than a hundred protesters gathered in Manara Square in central Ramallah Wednesday night to display their support for the ongoing anti-government protests in Egypt before being dispersed by police less than half an hour later.

  • Wednesday Feb. 2, 2011 7:48 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas rejects upcoming elections
    Hamas rejected plans by the Palestinian Authority to hold municipal elections in the West Bank and Gaza, according to a statement made on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Feb. 2, 2011 7:04 PM (EST+7)
    Israel trips popular among Republican candidates
    Several high-profile hopeful Republican presidential candidates have been making very open trips to Israel in advance of launching their campaigns as they look to legtimize their credentials on foreign policy.

  • Wednesday Feb. 2, 2011 6:08 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Mideast turmoil leaves experts, markets struggling
    The Middle East is headed into the unknown, on that everyone agrees -- but the speed of events in Egypt and elsewhere has left analysts and financial markets struggling to find their bearings.

  • Wednesday Feb. 2, 2011 12:55 PM (EST+7)
    EYEWITNESS: Demonstrators put Egypt on display in riotous color
    JMCC.org's correspondent reports from the streets of Cairo on Tuesday's protests, the largest anti-government demonstrations yet to sweep the nation. 

  • Wednesday Feb. 2, 2011 10:57 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Jordan king appoints new PM, government quits
    King Abdullah of Jordan, a close US ally, replaced his prime minister on Tuesday following protests inspired by mass demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, but the Islamist opposition dismissed the move as insufficient.

  • Wednesday Feb. 2, 2011 10:25 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian patients seek unhindered access to Jerusalem
    Hospital administrators say a comprehensive protocol is being drafted in order to ensure that Palestinian doctors, hospital staff and patients traveling from the West Bank have unimpeded access to East Jerusalem hospitals.

  • Wednesday Feb. 2, 2011 10:08 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Why Abdullah and Abbas are scrambling
    The changing of the government in Jordan and calls for elections by Palestinians are the latest signs that anti-government protests in Tunisia and Egypt will have a regional impact.

  • Wednesday Feb. 2, 2011 10:08 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Top Israeli brass in disorder during Arab turmoil
    Israel's top military ranks are in unprecedented disorder at a time of upheaval in neighboring Arab states and deadlock over arch-foe Iran's nuclear program.

  • Tuesday Feb. 1, 2011 10:06 AM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: 'Egypt was inspired by Palestinian protests'
    Egyptian blogger Hossam el-Hamalawy describes the forces leading up to the Egyptian revolt.

  • Tuesday Feb. 1, 2011 9:58 AM (EST+7)
    Rights group slams PA for breaking up pro-Egypt rally
    The United States-based group Human Rights Watch has slammed the Palestinian Authority for breaking up a small demonstration planned in support of Egyptians Sunday.

  • Tuesday Feb. 1, 2011 9:27 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians organizing on Facebook
    Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip have created Facebook pages calling for demonstrations against the authorities there, reports the New York Times.

  • Monday Jan. 31, 2011 5:50 PM (EST+7)
    Israel 'respects' Mubarak
    As Western leaders call for Egyptian political reform, Israeli president Simon Peres emphasized Israel's respect for the current Egyptian leader despite his authoritative regime.

  • Monday Jan. 31, 2011 11:03 AM (EST+7)
    Amnesty International calls for end to human rights harassment
    Amnesty International has called on Israel to stop harassing Palestinian human rights campaigners after a popular activist was jailed for nine years on Sunday.

  • Monday Jan. 31, 2011 9:10 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian officials 'unafraid' of outcome of Egypt unrest
    Palestinian officials are monitoring the situation in Egypt but say they are not worried that changes in the country's leadership will impact the Palestinian cause.

  • Monday Jan. 31, 2011 8:50 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt's al-Jazeera ban shows channel's key role
    Egypt's decision on Sunday to close the offices of Al Jazeera illustrates the leading role the Arabic broadcaster has taken in reporting unprecedented popular revolts against Arab rulers.

  • Sunday Jan. 30, 2011 10:29 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt closes Rafah Crossing
    The Rafah border that divides Gaza and Egypt will remained closed for several days until the situation in Egypt improves announced Ghazi Hamad, the Hamas official in charge of the Palestinian side of the border.

  • Sunday Jan. 30, 2011 9:53 PM (EST+7)
    Israel evacuates citizens from Egypt
    The continued unrest in Egypt has generated a sense of nervousness for some of Egypt's strongest allies with countries like the United States and Israel sending aircraft to evacuate their stranded citizens on Sunday.

  • Sunday Jan. 30, 2011 12:47 PM (EST+7)
    Jewish-Arab love more difficult as racism more overt
    Relationships between Palestinian Arabs and Israeli Jews were never easy, defying the nationalist divide that splits Israel from the Palestinians.

  • Sunday Jan. 30, 2011 11:55 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu urges Israeli restraint over Egypt unrest
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel must exercise responsibility and restraint in the face of unrest in Egypt and hoped that stability and peaceful ties with Cairo would last.


  • Sunday Jan. 30, 2011 11:08 AM (EST+7)
    Egyptian tanks move into Sharm el-Sheikh
    The Egyptian military has taken up positions in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, reports al-Jazeera International.

  • Sunday Jan. 30, 2011 9:54 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Israel worried, but sure Mubarak secure
    Israeli officials, speaking off the record after being warned by the government not to comment, are worried that mass protests in Egypt could deeply disrupt Israel's standing in the Arab world.

  • Saturday Jan. 29, 2011 9:03 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt unrest causes fuel shortage in Gaza Strip
    Gaza Strip residents flocked to petrol stations on Saturday after clashes in neighbouring Egypt hampered smugglers ferrying fuel supplies through tunnels that run under the border into the enclave, witnesses said.

  • Saturday Jan. 29, 2011 5:14 PM (EST+7)
    Mourners, Israeli troops clash after West Bank funeral
    Palestinian mourners clashed with Israeli troops who used tear gas and rubber-coated bullets after the funeral of a youth in the West Bank on Saturday, Palestinian witnesses and the army said.

  • Saturday Jan. 29, 2011 4:04 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian leader phones Mubarak
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has phoned his Egyptian counterpart, reports the AFP.

  • Saturday Jan. 29, 2011 2:06 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: The US abandons its own road map
    The release of hundreds of secret documents on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations show how the Obama administration has distanced itself from its own road map to peace, writes Mark Perry in Foreign Policy.

  • Saturday Jan. 29, 2011 12:36 PM (EST+7)
    Israel silent on Egypt protests
    Israeli officials have been ordered not to comment on mass protests calling for the end of Hosni Mubarak's regime that are sweeping Egypt.

  • Saturday Jan. 29, 2011 10:02 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt protests leave West in awkward position
    As protests escalate in Egypt and elsewhere, Western governments are awkwardly trapped between strategic alliances, their own rhetoric on democracy and rights providing political sympathy for those demonstrating.

  • Saturday Jan. 29, 2011 9:26 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Palestinians 'underwhelmed' by Palestine papers
    If the mole who leaked the Palestine papers was expecting Palestinians to go to the streets against the Palestinian leadership, he or she would be disappointed, reports the Economist.

  • Saturday Jan. 29, 2011 9:08 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis call for disarming of settlers after two boys killed
    The Israeli group Peace Now has called for the immediate disarming of Israeli settlers after two Palestinian boys were shot and killed by settlers in two separate incidents this week.

  • Friday Jan. 28, 2011 9:45 PM (EST+7)
    GOP senator favors cutting US aid to Israel
    US Senator Rand Paul endorses slashing U.S. aid to Israel as part of reducing the escalating deficit, drawing criticism from his colleagues who argue the U.S. must continue its unwavering support for its longtime Mideast ally.

  • Friday Jan. 28, 2011 7:13 PM (EST+7)
    Paraguay recognizes Palestinian state
    Paraguay has recognized a "free and independent" Palestinian state within its 1967 borders, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday.

  • Friday Jan. 28, 2011 5:47 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian protests show splits over leaked papers
    Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the West Bank and Gaza on Friday to voice support and opposition to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in rallies that underlined the deep divisions between the two territories.

  • Friday Jan. 28, 2011 4:45 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: No papering over of Israeli, Palestinian divisions
    A flood of secret documents leaked this week suggests the Palestinians and Israelis came tantilising close to a peace deal in 2008, but the chances of narrowing the divide now look beyond reach.

  • Friday Jan. 28, 2011 3:07 PM (EST+7)
    Jewish settlers shoot two Palestinians in West Bank
    Jewish settlers shot two Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank on Friday, critically injuring one of them, the mayor of a Palestinian village and Israeli police said.

  • Thursday Jan. 27, 2011 10:00 PM (EST+7)
    Israel acts out Palestinian independence push
    An Israeli simulation of reactions to the Palestinian push to declare independence concluded on Thursday that it would isolate and divide Israel but that big powers would not rush to recognize a state declared unilaterally.

  • Thursday Jan. 27, 2011 9:10 PM (EST+7)
    From London embassy sit-in, Palestinian students demand new elections
    After breaking into the Palestine Authority's London diplomatic mission, members of the General Union of Palestinian Students called for rapid direct elections, voter enfranchisement to diaspora and occupied Palestinian, and reforming agencies like the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

  • Thursday Jan. 27, 2011 7:40 PM (EST+7)
    No jail for Israeli soldier who shot Palestinian
    An Israeli military court on Thursday issued suspended prison sentences to a soldier and his commanding officer over the 2008 shooting of a blindfolded Palestinian detainee in the occupied West Bank.

  • Thursday Jan. 27, 2011 6:14 PM (EST+7)
    Israel eyes unrest in Egypt and Lebanon
    Israel is sitting uneasily in the eye of a storm as unrest and uncertainty spread around its Arab neighbors.

  • Thursday Jan. 27, 2011 5:35 PM (EST+7)
    PA to release its own Qatari papers
    The Palestinian Authority will release "grave" documents connected to Qatar's diplomacy in the Israeli and Palestinian negotiations, an anonymous source has told the London-based newspaper Asharq Alawsat.

  • Thursday Jan. 27, 2011 4:36 PM (EST+7)
    ‘Palestine papers’ get short shrift from local media
    Palestinian media’s coverage of leaked secret negotiation documents have made some journalists question the meaning of a free press in the occupied West Bank.

  • Thursday Jan. 27, 2011 4:27 PM (EST+7)
    Witnesses: Israeli settlers kill Palestinian in West Bank
    Israeli settlers shot dead a Palestinian in a confrontation in the West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian witnesses said.

  • Thursday Jan. 27, 2011 10:27 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians seek to question three foreign nationals in connection with leak
    Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has told the Associated Press and Haaretz that Palestinians have asked the United States, United Kingdom and France to assist in questioning three foreign nationals over the leak of internal Palestinian documents.

  • Thursday Jan. 27, 2011 10:19 AM (EST+7)
    LIVE: Blogging the 'Palestine Papers'
    Al-Jazeera satellite channel and the Guardian begin a staggered release of papers they obtained detailing secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations over the last ten years. Here we track the leak's impact and Palestinian reactions.

  • Wednesday Jan. 26, 2011 10:14 PM (EST+7)
    As uprisings challenge Mideast leaders, Palestinians say they are different
    What is the impact of the Tunisia revolt on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and what reactions can be expected from Palestinians?

  • Wednesday Jan. 26, 2011 9:48 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas calls for isolation of PA
    Hamas has called on Palestinians across Gaza and the West Bank to protest the conduct of the Palestinian Authority revealed by the Palestine Papers documents leaked by Al-Jazeera.

  • Wednesday Jan. 26, 2011 7:45 PM (EST+7)
    Studio used by Al Jazeera ransacked in West Bank
    Armed men damaged a studio used by Al Jazeera television in the West Bank on Wednesday, witnesses said, linking the attack to the channel's coverage of documents that have embarrassed Palestinian leaders.

  • Wednesday Jan. 26, 2011 6:03 PM (EST+7)
    Erekat says Al-Jazeera leaks endanger his life
    Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestine Papers, the 1,600 leaked documents recently published by Al-Jazeera, endanger his life, according to an interview with the BBC.

  • Wednesday Jan. 26, 2011 1:08 PM (EST+7)
    Negev residents continue protest against village razing
    Over 400 people gathered in front of the Beer Sheva courthouse Sunday afternoon, denouncing the ongoing police violence, land theft and dispossession of the residents of al-Araqib, a Palestinian Bedouin village in the Israeli Negev desert.

  • Wednesday Jan. 26, 2011 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    Details published of Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation
    Al-Jazeera satellite channel and the Guardian newspaper have published details of Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation in what are perhaps the most damaging revelations of a series of internal documents being publicized by the two media agencies.

  • Tuesday Jan. 25, 2011 7:29 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas rallies Fateh demonstrators
    Thousands of Fateh supporters gathered at the Palestinian presidential headquarters in a rally welcoming home Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to the West Bank.

  • Tuesday Jan. 25, 2011 3:18 PM (EST+7)
    Detention without trial for four Palestinian boys
    Four Palestinian boys were arrested in December by Israeli forces near the Qalandia checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. Over five weeks on, the minors remain in detention, but the families still do not know the reason for the arrests.

  • Tuesday Jan. 25, 2011 8:20 AM (EST+7)
    Leaks: Palestinians sought symbolic refugee return
    Palestinian negotiators secretly indicated they were ready to accept the return of a limited number of refugees as part of a peace deal with Israel, reports of documents leaked on Monday said.

  • Tuesday Jan. 25, 2011 8:16 AM (EST+7)
    US scrambles to contain damage from leaks
    The United States scrambled on Monday to contain diplomatic fallout from leaked documents showing Palestinian negotiators offered big concessions to Israel, a disclosure that complicates efforts to revive stalled peace efforts.

  • Monday Jan. 24, 2011 10:27 PM (EST+7)
    Peru recognizes Palestinian state
    Peru said on Monday it had recognized a Palestinian state, joining a growing number of Latin American countries in making an endorsement the United States has called premature.


  • Monday Jan. 24, 2011 10:02 PM (EST+7)
    Largest ever Gaza flotilla planned for the spring
    A giant flotilla of ships to the Gaza Strip is being planned by pro-Palestinian international groups. The ships are set to launch in the spring to coincide with the first anniversary of the Israeli navy raid on the Turkish flotilla the Mavi Marmara last May, which resulted in the death of nine activists.

  • Monday Jan. 24, 2011 1:29 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Could leaked negotiating papers spark a revolt?
    The leaking of hundreds of documents illustrating talks between Palestinians and Israelis over the last ten years poses a political challenge to the Palestinian leadership, analysts agree.

  • Monday Jan. 24, 2011 1:28 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas denies making secret offers to Israel
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denied offering secret concessions to Israel and said on Monday that reporting of purportedly leaked documents had presented Israeli positions as those of his own negotiators.

  • Monday Jan. 24, 2011 8:49 AM (EST+7)
    Officials deny credibility of papers leaked to al-Jazeera
    Palestinian officials have denied the credibility of papers leaked to the television station al-Jazeera.

  • Monday Jan. 24, 2011 8:38 AM (EST+7)
    Leaked transcripts reveal Palestinian concessions
    Al Jazeera television station said on Sunday it had obtained 1,600 documents covering more than a decade of secret peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis overseen by various US diplomats.

  • Sunday Jan. 23, 2011 6:05 PM (EST+7)
    LA Times columnist warns Israeli intolerance on the rise
     From prohibitions against renting homes to "non-Jews" to crackdowns on left-wing activists, some Israeli officials are worried about the increasingly intolerant image it is portraying to the world.

  • Sunday Jan. 23, 2011 5:39 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey "appalled" at Israeli panel on Gaza raid
    Turkey said on Sunday it was "appalled and dismayed" at the findings by an Israeli inquiry that cleared the Israeli government and military of wrongdoing in the raid on a Turkish aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip.

  • Sunday Jan. 23, 2011 2:10 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian group denies bombing Egyptian church
    A Palestinian group denied Egyptian allegations on Sunday that it was behind the New Year's Day bomb attack on a church that killed 23 people.

  • Sunday Jan. 23, 2011 2:03 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Israel sees threat from 'delegitimizers'
    Foreign protests, boycotts, embargoes and sanctions, along with internal resistance, helped bring about the isolation and eventually the end of apartheid in South Africa in the 1990s.

  • Sunday Jan. 23, 2011 8:54 AM (EST+7)
    Arab town challenges Israeli zoning
    As the third largest Palestinian city in Israel prepares to hear the verdict in its appeal to the Israeli state about housing rights and development, residents of Tayibe continue to suffer under urban planning laws they say are discriminatory.

  • Sunday Jan. 23, 2011 8:35 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian charged with insulting Abbas
    A Palestinian journalist with the Hamas-linked al-Quds television is being taken to court for insulting Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

  • Sunday Jan. 23, 2011 8:23 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza explosion kills Palestinian man, wounds two
    An explosion in the Gaza Strip near the border fence with Israel killed one Palestinian man and wounded two on Saturday, Palestinian medics said.


  • Sunday Jan. 23, 2011 8:14 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Lieberman drafts map of Palestinian state
    Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has drafted a map of an interim Palestinian state, promoting the plan as a means of relieving diplomatic pressure on Israel, reports Haaretz.

  • Saturday Jan. 22, 2011 10:43 AM (EST+7)
    Silwan arrests spell political intimidation
    Arrests of children and political activists in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan are one tool that Israeli authorities are using to quell dissent against their policies there. 

  • Saturday Jan. 22, 2011 10:27 AM (EST+7)
    East Jerusalem evictions cause suffering
    Evictions and house demolitions are a growing humanitarian concern for Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, says the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

  • Saturday Jan. 22, 2011 10:01 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis, Palestinians meet over Olympic participation
    Israelis and Palestinians met in Switzerland on Thursday to discuss, among other things, Palestinian participation in the 2012 Olympics, reports UPI.

  • Friday Jan. 21, 2011 9:28 PM (EST+7)
    UN Chief Ban Ki-moon concerned over paralyzed peace talks
    As Palestinians press the UN Security Council to condemn the illegal Israeli settlements, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday said he was "very concerned at the lack of progress towards peace."

  • Friday Jan. 21, 2011 5:59 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian American promotes fair-trade olives
    One Palestinian-American entrepreneur dipped into his savings from his Middle Eastern restaurant in Madison and invested $100,000 to start a company called Canaan Fair Trade to retain the deteriorating livelihood of Palestinian farmers in the West Bank.

  • Friday Jan. 21, 2011 5:16 PM (EST+7)
    Israel turns Palestinian village into luxury housing
    The Israel Land Administration published a public tender two weeks ago to reconstruct the village of Lifta in Jerusalem into a luxury mixed development to include residential housing units, restaurants and galleries.


  • Friday Jan. 21, 2011 11:12 AM (EST+7)
    French FM mobbed by Palestinian protesters in Gaza
    A crowd of angry Palestinians mobbed the car of French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie as she toured the Gaza Strip on Friday, in a protest her spokeswoman said was sparked by a misunderstanding.

  • Thursday Jan. 20, 2011 7:14 PM (EST+7)
    Besieged Lieberman targets Palestinian activity
    As his corruption case advances towards a verdict that could remove him from his position as Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman stated he will publish a report of all Palestinian activity during the current Israeli administration.

  • Thursday Jan. 20, 2011 5:50 PM (EST+7)
    Spin on villager's death reveals Israeli media-military connections
    The latest Israeli government version of the events surrounding the death of Bil'in villager Jawaher Abu Rahmah "contradicts all previous ones," according to Israeli journalist Noam Sheizaf.

  • Thursday Jan. 20, 2011 5:19 PM (EST+7)
    Macy Gray asks fans if she should boycott Israel
    US soul singer Macy Gray has asked her fans on Facebook whether she should cancel planned concerts in Tel Aviv because of the "disgusting" way the Israeli government treats Palestinians.

  • Thursday Jan. 20, 2011 2:50 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian couple's marriage dissolved for apostasy
    A West Bank couple, members of a Muslim sect rejected by the Muslim mainstream, has been forcible divorced by a Palestinian court that has determined they are not Muslims, reports the Associated Press.

  • Thursday Jan. 20, 2011 2:24 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli army discharges soldier for firing on sleeping Palestinian
    Israel's military has discharged from duty one of the soldiers who fired on a sleeping Palestinian during a January Hebron raid, reports the Guardian.

  • Thursday Jan. 20, 2011 2:24 PM (EST+7)
    Army: Soldiers kill Palestinian gunman
    A Palestinian gunman opened fire at Israeli soldiers, who shot back and killed him, near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Thursday, a military spokeswoman said.

  • Thursday Jan. 20, 2011 11:52 AM (EST+7)
    Annual appeal made by UN organizations
    The United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, also known as OCHA, announced on Wednesday that $575 million is the figure needed for projects planned in 2011.

  • Thursday Jan. 20, 2011 9:54 AM (EST+7)
    UN gets draft condemning Israeli settlements
    Arab nations have submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but a vote is not expected any time soon because of a likely US veto, diplomats said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Jan. 19, 2011 3:09 PM (EST+7)
    Livni cancels South Africa trip under war crimes cloud
    Former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni has canceled a trip to South Africa planned for later this week.

  • Wednesday Jan. 19, 2011 2:54 PM (EST+7)
    Israel bulldozes land in East Jerusalem
    Israeli bulldozers destroyed a water network and bulldozed several dunams of land in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Jan. 19, 2011 2:33 PM (EST+7)
    Leaks: US push for Israeli, Palestinian intelligence
    The United States instructed its Middle East diplomats in 2008 to gather data on encrypted Israeli communications and build financial and "biometric" profiles of Palestinian leaders, a leaked embassy cable shows.

  • Wednesday Jan. 19, 2011 9:52 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas government launches Gaza reconstruction project
    Prime minister of the Hamas-led government in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh laid on Tuesday the cornerstone for a project to reconstruct homes destroyed in Israel's war on Gaza two year ago.

  • Tuesday Jan. 18, 2011 6:13 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian killed as Israeli troops raid Gaza
    A Palestinian youth was killed, and two other people injured Tuesday in an Israeli military operation in northern Gaza, a medical officer reported.

  • Tuesday Jan. 18, 2011 5:58 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli women questioned over illegal trips for Palestinians
    A group of Israeli women are helping their Palestinian counterparts cross into Israel  from the occupied West Bank without the requisite permits. The women face strong questioning by the Israeli police for the day trips of leisure.

  • Tuesday Jan. 18, 2011 5:29 PM (EST+7)
    Russia's Medvedev backs independent Palestine
    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev endorsed a Palestinian state on Tuesday, saying Moscow had recognised independence in 1988 and was not changing the position adopted by the former Soviet Union.

  • Tuesday Jan. 18, 2011 2:33 PM (EST+7)
    Russian president in West Bank for talks
    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev drove into the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Tuesday for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on reviving the moribund Middle East peace process.

  • Tuesday Jan. 18, 2011 10:13 AM (EST+7)
    UN warns against forced displacement
    UN agencies and European Union officials in the occupied Palestinian territory are calling for the implementation of international humanitarian law to protect the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem from forced displacement.

  • Tuesday Jan. 18, 2011 8:58 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians: Israeli political shakeup an 'internal affair'
    Palestinians have said that a political shakeup in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition will not effect the course of the flagging peace process.

  • Tuesday Jan. 18, 2011 8:48 AM (EST+7)
    Israel set to continue building on annexed land
    Israel's Jerusalem municipality took another step on Monday towards building 124 new apartments on annexed land around East Jerusalem, a move likely to draw international condemnation.

  • Monday Jan. 17, 2011 6:09 PM (EST+7)
    FACTBOX: Declining fortunes of Israel's Labor Party
    Defense Minister Ehud Barak's departure from the Labor party on Monday fractured the political movement that has governed Israel longer than any other since its creation in 1948.

  • Monday Jan. 17, 2011 6:07 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu says Labor breakup strengthens government
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Defense Minister Ehud Barak's split from the Labor Party has strengthened Israel's governing coalition.

  • Monday Jan. 17, 2011 12:29 PM (EST+7)
    Washington hints at settlement resolution veto
    Washington can be expected this week to veto a draft UN Security Council resolution opposing Israeli settlements.

  • Monday Jan. 17, 2011 9:39 AM (EST+7)
    Barak to leave Labor party for new faction
    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak will break away from the Labor party in a move on Monday that will split the once-dominant center-left movement, but which did not appear likely to topple the governing coalition.

  • Sunday Jan. 16, 2011 7:40 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu warns Tunisia reflects regional instability
    Recent political unrest that unfolded in the North African country of Tunisia reflects instability in the region and further indicates that Israel must be wary in settling any future agreements with the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Benajamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Jan. 16, 2011 5:43 PM (EST+7)
    "Israel's McCarthy": On the rise or on the ropes?
    Some leaders would have fired him months ago for insubordination. But Avigdor Lieberman, denounced by critics as the Jewish Joe McCarthy, just wraps himself tighter in the flag.

  • Sunday Jan. 16, 2011 1:06 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli settlement plan could be approved next week
    A plan to build 1,400 new homes for Jews on Israeli-annexed West Bank land could be approved as early as next week by Israel's Jerusalem municipality, a city council member said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Jan. 16, 2011 9:47 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Livni sought for arrest in South Africa visit
    Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni is being targeted for arrest in a planned visit to South Africa in February, reports a local website.

  • Sunday Jan. 16, 2011 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    Israel punishes prisoners for hunger strike
    Israel has placed two ranking Palestinian prisoners in solitary confinement for leading a hunger strike against deteriorating prison conditions, reports Arab News.

  • Saturday Jan. 15, 2011 12:42 PM (EST+7)
    Ghajar residents reject Israeli withdrawal plan
    Israel’s plan to withdraw its troops from northern Ghajar, a village on the flashpoint border with Lebanon, may prove to be more of a headache than a political panacea.

  • Saturday Jan. 15, 2011 12:24 PM (EST+7)
    'Breaking bones' video victim speaks out
    In February 1988, at the start of the first intifada, then-teenager Wa'al Jawda was beaten brutally on film by four Israeli soldiers.

  • Saturday Jan. 15, 2011 12:09 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: King's words live on in Palestinian village
    Around the world, Palestinians study and practice Martin Luther King's doctrine of non-violence, Dorothy Zellner writes in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

  • Friday Jan. 14, 2011 9:08 PM (EST+7)
    Lebanon's PM returns; opposition refutes him
    Following the collapse of the Lebanese unity government after Hezbollah members left parliament, President Saad Hariri returned from a diplomatic circuit to stalwart opposition denying him a future in any reformed government.

  • Friday Jan. 14, 2011 6:51 PM (EST+7)
    Russian PM Medvedev to visit West Bank, Jordan
    Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sets off on a rare trip to the West Bank and Jordan next week in a bid to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after their collapse at the end of last year.

  • Friday Jan. 14, 2011 3:40 PM (EST+7)
    Middle East impasse might hit funding says Norway
    European nations may consider halting critical aid to Palestinians living on Israeli-occupied land if stalled peace talks fail to get going again, Norway's foreign minister was quoted as saying on Friday.

  • Friday Jan. 14, 2011 2:29 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli army 'to collect settler weapons'
    The Israeli army is to begin removing weapons from Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank sources reported Friday. The move comes after a prolonged period of relative calm in the territory, and over fears that they may be used against Palestinians.

  • Friday Jan. 14, 2011 8:28 AM (EST+7)
    Guyana recognises Palestinian state
    Guyana late on Thursday became the sixth country in South America to recognise the legitimacy of Palestinian statehood.

  • Thursday Jan. 13, 2011 9:14 PM (EST+7)
    Lebanon to start Monday on talks for new government
    Lebanese leaders agreed on Thursday to start talks next week on rebuilding a government after Hezbollah walked out of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri's coalition, testing political faultlines across the Middle East.

  • Thursday Jan. 13, 2011 6:39 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas to enforce truce on Israel/Gaza border
    Following a statement by Gazan Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to halt rocket attacks into Israel, Hamas will deploy troops along its northern and eastern borders to prevent violence between Palestinian groups and Israeli soldiers.

  • Thursday Jan. 13, 2011 5:10 PM (EST+7)
    Turkish PM calls for Israeli FM's resignation
    Turkish Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Edrogan called for the resignation of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in an interview with Al-Jazeera today.

  • Thursday Jan. 13, 2011 2:09 PM (EST+7)
    US: Chile's silence on Palestine's borders helps
    The top US diplomat to Latin America said on Wednesday that Chile helped the Middle East peace process by leaving out a mention of historic borders in its recognition of a Palestinian state.

  • Thursday Jan. 13, 2011 1:58 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza armed groups say to halt rocket firing at Israel
    Leaders of several Palestinian militant groups told Hamas rulers in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday they would cease rocket fire at Israel in an effort to prevent any new Israeli offensive from being launched, officials said.

  • Wednesday Jan. 12, 2011 9:50 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian fails in bid to win control of settlement
    A Palestinian-American businessman's attempt to take control of an Israeli company developing a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem was shot down on Wednesday when bondholders rejected his buyout offer.

  • Wednesday Jan. 12, 2011 7:12 PM (EST+7)
    Israel demolishes Bedouin structures in West Bank
    Israeli forces on Wednesday destroyed 17 structures, near the West Bank city of Hebron, officials report. The structures provided shelter for over 300 Bedouins in the area.


  • Wednesday Jan. 12, 2011 6:42 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS-Lebanon heads for more turmoil after cabinet falls
    The collapse of Lebanon's "unity" cabinet on Wednesday deepened a political crisis and exposed the failure of Syria and Saudi Arabia to bridge local rifts over a tribunal set up to try the killers of statesman Rafik al-Hariri.


  • Wednesday Jan. 12, 2011 5:17 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: Religious extremism comes from inside Israel
    Israel’s foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman last week compared Turkey with Iran before the 1979 Islamic revolution. However, for many, the greater threat to Israel from rising religious fundamentalism comes from within.

  • Wednesday Jan. 12, 2011 3:18 PM (EST+7)
    Sources: Egypt warns Hamas on rockets
    Egypt has told Hamas that Israel might launch a Gaza war to curb rocket attacks, a warning that led the group to urge other militant factions to cease fire, sources familiar with Egypt-Hamas contacts said on Wednesday.

  • Tuesday Jan. 11, 2011 9:27 PM (EST+7)
    One of two men shot by Israel may be Egyptian resident
    Palestinians on Tuesday buried two men killed by Israeli forces on the Gaza border whose unclaimed bodies stirred speculation they might have been foreign migrant workers or al Qaeda supporters.

  • Tuesday Jan. 11, 2011 8:00 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian new town sparks Israeli dispute
    The Palestinian planned building of a new city in the occupied West Bank has sparked a political row in Israel. Right wing politicians and Jewish settler groups are battling against Israeli companies who have chosen to be involved in the project.

  • Tuesday Jan. 11, 2011 5:10 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli missile kills Gaza militant
    A missile fired by an Israeli aircraft killed a Palestinian militant riding a motorcycle in the Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel on Tuesday, the Islamic Jihad group said, identifying him as one of its members.


  • Tuesday Jan. 11, 2011 1:10 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas allows rare look inside its prisons
    Hamas has allowed a Fateh lawmaker to visit prisoners held on criminal and political charges inside its prisons, reports the AFP.

  • Tuesday Jan. 11, 2011 9:11 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian envoy: US not convinced on settlements
    The Palestinian UN envoy said on Monday that his and other UN delegations have yet to persuade Washington to support a Security Council push to condemn Israeli settlement work, but they will keep trying.

  • Monday Jan. 10, 2011 8:41 PM (EST+7)
    Fourth quarter growth of 3.9% expected
     Driven by consumer spending and a rise in private investment, Israel’s economy grew about 3.9 percent in the last quarter, according to the Bank of Israel.

  • Monday Jan. 10, 2011 5:10 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu defends settlement after U.S. criticism
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Jews have a right to live anywhere in Jerusalem, defended on Monday a settlement project that drew criticism from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

  • Monday Jan. 10, 2011 12:48 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians to seek UN recognition in September
    Palestinians plan to seek recognition for a state from the United Nations in September announced the Palestinian foreign minister Monday.

  • Monday Jan. 10, 2011 10:16 AM (EST+7)
    Report: EU officials called to actively intervene in E. Jerusalem
    A letter circulated among 25 EU consuls-general in Jerusalem calls on them to attend and intervene in imminent house demolitions, evictions or court proceedings if non-violent Palestinians are threatened with arrest, reports the Independent.

  • Monday Jan. 10, 2011 9:01 AM (EST+7)
    US criticizes Israel over settlement project
    Israeli bulldozers cleared the way for 20 new homes for Jews in East Jerusalem by demolishing a derelict hotel on Sunday, in a settlement project that angered Palestinians and drew criticism from the United States.

  • Sunday Jan. 9, 2011 8:32 PM (EST+7)
    New bill aimed at preventing foreign activists to enter Israel
    Yariv Levin of the Likud Party introduced a bill to the Knesset Sunday that would give the Interior Ministry the authority to prevent and expel left-wing foreign activists.

  • Sunday Jan. 9, 2011 7:57 PM (EST+7)
    Cabinet approves 5,250 Palestinians to work in Israel
    The Security Cabinet approved a plan to increase the number of Palestinian workers allowed to work in Israel to a total 5,250 workers on Sunday.

  • Sunday Jan. 9, 2011 4:24 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas urges militant groups to stop attacking Israel
    Hamas said on Sunday it has begun talks with other militant factions in the Gaza Strip to urge them to stop firing rockets at Israel, attacks that have raised Palestinian fears of a new Israeli offensive.

  • Sunday Jan. 9, 2011 2:15 PM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem hotel razed in settlement project
    Israeli bulldozers cleared the way on Sunday for 20 new homes for Jews in East Jerusalem, demolishing a derelict hotel in a settlement project that has angered Palestinians and drawn US objections.

  • Sunday Jan. 9, 2011 10:25 AM (EST+7)
    Two years on, Gazans still living the trauma of war
    Two years after the Israeli war on Gaza, thousands of Gaza’s residents who lost loved ones or property continue to struggle with trauma.

  • Saturday Jan. 8, 2011 9:47 PM (EST+7)
    Israel envoy to discuss reviving peace talks in U.S.
    An envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington next week to discuss ways to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a statement from Netanyahu's office said on Saturday.

  • Saturday Jan. 8, 2011 4:17 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza mortar shell wounds two men at Israeli farm
    Two Thai agricultural workers were wounded by a mortar shell fired by militants into an Israeli agricultural community close to the Gaza Strip border on Saturday, an Israeli official said.

  • Saturday Jan. 8, 2011 1:47 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian killed at Nablus checkpoint
    Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian brandishing a pipe bomb at a West Bank check point on Saturday, the army said.

  • Saturday Jan. 8, 2011 9:57 AM (EST+7)
    Chile joins peers in recognizing Palestinian state
    Chile said on Friday it had recognized a Palestinian state, joining an endorsement by Latin American peers the United States has called premature and Israel has warned is harmful to the Middle East peace process.

  • Saturday Jan. 8, 2011 8:38 AM (EST+7)
    Army: Israeli soldier killed near Gaza border
    An Israeli soldier was killed and four others wounded by "friendly fire" during a clash with Palestinian militants close to the Gaza Strip border on Friday, the Israeli army said.

  • Friday Jan. 7, 2011 9:50 PM (EST+7)
    At least four Israeli soldiers wounded in Gaza
    At least four Israeli soldiers were wounded in a clash with Palestinian militants close to the Gaza Strip border on Friday, the Israeli army said.

  • Friday Jan. 7, 2011 5:53 PM (EST+7)
    UN fears Israel will make West Bank "more like Gaza"
    The United Nations is warning aid agencies based in the West Bank of possible increases in Israeli security restrictions to make the region "more like Gaza."

  • Friday Jan. 7, 2011 4:30 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian alternative to direct negotiations successful, for now
    The Palestinian alternative to direct negotiations with Israel will face it's biggest challenge early next week when a draft resolution condemning settlement activity reaches the UN Security Council. With almost all of South America recognizing the state of Palestine - Chile joining yesterday and Paraguay expected soon - and rumors the United Kingdom will up upgrade their Palestinian London delegation to diplomatic mission, Palestine's walk away from the negotiation table to the global stage seems successful.

  • Friday Jan. 7, 2011 11:15 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Hawkish actions from Israel and Hamas may lead to unintended war
    The year 2010 has been called the least violent in a decade in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.  Yet incendiary language and shows of bravado that continue to be put on by armed men on both sides may spark a new war of unintended magnitude.

  • Friday Jan. 7, 2011 10:47 AM (EST+7)
    Israel denies vulture detained by Saudis is a spy
    A vulture is being “detained” in Saudi Arabia on suspicion of being an Israeli spy. Scientists in Israel are calling for the bird’s release.

  • Friday Jan. 7, 2011 8:28 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill Hamas man's neighbour say residents

    Israeli troops killed a 65-year-old Palestinian in his bedroom on Friday during a pre-dawn raid to seize a Hamas suspect who lived in the same building, the dead man's wife and local residents said.


  • Thursday Jan. 6, 2011 9:46 PM (EST+7)
    Fall of Dahlan shows strength of Abbas
    The fall of Fatah's leader in Gaza Mohammed Dahlan is a momentous shift in the political landscape of Palestine.

  • Thursday Jan. 6, 2011 5:40 PM (EST+7)
    EU's Ashton wants Quartet Mideast talks in Feb
    The EU foreign policy chief called on Thursday for the Quartet of Middle East mediators to meet early next month to help Israel and the Palestinians overcome a deadlock in peace talks.

  • Thursday Jan. 6, 2011 4:26 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyah, Mubarak mulling peace talk renewal
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets the Egyptian president in Egypt on Thursday as part of an effort to revive Middle East peace talks.

  • Thursday Jan. 6, 2011 11:59 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill two Palestinians on Gaza border
    Israeli troops killed two Palestinians near the Gaza Strip border, Palestinian medics said on Thursday.


  • Thursday Jan. 6, 2011 9:15 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians seek quick UN action on settlements
    The chief Palestinian UN delegate said on Wednesday that Arab states had launched negotiations on a resolution condemning Israeli West Bank settlement activity and aimed to have a final draft soon.


  • Wednesday Jan. 5, 2011 7:26 PM (EST+7)
    Israel calls alternatives to direct negotiations a "mirage"
    Israel urged the Palestinian leadership on Wednesday to set aside a diplomatic campaign to widen the stalled Middle East peace process and get back instead to direct talks.

  • Wednesday Jan. 5, 2011 5:32 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli Knesset to investigate leftist groups
    Under protest from human rights groups and decried by one MK as a "shame," Israel's Knesset will create a parliamentary panel to investigate left-wing groups who "delegitimize the Israeli Defense Forces soldiers," focusing on their financial supporters.

  • Wednesday Jan. 5, 2011 12:34 PM (EST+7)
    Wikileaks: Israel said would keep Gaza near collapse
    Israel told US officials in 2008 it would keep Gaza's economy "on the brink of collapse" while avoiding a humanitarian crisis, according to US diplomatic cables published by a Norwegian daily on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Jan. 5, 2011 12:05 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Khalidi on one state
    Professor Rashid Khalidi weighs on on the prospects for a one-state solution on the Charlie Rose show.

  • Wednesday Jan. 5, 2011 11:57 AM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem boxing club unites Jews and Arabs
    In a divided city, a Jerusalem boxing club is a haven for both Palestinian and Israeli sports fans.

  • Wednesday Jan. 5, 2011 11:11 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli bulldozers destroy commercial structures
    Israeli bulldozers destroyed several commercial interests in the north-eastern Jerusalem village of Hizma.

  • Tuesday Jan. 4, 2011 8:58 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Palestinian's death highlights alliance with Israeli leftists
    A new alliance is emerging between a small but growing number of Israeli leftists and Palestinians engaging in unarmed mass-protest action.

  • Tuesday Jan. 4, 2011 9:23 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas leader calls President Abbas, gives condolences
    Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh made a rare call to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas Monday to offer condolences for the death of Abbas' brother.

  • Tuesday Jan. 4, 2011 8:57 AM (EST+7)
    Witness: Killed Palestinian shot, left for 30 minutes
    A Palestinian shot dead by the Israeli military Sunday was left unattended for 30 minutes, a witness has told CNN.

  • Monday Jan. 3, 2011 8:12 PM (EST+7)
    Israel arrests 2 British consulate staff in gun probe
    Israel said on Monday it had charged two local employees of the British Consulate General in Jerusalem with arms trafficking as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to fire a rocket into a football stadium.

  • Monday Jan. 3, 2011 6:46 PM (EST+7)
    U.S. renews Mideast peace bid after holiday break
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday senior U.S. officials will return to the Middle East this week to renew peacemaking efforts with Israel and the Palestinians.

  • Monday Jan. 3, 2011 11:58 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli bulldozers demolish Jerusalem home
    Israeli bulldozers partially demolished a Palestinian home in the western part of Jerusalem Monday morning.

  • Monday Jan. 3, 2011 10:28 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli companies building Palestinian city
    Some 20 Israeli companies have been contracted to aid in constructing the Palestinian town of Rawabi, reports the Jerusalem Post

  • Monday Jan. 3, 2011 9:20 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian assessments for new year grim
    Palestinian analysts, asked to assess conditions for 2011, have a decidedly negative outlook.

  • Sunday Jan. 2, 2011 1:33 PM (EST+7)
    Erekat: Palestinians to take settlements to security council
    Palestinians have approved a draft resolution to present to the UN Security Council condemning Israel's settlement construction, chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said Sunday.

  • Sunday Jan. 2, 2011 1:22 PM (EST+7)
    Chile mulls support for Palestinian state
    Chile, which boasts the largest Palestinian population outside the Arab world, is considering recognizing a Palestinian state.

  • Sunday Jan. 2, 2011 12:37 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill Palestinian at W. Bank checkpoint
    Israeli troops on Sunday shot and killed a Palestinian who approached them at a West Bank checkpoint holding a bottle, the Israeli military and Palestinian officials said.

  • Saturday Jan. 1, 2011 2:54 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian woman dies after protest
    A senior Palestinian medical official said a woman died on Saturday after being treated for inhaling gas fired by Israeli forces quelling a protest a day earlier in the occupied West Bank.

  • Friday Dec. 31, 2010 8:10 PM (EST+7)
    Brazil hosts first Palestine embassy in Americas
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas thanked Brazil on Friday for recognizing his nation's statehood with the first embassy in the Americas and said other countries were following suit.

  • Thursday Dec. 30, 2010 10:16 PM (EST+7)
    UK cable in 1980 said Israel ready to use bomb
    A British ambassador to Israel warned as early as 1980 that Israel would detonate a nuclear bomb in case of a new war with the Arabs, according to previously secret state documents released on Thursday.

  • Thursday Dec. 30, 2010 4:55 PM (EST+7)
    Israel revels in gas find but faces export hurdles
    Israel can look forward to long-term energy security after the discovery of a huge off-shore natural gas field but obstacles lie ahead in exporting its output, experts said on Thursday.

  • Thursday Dec. 30, 2010 11:41 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's ex-president Katsav guilty of rape
    An Israeli court found former President Moshe Katsav guilty of rape and other sexual offenses on Thursday, convictions of unprecedented gravity for a head of the Jewish state.

  • Wednesday Dec. 29, 2010 7:42 PM (EST+7)
    Draft resolution to Security Council targets settlements
    Fed up with failed peace talks, the Palestinian Authority has drafted a resolution for the UN Security Council seeking condemnation of Israeli settlement expansion.

  • Wednesday Dec. 29, 2010 4:26 PM (EST+7)
    Fayyad: PA seeks more than "Facebook state"
    Palestinians expect wider recognition of their statehood in the coming year and it will mean more than the mere "Facebook state" predicted by an Israeli minister, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Wednesday.

  • Tuesday Dec. 28, 2010 8:15 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill militant near Gaza border
     Israeli troops on Tuesday shot dead a Palestinian militant in the Gaza Strip who had approached the border fence, officials said, the latest in a series of violent incidents at the tense frontier.


  • Tuesday Dec. 28, 2010 5:01 PM (EST+7)
    PNA denies easing ban on Palestinian labor in settlements
    The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Tuesday denied reports in the Israeli media that it had relaxed its decision to ban Palestinians from working in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.


  • Tuesday Dec. 28, 2010 4:52 PM (EST+7)
    Wikileaks: UAE considered keeping Hamas killing under wraps
    The United Arab Emirates chose to release details of a Hamas leader's assassination in Dubai nearly a year ago, after deciding silence would be seen as siding with Israel, U.S. cables released by WikiLeaks showed.


  • Tuesday Dec. 28, 2010 4:37 PM (EST+7)
    Iran hangs man convicted of spying for Mossad - IRNA
    Iran on Tuesday hanged a man sentenced to death for spying for Israel's intelligence services, the official IRNA news agency quoted a judiciary statement as saying.

  • Tuesday Dec. 28, 2010 4:29 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu says interim deal possible if talks fail
    An interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deal could result from failure to reach agreement on major core issues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, the first time he has mentioned such an option.

  • Monday Dec. 27, 2010 7:56 PM (EST+7)
    Explosion in Lebanon refugee camp destroys store of Fatah official
    An explosion tore through a shop owned by a Fatah Movement official in Ain al-Hilweh, a Palestinian refugee camp in south Lebanon Sunday. The attack comes one day after an Islamist commander was found killed in the same location.


  • Monday Dec. 27, 2010 7:34 PM (EST+7)
    Asian aid ship aims to break Gaza blockade
    Activists aboard an Asian aid ship, currently docked in Syria, plan to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza. They bring with them over $1 million in supplies.


  • Monday Dec. 27, 2010 4:36 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli Foreign Minister rebuffs Turkey's apology demand
    Israel's ultranationalist foreign minister on Sunday dismissed as "chutzpah" a Turkish offer to restore ties if Israel apologises for a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound ship, saying it was up to Ankara to make amends.


  • Monday Dec. 27, 2010 4:29 PM (EST+7)
    Politics mars record year for Holy Land tourism
    Record levels of tourists gathered to enjoy the Christmas lights surrounding the manger of Bethlehem’s nativity scene this Christmas. Despite the increase in visitors, the city’s tourism industry remains marred by the political situation say locals and tour guides.


  • Saturday Dec. 25, 2010 4:20 PM (EST+7)
    Italian nuns crash car in Israel, 3 dead - police
    Three Italian nuns were killed and two others injured on Friday when their car crashed in northern Israel, police and medical officials said.

  • Friday Dec. 24, 2010 9:20 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas says committed to mutual truce with Israel
    Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers signalled on Friday that they wanted to defuse tension with Israel that has surged over the past week and they reiterated their desire for a mutual ceasefire.

  • Friday Dec. 24, 2010 12:56 PM (EST+7)
    WikiLeaks: Israel bombed Syrian nuclear facility
    Israel destroyed a nuclear reactor in Syria former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said to State Department officials in April 2008, according to Yedioth Ahronoth quoting a recently released cable by Wikileaks.


  • Friday Dec. 24, 2010 10:33 AM (EST+7)
    UN agency condemns home demolitions in Jerusalem
    The UN relief agency UNRWA has condemned Israel's demolition of homes in East Jerusalem. The number of home demolitions in the area has increased by 45% this year.


  • Friday Dec. 24, 2010 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    Bethlehem shepherds unable to watch their flocks
    In Bethlehem, shepherds watching their flock by night are an increasing rarity. Israeli settlements, checkpoints and barriers are making the traditional nomadic lifestyle, formerly so common in the area, all but impossible.


  • Thursday Dec. 23, 2010 9:25 PM (EST+7)
    Medics say shepherd fatally shot in spine by Israelis
    Israeli forces killed a 22-year old shepherd near the separation barrier at the Eretz border crossing in Gaza earlier today, according to Palestinian medical officials. The shepherd was working inside the "no-go zone" 300 meters from the barrier - a repeated location of injuries and violence, according to Defence for Children International.

  • Thursday Dec. 23, 2010 9:20 PM (EST+7)
    Israel, Hamas want to reduce Gaza tension
    The United Nations said on Thursday that Israel and the Gaza Strip's rulers, the Islamist group Hamas, had indicated they wanted to reduce tension in and around the coastal enclave and appealed for an end to hostilities.

  • Thursday Dec. 23, 2010 5:04 PM (EST+7)
    Former Haaretz journalist was on Dutch Zionists' payroll
    An investigation by The Electronic Intifada has revealed a former Haaretz reporter was bankrolled by a Dutch Zionist group to promote the group and it's mission to"delegitimize" Palestinian issues. According to EI, Cnaan Liphshiz wrote about 50 articles for Haaretz quoting the Centre for Documentation and Information on Israel (CIDI), using extensive research from the group and it's executive director Ronny Naftaniel.

  • Thursday Dec. 23, 2010 11:59 AM (EST+7)
    Cables on Israeli secret service, Second Lebanon war to be released
    Over the next six months Wikileaks will release cables concerning Israel, it’s secret service's activities in Dubai and the Second Lebanon War, its founder Julian Assange told Al Jazeera Wednesday.

  • Thursday Dec. 23, 2010 11:39 AM (EST+7)
    Leaked cable stirs tension between Palestinian sides
    Tensions rose Wednesday between Fatah and Hamas, the two main Palestinian political factions, over a leaked American diplomatic cable. There have been ongoing accusations by each side regarding arrests and statements.


  • Thursday Dec. 23, 2010 11:12 AM (EST+7)
    Bolivia to recognise sovereign Palestine
     Bolivia on Wednesday announced its official recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state. The country follows the lead of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in Latin America.

  • Thursday Dec. 23, 2010 11:03 AM (EST+7)
    Settlement building boom reaches remote areas
    The three months since the end of the settlement construction freeze has seen a building boom. This is especially true in remote communities, located deep in the West Bank, that are unlikely to be part of Israel in a two-state peace deal with Palestinians

  • Thursday Dec. 23, 2010 10:43 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian draft on settlements ready for UN
    A Palestinian draft resolution condemning Israel's West Bank settlement activity is ready to be presented to the United Nations Security Council, a senior Palestinian official said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Dec. 22, 2010 7:52 PM (EST+7)
    U.N. condemns Gaza militants over rocket attacks
    The United Nations on Wednesday sharply condemned a rise in cross-border attacks by Palestinian militants in Gaza, a day after a rocket exploded close to an Israeli kindergarten.

  • Wednesday Dec. 22, 2010 4:28 PM (EST+7)
    EU to take farm, fish imports duty free from Gaza
    The European Union said on Wednesday that it had agreed with the Palestinian Authority to import fruit, vegetables, oils and fish products from Gaza and West Bank duty free for up to 10 years.

  • Tuesday Dec. 21, 2010 6:05 PM (EST+7)
    Carter: Brazil can be crucial to Middle East peace process
    Former US President Jimmy Carter has welcomed Brazil’s decision to join the list of South American countries who officially acknowledge a Palestinian state on the land occupied by Israel since 1967. The country, says Carter, could have a growing role play in the region.

  • Tuesday Dec. 21, 2010 5:18 PM (EST+7)
    Gazans, cut off from Jerusalem shrine, pose with model
    Palestinians in the Gaza strip, prevented by Israel from making the short journey to visit the Dome of the Rock, are flocking to have their photos taken with a model of the shrine, Islam's third holiest site.

  • Tuesday Dec. 21, 2010 5:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israel sees new anti-tank missiles used from Gaza
    Militants in Gaza used an advanced Russian-designed missile against an Israeli tank this month, Israel's military chief said on Tuesday, underscoring how smuggled weaponry has improved Palestinian combat capabilities

  • Tuesday Dec. 21, 2010 3:15 PM (EST+7)
    Kindergarten near-miss highlights Gaza risks
    A rocket fired from Gaza exploded near an Israeli kindergarten on Tuesday as cross-border violence surged in the approach to the two-year anniversary of Israel's war in the Hamas Islamist-run enclave.

  • Tuesday Dec. 21, 2010 8:08 AM (EST+7)
    Israel air strikes target Gaza after rocket launches
    Israel carried out a series of air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian officials and witnesses said, after militants from the Hamas-ruled territory fired rockets into southern Israel.
    No one was reported killed in any of the attacks.

  • Monday Dec. 20, 2010 9:15 PM (EST+7)
    Israel and PA worked closely against Hamas -cable
    A U.S. cable leaked on Monday said Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas's forces worked closely together against Hamas as it took over Gaza in 2007, a potentially embarrassing revelation for the Palestinian leader.

  • Monday Dec. 20, 2010 4:52 PM (EST+7)
    Europe far right courts Israel in anti-Islam drive
    Far-right political parties in Europe are stepping up their anti-Muslim rhetoric and forging ties across borders, even going so far as to visit Israel to hail the Jewish state as a bulwark against militant Islam.

  • Monday Dec. 20, 2010 4:31 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt uncovers network spying for Israel
    Egypt has uncovered a spy ring that included two Israelis and an Egyptian businessman helping them recruit operatives working for telecoms companies, according to a government official and state security documents.

  • Monday Dec. 20, 2010 9:23 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey admonishes Isr ambassador over Cyprus resources
    Israel's ambassador was admonished by the Turkish Foreign Ministry yesterday over a recently signed Israeli maritime agreement with the Greek Cypriot government. Irritating relations taxed during the Gaza flotilla, and somewhat eased by recent fire fighting cooperation, the underwater oil and gas reserves between Cyprus, Israel and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean could threaten regional stability and peace between Ankara and Tel Aviv.

  • Monday Dec. 20, 2010 8:09 AM (EST+7)
    Human Rights Watch: Israel supporting settlements, stunting Palestinian development
    Israel is preventing Palestinian development in parts of the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem while pouring funding into Jewish settlements, the Human Rights Watch group said on Sunday.

  • Monday Dec. 20, 2010 8:04 AM (EST+7)
    Israel, Palestinians say seek talks despite deadlock
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday his government would pursue Middle East peace efforts despite the collapse of US-brokered direct negotiations with the Palestinians.

  • Friday Dec. 17, 2010 5:13 PM (EST+7)
    Large-scale Israeli military exercise on northern borders
    A large military training exercise on its northern border with Lebanon yesterday proves Israeli forces are technologically and prepared for future success against Hezbollah, said 401st brigade commander Enav Shalev.

  • Friday Dec. 17, 2010 4:55 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian goalkeeper permitted to return after three months in Gaza
    Asem Abu Assi, the goalkeeper of Palestinian league side Jabel al-Mukabar, rejoined his teammates in the occupied West Bank three months late on Thursday because Israel withheld his permit to return from a family visit.

  • Friday Dec. 17, 2010 4:37 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: 48 hours in Bethlehem
    The birthplace of Jesus is hardly an easy "weekend getaway" spot, but for a taste of how today's Holy Land feels, this hospitable Palestinian town draped over the steep hilltops outside Jerusalem is an essential place to visit.

  • Thursday Dec. 16, 2010 9:50 PM (EST+7)
    Environmental group offers new model for Israeli Palestinian water cooperation
    A new model for resolving water problems in Israel and the Palestinian territories was offered to a group of Israeli and Palestinian politicians by the Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME), an environmental organization based in Jerusalem that works exclusively on water issues in the region.

  • Thursday Dec. 16, 2010 7:37 PM (EST+7)
    Iran approached Bedouin for Gaza gun running-cable
    Egypt's spy chief told U.S. officials last year Iran was trying to recruit Bedouin in the Sinai Peninsula to help smuggle arms into the blockaded Gaza Strip, a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable said.

  • Thursday Dec. 16, 2010 6:07 PM (EST+7)
    Q&A: After Mitchell trip, what next for peace process?
    The U.S. Middle East envoy held separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week during his first trip to the region since the United States called off efforts to revive direct negotiations.

  • Thursday Dec. 16, 2010 5:49 PM (EST+7)
    Israel downs balloon near Dimona reactor
    An Israeli warplane on Thursday shot down an apparently unmanned balloon that flew over Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor, a security official said.

  • Thursday Dec. 16, 2010 3:09 PM (EST+7)
    Israel can't defeat Hezbollah - Israeli expert
    Israel cannot defeat Hezbollah in a direct engagement and the Lebanese guerrilla group would inflict heavy damage on the Israeli home front if war broke out, a former Israeli national security adviser said on Thursday.

  • Thursday Dec. 16, 2010 2:04 PM (EST+7)
    After Mitchell trip, what next for peace process?
    The U.S. Middle East envoy held separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this week during his first trip to the region since the United States called off efforts to revive direct negotiations.

  • Thursday Dec. 16, 2010 12:35 PM (EST+7)
    Lebanon says it uncovers Israeli spy devices
    The Lebanese army said on Wednesday it had discovered two sophisticated Israeli surveillance devices in mountains above Beirut which could have helped Israel to monitor and target sites for attack.

  • Thursday Dec. 16, 2010 12:23 PM (EST+7)
    Arab League says no to more Mideast talks
    The Arab League said on Wednesday there would be no resumption of negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel until the United States offered "a serious proposal" for ending the Middle East conflict.

  • Wednesday Dec. 15, 2010 5:03 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt's Bedouin smugglers ply arms trade to Gaza
    Sitting cross-legged in the desert darkness, a 44-year-old Bedouin tribesman was describing how he smuggles weapons across Egypt's Sinai desert to the Gaza Strip when a heavily laden four-wheel drive vehicle pulled up.

  • Wednesday Dec. 15, 2010 11:04 AM (EST+7)
    Two-state Mideast solution under threat - UN envoy
    Prospects for a two-state solution in the Middle East could start to evaporate next year unless there is progress in U.S.-mediated indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks, a U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Dec. 14, 2010 8:20 PM (EST+7)
    Gales unearth Roman-era statue on Israel's coast
    A Roman statue that had been buried for centuries has been unearthed by the winter gales that have raked Israel's coast.

  • Tuesday Dec. 14, 2010 6:55 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: Palestinian kids play risky game with Israel police
    In the flashpoint East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan, small groups of boys hang around by the roadside, suddenly darting into the street to hurl rocks at passing Israeli cars, especially vehicles belonging to local Jewish settlers.

  • Tuesday Dec. 14, 2010 5:02 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas leader says group will never recognise Israel
    A large crowd of Palestinians cheered a Hamas leader's pledge on Tuesday never to recognise Israel and celebrated the Islamist movement's 23rd anniversary at a Gaza rally punctuated by sonic booms from Israeli jets.

  • Tuesday Dec. 14, 2010 8:58 AM (EST+7)
    NGO, 3rd state help Israel return Sudan migrants
    Israel has been quietly repatriating scores of Sudanese migrants with the help of a non-governmental organisation that routes them through a third country, an official involved in the transfer said on Monday.

  • Monday Dec. 13, 2010 9:00 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to send 150 illegal immigrants back to Sudan
    Israel on Monday was to deport 150 Sudanese who had illegally entered the country to find work said Channel Two television.

  • Monday Dec. 13, 2010 8:46 PM (EST+7)
    US envoy seeks progress despite talks' collapse
    Washington's Middle East peace envoy said on Monday he would strive to achieve "real progress" in the coming months toward a Middle East framework peace deal, despite the collapse of direct Israeli-Palestinian talks.

  • Monday Dec. 13, 2010 8:40 PM (EST+7)
    EU keeps up pressure for Israeli settlement freeze
    The European Union pressed the Israeli government on Monday to freeze settlement building, offered the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip more aid and urged Israel to open Gaza's border crossings more fully to increase trade.

  • Monday Dec. 13, 2010 7:07 PM (EST+7)
    Police accused of severe mistreatment of minors in East Jerusalem
    Police treatment of Palestinian minors in East Jerusalem, some as young as five, was slammed in a report Monday released by an Israeli human rights group. Treatment of minors in ways that violate the country’s laws, and international laws are cited.

  • Sunday Dec. 12, 2010 5:50 PM (EST+7)
    Soldier jailed for stealing Israeli army chief's gun
    A soldier who stole the gun and credit card details of Israel's military chief was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment on Sunday, Israeli media reported.

  • Sunday Dec. 12, 2010 5:36 PM (EST+7)
    Rough road ahead for new U.S. Mideast peace push
    Neither Israeli nor Palestinian officials showed any enthusiasm on Sunday for a U.S. proposal of a return to indirect peace talks after the swift collapse of face-to-face negotiations.

  • Sunday Dec. 12, 2010 5:00 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill two Gaza militants - army
    Israeli troops killed two Palestinian militants and a soldier was wounded during an exchange of fire on the Israel-Gaza Strip border on Saturday, the army said.

  • Saturday Dec. 11, 2010 11:26 AM (EST+7)
    U.S. to push on core Mideast peace issues
    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday the United States would push Israeli and Palestinian leaders solve the core issues standing in the way of peace, and that both must seek a deal despite a breakdown in U.S.-brokered direct negotiations.

  • Saturday Dec. 11, 2010 11:18 AM (EST+7)
    Jordanian soccer violence leaves 250 hurt
    Around 250 people were injured in Amman on Friday in clashes between fans after Jordan's largest Palestinian soccer team beat a rival local team, hospital staff said.

  • Friday Dec. 10, 2010 9:24 PM (EST+7)
    Clinton speech tonight to put onus on Israel, Palestinians
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will tell Israel and the Palestinians on Friday that Washington is committed to peace but it is their responsibility to end their conflict, the State Department said on Friday.

  • Friday Dec. 10, 2010 4:50 PM (EST+7)
    Senior Europeans urge EU to act on Mideast process
    Senior European figures, including half a dozen former leaders, urged the European Union on Friday to take a firmer approach in dealing with Israel in the Middle East peace process, saying time was being lost.

  • Thursday Dec. 9, 2010 9:53 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Ashrawi - More Mideast talks futile without US shift
    More Middle East peace talks will be "an exercise in futility" unless the United States "curbs Israeli violations", a leading Palestinian said. Hanan Ashrawi, a veteran of the 20-year old peace process, faulted the US approach for giving Israel time to expand settlements and deepen its control over the land where the Palestinians aim to found a sovereign state.

  • Thursday Dec. 9, 2010 5:39 PM (EST+7)
    Israel used potentially lethal tear gas rounds
    Israel's army said on Thursday it had used potentially lethal teargas grenades of a type banned by its rules, but promised it would never happen again.

  • Thursday Dec. 9, 2010 2:23 PM (EST+7)
    Israel seeks cash, amnesty rapprochement with Turks
    Israel has proposed paying compensation to relatives of Turks it killed during a raid on a Gaza-bound ship, in exchange for Ankara's help in indemnifying the Israeli navy against lawsuits, officials said on Thursday.

  • Thursday Dec. 9, 2010 9:03 AM (EST+7)
    Israel strikes Gaza after militant mortar attack
    Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Thursday, hours after a mortar shell fired by militants wounded an Israeli man at an agricultural community close to the border between the two territories, the army said.

  • Thursday Dec. 9, 2010 8:55 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians doubt US will help them get state
    Palestinian leaders said on Wednesday that "Israeli obstinacy" made Washington give up on efforts to halt Jewish settlement and questioned whether the United States could ever help them attain independence.

  • Thursday Dec. 9, 2010 8:35 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: PEACE BEGINS WITH JERUSALEM?
    Jerusalem has classically been left for 'final status' talks. But some analysts believe resolving the question of Jerusalem is urgent. Jerusalem should be first on the peace agenda they say.

  • Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 7:18 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas has "no doubt that there is a crisis" with peace talks
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said during a visit to Greece that "there is no doubt that there is a crisis" in the current peace talks with Israel, adding he hopes the European Union will help relaunch the negotiations.

  • Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 6:40 PM (EST+7)
    Peres and MK Tibi join rebuke of rabbis' Arab land sales prohibition
    Israeli President Shimon Peres and Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi criticized the 47 rabbis promoting a ban of land and home sales to non-Jews, echoing condemnations by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Anti-Defamation League.

  • Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 6:16 PM (EST+7)
    Israel expels Jerusalem Hamas lawmaker to West Bank
    Israel on Wednesday freed an Islamist Hamas lawmaker it had detained for five months and expelled him to the West Bank, after an Israeli court ruled that he was not permitted to continue living in Jerusalem.

  • Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 5:18 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt: time running out for Mideast two-state plan
    Major powers should push Israel and the Palestinians to agree a deadline for establishing an independent Palestinian state before a two-state solution becomes impossible to achieve, Egypt said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 1:56 PM (EST+7)
    Israel allows Gaza to add flowers to farm exports
    Israel has allowed the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to export flowers through Israeli territory, in addition to strawberries it permitted earlier, officials said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 11:59 AM (EST+7)
    Peace process in crisis
    The Palestinians said on Wednesday "Israeli obstinacy" made Washington give up on efforts to freeze Jewish settlement and questioned whether the United States could ever help them attain independence.

  • Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 10:43 AM (EST+7)
    US mulls reviving indirect Middle East peace talks
    The United States is weighing a return to indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks following its failure to revive direct negotiations because of disagreements over Israeli settlement construction, two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 10:39 AM (EST+7)
    U.S. drops push for Israel settlement freeze
    The United States on Tuesday abandoned its effort to persuade Israel to freeze construction of Jewish settlements, officials said, dealing a blow to efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

  • Wednesday Dec. 8, 2010 9:03 AM (EST+7)
    US to meet with Israeli, PA officials in effort to save peace process, possibly with indirect talks
    US officials will meet with Israeli and Palestinian representatives this week in an effort to revive the peace process, possibly through indirect "proximity talks" with US mediation.

  • Tuesday Dec. 7, 2010 8:47 AM (EST+7)
    Argentina recognizes Palestine on pre-1967 borders
    Argentina's government said on Monday it had decided to recognize a Palestinian state within its pre-1967 borders, following a similar move days earlier by neighboring Brazil.

  • Monday Dec. 6, 2010 10:59 PM (EST+7)
    No reason to extend settlement freeze says Israeli foreign minister
    Israel has no reason to extend its moratorium on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank but is ready for talks with the Palestinians, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday.

  • Monday Dec. 6, 2010 1:43 PM (EST+7)
    Rafah crossing 'open' but daunting
    Gaza's sole operating entry and exit point, the Rafah crossing to Egypt, is the source of myriad stories of difficulties.

  • Monday Dec. 6, 2010 9:46 AM (EST+7)
    Police: Israeli forest fire extinguished
    A forest fire that killed 41 people in northern Israel's Carmel region has been extinguished, Israeli police said on Monday.

  • Sunday Dec. 5, 2010 11:14 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey says ties with Israel fraught despite fire aid
    Turkey still expects an apology and compensation for nine Turkish activists killed on a Gaza-bound ship this year, despite its offer of help to Israel in battling forest fires, its prime minister said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Dec. 5, 2010 6:19 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli officials under fire as deadly blaze rages
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government faced calls for consequences on Sunday over a huge four-day-old forest fire that has killed 41 people and been called the worst in Israel's history.

  • Sunday Dec. 5, 2010 8:44 AM (EST+7)
    Issawiya residents complain of police 'collective punishment'
    The east Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya has in the last month seen an escalation in clashes between residents and Israeli police, closures, flying checkpoints and home demolitions.

  • Sunday Dec. 5, 2010 8:27 AM (EST+7)
    Brazil surprises US, recognizes Palestinian state
    Brazil surprised the United States last week by recognizing the Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, reports POLITICO.

  • Sunday Dec. 5, 2010 8:05 AM (EST+7)
    Deadly Israeli fire rages on despite global aid
    Israel struggled to contain a huge and deadly forest fire that raged on for a third day on Saturday, despite the efforts of firefighting planes from half a dozen countries.

  • Saturday Dec. 4, 2010 4:55 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu, Abbas hold rare phone chat over fires
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed condolences in a rare telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday over the deadly fires raging in northern Israel, Israeli officials said.

  • Thursday Dec. 2, 2010 9:26 PM (EST+7)
    Huge Israel forest fire kills dozens -rescue services
    A huge fire swept through a forest in northern Israel on Thursday, killing up to 40 people, many of them prison guards who were trapped in a bus trying to flee the flames, security services said.

  • Thursday Dec. 2, 2010 8:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israel snubs talks with building plans -Abbas aide
    Israel's plans for new building near East Jerusalem show it does not want to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday.

  • Thursday Dec. 2, 2010 8:02 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces kill armed Gaza militants - army
    Israeli military forces killed two Palestinian militants along the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip on Thursday, the Israeli army said.

  • Thursday Dec. 2, 2010 8:28 AM (EST+7)
    Israel unveils new settlement plan near East Jerusalem
    Israel on Wednesday revealed plans to build new homes on West Bank land it has annexed as part of its Jerusalem boundaries, a move likely to further hamper any resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.

  • Wednesday Dec. 1, 2010 4:47 PM (EST+7)
    Leaks: Israel torn on US arming Arabs against Iran
    Israel's lobbying to get better American weaponry than U.S.-aligned Arab powers has been complicated by their shared hostility toward Iran, leaked diplomatic cables show.

  • Wednesday Dec. 1, 2010 4:36 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians criticise Orthodox Church over road
    The Greek Orthodox church is facing Palestinian criticism over its participation in the inauguration of an Israeli-built road that has eased access to an ancient monastery in the occupied West Bank.

  • Wednesday Dec. 1, 2010 4:33 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas would honor referendum on peace with Israel
    The Islamist Hamas movement, whose charter advocates the elimination of Israel, would accept the outcome of a Palestinian referendum on a future peace treaty with the Jewish state, its Gaza leader said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Dec. 1, 2010 8:03 AM (EST+7)
    US condemns Palestinian report on al-Buraq or Western Wall
    The US State Department condemned on Tuesday an official Palestinian report last week asserting that Jerusalem's Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites, is not Jewish.

  • Tuesday Nov. 30, 2010 8:31 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: From The Bubble to Trouble; Israel's divide
    It takes just 45 minutes to drive from the clogged freeways and gleaming office towers of Tel Aviv to the roadblocks and watchtowers of the West Bank. The humid metropolis of the coast, where most Israelis prefer to live, seems a world away from the dry air of Jerusalem and tensions of the occupied Palestinian territory, where the inescapable choices facing the nation await resolution.

  • Tuesday Nov. 30, 2010 7:54 PM (EST+7)
    Three arrested for September Hebron attack charged
    Three Palestinians were charged yesterday in the September shooting of two Israelis near Hebron. Arrested by Israeli security agency Shin Bet, the men were allegedly part of the Syrian and Lebanese-trained Fateh splinter group Abu Moussa, and had over $25,000 worth of armaments.

  • Tuesday Nov. 30, 2010 5:12 PM (EST+7)
    WikiLeaks: Egypt and Abbas knew Gaza invasion was imminent
    Israel conferred with the Western-backed Palestinian leadership and with Egypt ahead of its 2008-2009 attack on the Gaza Strip, leaked U.S. diplomatic cables quote a senior Israeli official as saying.

  • Tuesday Nov. 30, 2010 12:55 PM (EST+7)
    Demolition, clashes in Jerusalem's Issawiya neighborhood
    Israeli bulldozers demolished an uninhabited home in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya Tuesday morning, after officials said it was built without the proper permits.

  • Tuesday Nov. 30, 2010 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    Aid organizations charge Israel with persisting Gaza blockade
    Twenty-one aid agencies are charging Israel with prolonging a blockade on Gaza that it promised to bring to an end six months ago.

  • Tuesday Nov. 30, 2010 8:53 AM (EST+7)
    Fateh leader ordered to leave Jerusalem
    Fateh's general secretary in Jerusalem has received a military order to leave the city for a period of four months.

  • Tuesday Nov. 30, 2010 7:54 AM (EST+7)
    Mossad insider succeeds embattled Israeli spymaster
    A veteran Mossad spy was named to succeed director Meir Dagan on Monday, signalling the Israeli government's confidence in the intelligence service despite fallout from the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai.

  • Monday Nov. 29, 2010 5:39 PM (EST+7)
    Wikileaks documents reveal 'off record' political attitudes, policies on key issues
    The diplomatic cables revealed by whistle-blower website Sunday expose sensitive  ‘off record’ policy discussions and remarks on everything from the right of return of Palestinian refugees to nuclear Iran.

  • Sunday Nov. 28, 2010 5:13 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to crack down on illegal migrant workers
    Israel approved a plan on Sunday to hold and deport thousands of illegal migrant workers whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a "threat to the character of the country".

  • Sunday Nov. 28, 2010 4:31 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: Hope smells sweet as Gaza exports strawberries
    Surrounded by the fragrance of millions of packed strawberries, Gaza farm workers rose at dawn on Sunday to witness the start of exports to Europe that they hope will herald a wider expansion of trade.

  • Saturday Nov. 27, 2010 7:49 PM (EST+7)
    Khaled Meshaal: Hamas faces "huge challenges" in West Bank
    Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said on Saturday that his group faced "huge challenges" in the West Bank as a force against Israel.

  • Saturday Nov. 27, 2010 10:51 AM (EST+7)
    Rabin's son pushes new peace plan
    The son of the late Israeli leader Yitzhak Rabin is proposing a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, according to an article published in the new website, www.bitterlemons-api.org.

  • Friday Nov. 26, 2010 8:33 PM (EST+7)
    Tuk-tuks, cheap fuel edge out donkey carts in Gaza
    Donkey carts, an essential means of transportation for many Gazans, are being replaced by a new fuel efficient transport; the Tuk Tuk. This Asian important is a blend of motorcycle and miniature pick up truck is taking the city by storm.

  • Friday Nov. 26, 2010 4:46 PM (EST+7)
    Memories and maps keep alive Palestinian hopes of return
    Memories and maps make up a core part of the experience of Palestinians whose lives have been scarred by dispossession, occupation and uncertainty about their future. Two new books reveal their significance for keeping Palestinian hopes of return alive, and, the difficulty of ever achieving it.

  • Friday Nov. 26, 2010 12:35 PM (EST+7)
    Israel-US relations likely to be affected by new WikiLeaks documents
    The U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv warned the Israeli foreign ministry that some of the cables could concern U.S.-Israel relations, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported, citing a senior Israeli official.

  • Friday Nov. 26, 2010 9:18 AM (EST+7)
    Experts cite police misconduct amid arrests of East Jerusalem children
    More than sixty Israeli experts on children and youth including physicians, writers and lawyers called on the Israeli government to prevent the harsh and sometimes violent treatment of Palestinian children suspected of stone-throwing in east Jerusalem on Thursday.

  • Thursday Nov. 25, 2010 7:07 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu slams PA-backed report on Western Wall
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the Palestinian leadership on Thursday to renounce an official Palestinian report asserting the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites, is not Jewish.

  • Thursday Nov. 25, 2010 6:59 PM (EST+7)
    Israel plans holding facility for illegal migrants
    Israel said on Thursday it plans to establish a holding facility to control the movements of Sudanese and Eritrean migrants who enter the country illegally from Egypt's desolate Sinai region.

  • Thursday Nov. 25, 2010 11:39 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas objects to 'Islamicization' charge
    Hamas' Ahmad Yousef objects to what he calls a Western campaign to paint the movement as Islamic radicals seeking to transform Gazan society.

  • Thursday Nov. 25, 2010 9:07 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Israeli demands scuttle settlement freeze
    Israeli officials made three demands in negotiations over a settlement freeze that ultimately scuttled the talks, reports the Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam.

  • Wednesday Nov. 24, 2010 6:50 PM (EST+7)
    Some Israelis doubt their airport security travels
    As Americans fume at ever more intrusive airport patdowns and screenings, some are looking to Israel for answers on how to make aviation security both strict and streamlined.

  • Wednesday Nov. 24, 2010 4:40 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: Western-backed Palestinian Authority's religious tolerance a concern
    Wall Street Journal commentator Bret Stephens, suggests that the Palestinian lack of religious tolerance, and not necessarily the renewed Israeli settlements, is an obstacle to a future Palestinian state.

  • Wednesday Nov. 24, 2010 4:10 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: New layer of doubt cast over Middle East peace drive
    Israel's right-leaning coalition government this week passed a law that will probably force a referendum on any peace deal that involves withdrawing from land annexed by Israel, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, captured from Syria.

  • Wednesday Nov. 24, 2010 1:57 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli bulldozers raze village in Jordan valley
    Israeli bulldozers razed the remaining structures in Um al-Ajaj in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank.

  • Wednesday Nov. 24, 2010 12:40 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces demolish makeshift Jerusalem home
    Israeli forces demolished Wednesday a cement-block home being built in the Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Tur. 

  • Wednesday Nov. 24, 2010 9:53 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli court extends Bilin leader's detention
    An Israeli military court ordered Bilin protest organizer Abdullah Abu Rahmah to remain in detention despite his having served all of his one-year jail sentence.

  • Wednesday Nov. 24, 2010 9:21 AM (EST+7)
    Dozens of children targeted in Silwan arrests
    Approximately 51 Palestinian children have been arrested in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan since mid-September.

  • Tuesday Nov. 23, 2010 6:55 PM (EST+7)
    Syria "totally rejects" new Israeli referendum bill
    The Syrian Foreign Ministry has "totally rejected" the new Israeli bill which would bring any withdrawal from the Golan Heights or East Jerusalem to a public vote. The bill effectively creates another obstacle for Palestinian statehood: any new land-for-peace deal could be jettisoned by Israeli voters.

  • Tuesday Nov. 23, 2010 5:05 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Palestine at a crossroad
    Israel must make peace now with the Palestinians or become an "apartheid" state that will one day need "a Palestinian Mandela" to take over, Munib al-Masri, a leading figure in Palestinian society, said. Masri, a prominent businessman respected across the Palestinian political spectrum, said the idea of a Palestinian state emerging alongside Israel would soon vanish without a swift halt to Israeli settlement building on occupied territory.

  • Tuesday Nov. 23, 2010 11:09 AM (EST+7)
    Evacuation orders delivered in Jerusalem
    Tens of families were ordered to evacuate their homes this week in preparation for the buildings' demolition.

  • Tuesday Nov. 23, 2010 10:01 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians in Israel worry about legal crackdown
    Palestinian residents of Israel are bearing the brunt of increasingly hostile and anti-democratic legislation, according to community leaders who say Israel is using the democratic process to silence criticism of Israeli policy from inside the country.

  • Tuesday Nov. 23, 2010 9:02 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli parliament approves referendum-for-peace law
    Israel's parliament approved on Monday a measure backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which could require a referendum on potential land-for-peace deals concluded with Arab neighbors.

  • Monday Nov. 22, 2010 9:12 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians declare Israeli Western Wall development plan 'illegal'
    Palestinians have condemned Israel’s recent approval of a £15m five-year plan to develop the area around the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site. The Western Wall lies in the most sensitive and contested part of Jerusalem’s Old City.

  • Monday Nov. 22, 2010 8:26 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Israel frets relations with USA might be fraying
    Israel is growing increasingly concerned that its relationship with the United States, a defining feature of Middle East diplomacy for half a century, no longer has the core strategic value for Washington it once had.

  • Monday Nov. 22, 2010 2:00 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian cartographer banned from travel again
    Israeli police delivered a ban on travel to Palestinian cartographer Khalil Tufakji, preventing him from leaving the country for six months.

  • Monday Nov. 22, 2010 1:41 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops bulldoze Jerusalem farms
    Israeli forces moved into the Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya and bulldozed agricultural lands.

  • Monday Nov. 22, 2010 10:15 AM (EST+7)
    Israel set to pass bill on land referendum
    Israel's parliament is set to pass a bill that would require a referendum to be held before the Jewish state would relinquish land it has annexed - namely, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

  • Monday Nov. 22, 2010 10:05 AM (EST+7)
    Exiled Israeli historian seeks change in his homeland
    “Exile is very good for writing,” an expression coined by literary theorist Edward Said, rings true for left-wing Israeli academic and historian Ilan Pappe.

  • Monday Nov. 22, 2010 8:32 AM (EST+7)
    Researchers drill for secrets hidden under Dead Sea
    From a barge floating above the deepest point on earth, a research team hopes to drill through half a million years of history to uncover secrets of climate change and natural disasters.

  • Sunday Nov. 21, 2010 6:45 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas: No talks without East Jerusalem building freeze
    The Palestinian Authority will not return to peace talks with Israel unless there is a freeze on settlement building that includes East Jerusalem, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Nov. 21, 2010 6:13 PM (EST+7)
    Gazans shocked at how many neighbors, coworkers, officials are 'spying' for Israel
    Gazans have been left astounded by both, the number and type of arrests made by the Hamas government in a crack down on collaborators with Israel. Prominent figures in society, including doctors, have been caught in the arrests.

  • Sunday Nov. 21, 2010 1:47 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli officials plot scenarios of third uprising
    Israeli officials are planning for the event of a third Palestinian uprising, reports the Washington Post.

  • Sunday Nov. 21, 2010 1:39 PM (EST+7)
    Rail plan draws pressure on German company
    Israeli plans to run a railway through the Palestinian villages of Beit Iksa and Beit Surik in the occupied West Bank are drawing international protests.

  • Sunday Nov. 21, 2010 10:40 AM (EST+7)
    Israel troops get suspended sentence for Gaza abuse
    An Israeli court-martial handed down suspended jail sentences on Sunday to two soldiers who forced a Palestinian boy to search for suspected booby-traps on their behalf during the Gaza Strip war, Army Radio said.

  • Sunday Nov. 21, 2010 8:33 AM (EST+7)
    13 activists detained for helping Palestinian farmers
    Thirteen international, Israeli and Palestinians activists were detained in the Saffa Valley near the West Bank village of Beit Umar on Thursday where they were helping Palestinian farmers clear their land in preparation for planting trees.

  • Saturday Nov. 20, 2010 9:48 AM (EST+7)
    Israel said it struck a smuggling tunnel around midnight
    The Israeli air force dropped a fourth missile at a smuggling tunnel in Gaza in response to rocket fire aimed at communities in Israel,  a spokeswoman for the Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday.

  • Friday Nov. 19, 2010 6:08 PM (EST+7)
    US bars Palestinian statehood moves in UN agencies
    Away from the headlines, Palestinians have been trying to advance their statehood agenda in small but symbolic ways in United Nations agencies that fall off the radar for most people.

  • Friday Nov. 19, 2010 4:55 PM (EST+7)
    Israel warplanes attack Gaza target after rockets say witnesses
    Israeli warplanes struck three targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday in response to militant rocket and mortar fire, the Israeli army said.

  • Friday Nov. 19, 2010 3:40 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli policy puts some East Jerusalem children in limbo
    Most Palestinians in East Jerusalem hold a "permanent resident" status, which gives them the right to live and work in Israel. However, the Israeli system often makes it difficult for Palestinians with permanent resident status to access some of these benefits legally accorded to them.

  • Friday Nov. 19, 2010 11:42 AM (EST+7)
    Israel, U.S. struggling to conclude settlement pact
    Talks between Israeli and U.S. officials aimed at reviving Middle East peace negotiations have hit snags over incentives promised by Washington to persuade Israel to resume a freeze of Jewish settlement building.

  • Friday Nov. 19, 2010 8:52 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza militants fire long-range Grad rocket into western Negev
    Long-range Grad rockets were fired into the western Negev early Friday following a night-long barrage of Qassam rockets fired by Gaza militants, Army Radio reported.

  • Thursday Nov. 18, 2010 12:05 PM (EST+7)
    Qaeda-linked group threatens Israelis, in Hebrew
    An al Qaeda-linked group issued a Hebrew threat on Thursday to avenge Israel's killing of two Gaza militants, in what an expert said was the first use of the language for such propaganda.

  • Thursday Nov. 18, 2010 11:09 AM (EST+7)
    Israel says in talks on more F-35 fighter jets
    Israel is in talks with the United States to acquire an additional 20 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 fighter jets, a senior Israeli defense official said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Nov. 18, 2010 10:54 AM (EST+7)
    Israel awaits US assurances on moratorium proposal
    Israeli hardliners await on Thursday a draft that would clarify the US  90-day moratorium proposal that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton introduced to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York last week.

  • Thursday Nov. 18, 2010 10:33 AM (EST+7)
    US report puts Israel’s religious violation on the same level as Afghanistan
    Israel is in the same section as Afghanistan, China, Iran, Iraq and Sudan in countries "where violations of religious freedom have been noteworthy," according to the US International Religious Freedom Report  released Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Nov. 17, 2010 6:19 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority arrests Hamas members planning West Bank and Jerusalem attack
    Palestinian Authority security forces have arrested Hamas members in the West Bank. They were suspected of planning to assassinate the Mayor Nablus, Jibran Al-Bakhri, abduct settlers, and carry out suicide attacks in Jerusalem report Palestinian news agency Ma'an.

  • Wednesday Nov. 17, 2010 6:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israel pullback alarms Lebanon border town
    Israel said on Wednesday it would withdraw troops from a village straddling the Lebanese border, in a gesture to the United Nations that drew residents onto the streets protesting the division of their community.

  • Wednesday Nov. 17, 2010 5:42 PM (EST+7)
    Senior member of radical 'Army of Islam' killed in joint Shin Bet and IDF operation in Gaza City
    A car exploded in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing two members of a fringe Palestinian Islamist group.

  • Wednesday Nov. 17, 2010 12:34 PM (EST+7)
    Israel okays redeployment in Lebanese border town
    The Israeli government approved on Wednesday a plan to withdraw troops from part of a village on the Lebanese border that has long inflamed tensions with the Hezbollah guerrilla group and neighbouring Syria.

  • Wednesday Nov. 17, 2010 11:44 AM (EST+7)
    Israel demands written US guarantees before freeze
    Israel has demanded the United States provide written security guarantees before it votes on whether to agree to freeze Jewish settlement building in the West Bank, an Israeli political source said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Nov. 16, 2010 10:46 PM (EST+7)
    Israel delays vote on settlement freeze
    Israel signaled on Tuesday it had delayed approving U.S proposals for a freeze on West Bank settlement building so that peace talks can resume, saying it wanted the ideas in writing.

  • Tuesday Nov. 16, 2010 7:22 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas says doors for reconciliation still open
    The doors for achieving an inter-Palestinian reconciliation are still open Ismail Haneya, Prime Minister do the Hamas government ruling the Gaza Strip, said Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Nov. 16, 2010 5:44 PM (EST+7)
    Strains in Israel coalition over US freeze package
    Cracks emerged in Israel's right-wing coalition on Tuesday ahead of an expected cabinet vote on whether to accept U.S. inducements to freeze West Bank settlement building so that stalled peace talks can resume.

  • Tuesday Nov. 16, 2010 10:31 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli cabinet to vote on pullout from divided Lebanon village
    The Israeli cabinet will Wednesday vote on the Israeli pull back from Ghajar village. The village is one of the most sensitive points along the border with Lebanon Israeli officials said Monday.

  • Monday Nov. 15, 2010 7:25 PM (EST+7)
    Clinton calls Netanyahu settlement plan 'promising'
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for outlining to his Cabinet a U.S. plan to extend a freeze on West Bank settlements for 90 days.

  • Monday Nov. 15, 2010 7:17 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: Jerusalem must be divided
    Amidst questions of settlement construction and US attempts to revive the peace process with promises, for Haaretz columnist Akiva Eldar the option for Jerusalem is clear: either Jerusalem will become the capital of two peoples or Israel will become the state of two peoples.


  • Monday Nov. 15, 2010 7:00 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's missile defence to be completed by 2015
    Israel's multi-layered air defence network will be fully deployed by 2015, combining short-range rocket interceptors with kamikaze satellites that blow up ballistic missiles in space, officials said on Monday.

  • Monday Nov. 15, 2010 6:55 PM (EST+7)
    Turkish film could further strain ties with Israel
    A Turkish action movie may worsen tense relations between Turkey and Israel. The movie is based on the Israeli raid of a Gaza-bound Turkish flotilla that resulted in the deaths of nine activists in May.

  • Monday Nov. 15, 2010 11:42 AM (EST+7)
    Barak: Israel must reach deal with U.S. before Palestinians do
    Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, said Israel must secure its terms with the Obama administration before the Palestinians or the Arab world spawn influence in the conditions of the peace process.

  • Monday Nov. 15, 2010 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    Obama praises Netanyahu on Israel settlement proposal
    President Barack Obama on Sunday praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for trying to win approval from his coalition government for a U.S. proposal to extend a freeze on West Bank settlement building.

  • Sunday Nov. 14, 2010 10:19 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians say settlers torched their olive trees
    Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank burned approximately 200 of their olive trees Sunday and torched surrounding grazing land said Palestinians. The settlers denied the allegations.

  • Sunday Nov. 14, 2010 6:16 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli govt seen accepting new settlement freeze
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will probably win narrow approval from his coalition government for a U.S. proposal to extend a freeze on West Bank settlement building, Israeli political sources said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Nov. 14, 2010 11:35 AM (EST+7)
    "Suwarna" depicts Palestinian dreams through youth's eyes
    “Suwarna”, the Arabic word for “Our pictures”, is an exhibition of images captured by the participants of a children's photography project hosted by Tomorrow’s Youth Organisation, a Nablus based non-governmental organization.

  • Sunday Nov. 14, 2010 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians wary of US proposal to Israel
    Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat expressed concern about an American proposal for a new 90-day Israeli moratorium on new construction because it would only apply to the West Bank and not east Jerusalem, the Palestinians' hoped-for capital.

  • Sunday Nov. 14, 2010 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    US offers Israel warplanes in return for new West Bank settlement freeze
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed senior ministers a U.S. plan for resuming peace talks with Palestinians, including a 90-day settlement freeze, a diplomatic source told reporters on Saturday.

  • Saturday Nov. 13, 2010 1:15 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt raises Sinai alert level over Army of Islam squad entering Gaza
    Israel issues a travel warning on the Egyptian peninsula following Egyptian forces have been put on high alert over the hunt after an Army of Islam militant ground is suspected to have infiltrated the Gaza Strip.

  • Saturday Nov. 13, 2010 12:18 PM (EST+7)
    Carter: Hamas agrees to deliver new Gilad Shalit letter
    Former US president, Jimmy Carter, said in an interview with Al Jazeera News that Hamas agrees to pass on a letter from abducted Israel Defense Force soldier Gilad Shalit to his family on Friday, more than two years since such the last correspondence was received by Israel.

  • Saturday Nov. 13, 2010 12:06 PM (EST+7)
    U.S. unfreezes money for Lebanon's army
    A senior U.S. lawmaker lifted a hold on Friday on U.S. funding for Lebanon's military, saying he was persuaded it had taken steps that would avoid a repeat of August's deadly border clash between Lebanese and Israeli forces.

  • Friday Nov. 12, 2010 5:21 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza activists willingly on ship from Libya-ship manager
    Ten activists trying to take aid from Libya to Gaza jumped on board a ship about to set sail to Greece, the vessel's managers said on Friday, denying reports the aid workers were held against their will.

  • Friday Nov. 12, 2010 1:41 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces used "excessive force" in 38 raids last week
    Israeli forces used "excessive force" disrupting peaceful protests last week, arrested 18 civilians including six childrens during 38 incursions in the West Bank and four in Gaza, and wounded two Palestinians and one Israeli, according to a report by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

  • Friday Nov. 12, 2010 9:33 AM (EST+7)
    Growing disunity within Fatah
    The large, energetic memorial for Yasser Arafat yesterday in Ramallah belied a burgeoning disunity in Fatah between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, his nephew and heir-apparent Nasser al-Qudwa, and "mutineers" like the Gaza-based Mohammad Dahlan, imprisoned Marwan  Barghouti, and former Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajoub.

  • Friday Nov. 12, 2010 8:28 AM (EST+7)
    Thousands celebrate life of Yasser Arafat
    Beneath the gleaming square-cut tower which houses Yasser Arafat’s mausoleum, thousands of Palestinians gathered Thursday to commemorate their deceased leader. The crush of waving flags flashed red, green, black, white in the sunlight.

  • Thursday Nov. 11, 2010 9:13 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza aid workers en route to Greece after dispute

    Aid workers on a ship originally intended for the Palestinian territory of Gaza are instead being taken to Greece against their will after an apparent dispute with the captain, a charity said on Thursday.


  • Thursday Nov. 11, 2010 6:20 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu and Clinton meet in NY
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he was "quite serious" about talks with the Palestinians as he met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton amid an impasse which threatens to scuttle the US-backed peace negotiations.

  • Thursday Nov. 11, 2010 5:59 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas breaks up Arafat memorial
    Hamas broke up a rally in the Gaza Strip celebrating the life of Fateh founder and late Palestinian National Authority chariman Yasser Arafat, on the sixth anniversary of his death.

  • Thursday Nov. 11, 2010 1:03 PM (EST+7)
    Emphasis on investment at annual business forum
    In the grand conference hall of Ramallah’s new five-star Movenpick hotel, Palestinian and foreign businessmen, investors and political delegates gathered Tuesday to discuss ways to improve the Palestinian economy.

  • Thursday Nov. 11, 2010 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    Tensions continue in Jerusalem neighborhood
    Tension was high in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Isawiya Thursday morning as Israeli forces demolished a pen for horses and sheep at the entrance to the community.

  • Thursday Nov. 11, 2010 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt tip led to Gaza assassination
    Egyptian intelligence tipped off Israel to a potential attack in the Sinai being planned by one of Gaza's armed groups, reports Time Magazine.

  • Thursday Nov. 11, 2010 8:55 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian factions fail to reach agreement
    Rival Palestinian groups Hamas and Fatah failed to strike an agreement to narrow sharp differences on security issues and ended their latest round of talks overnight, officials said on Thursday.

  • Wednesday Nov. 10, 2010 5:41 PM (EST+7)
    U.S. gives $150 million to Palestinian Authority
    The United States will give an additional $150 million to the Palestinian Authority as Washington seeks to boost the fledgling government amid an impasse in peace talks with Israel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Nov. 10, 2010 5:33 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas seeks Security Council meeting on settlements
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has asked for a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss Jewish settlement building on occupied land in the West Bank where the Palestinians aim to found a state.

  • Wednesday Nov. 10, 2010 3:03 PM (EST+7)
    POLL: Palestinians ambivalent about security
    Some 44 percent of Palestinians are worried some or a great deal about being mistreated or abused by someone in the Palestinian security forces, found a poll published Tuesday by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre.

  • Wednesday Nov. 10, 2010 8:25 AM (EST+7)
    Obama sees 'enormous obstacles' for Middle East peace
    The Middle East peace process faces "enormous obstacles" but the United States will do all it can to achieve a "just" outcome in talks between Israelis and Palestinians, US President Barack Obama said on Wednesday.  

  • Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010 11:09 PM (EST+7)
    Fateh wins student council elections at An-Najah university
    Fateh affiliated student bloc, Shabebeh, grabbed 57 out of 81 seats at the An-Najah University on Tuesday's student council elections, with Hamas boycotting the elections for the third time in a row.

  • Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010 10:16 PM (EST+7)
    Clashes in Issawiyeh, East Jerusalem
    The east Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiyeh saw its second day of clashes as police cordoned off the area, preventing traffic from entering and leaving.

  • Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010 5:49 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: Both Hamas and Fatah need to improve their human rights records
    As Fatah and Hamas meet for reconciliation of their political agenda in Damascus Tuesday, Aljazeera's Lamis Andoni points to the need for improvement in both parties' human rights records.

  • Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010 5:41 PM (EST+7)
    Ousted Israel MP vows to work for peace coalition
    An influential Israeli opposition lawmaker lost his seat in parliament after an eight-year trial on Tuesday but he said he was determined to pursue efforts to revive peace talks with the Palestinians. Tzachi Hanegbi, a senior member of the centrist Kadima party but also a confidant of Likud prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was convicted of perjury in July.

  • Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010 5:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli plan to build hundreds of homes in West Bank settlement risks US anger
    Israel today revealed a plan to build 800 homes in the West Bank settlement of Ariel. The announcement comes just hours after the Obama administration expressed ‘deep disappointment’ at Israel’s decision to construct 1,300 Jewish homes in East Jerusalem.

  • Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010 1:37 PM (EST+7)
    Jordan votes in poll boycotted by Islamists
    Jordanians voted on Tuesday in a parliamentary election boycotted by the influential Muslim Brotherhood and liberal groups in protest at an election law they say erodes democracy.

  • Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010 1:20 PM (EST+7)
    Clashes break out in East Jerusalem
    Clashes broke out Tuesday in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Isawiya between police and rock-throwing protesters.

  • Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010 12:37 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli security meet with Jenin Hamas politicos
    Israel's security service, the Shin Bet, recently met with several ranking Hamas members in the Jenin area, raising the ire of the Palestinian Authority.

  • Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010 9:56 AM (EST+7)
    Bush memoir: 'Abbas was ready to strike deal with Olmert'
    Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas was prepared to strike a deal with then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, reports former US President George W. Bush in his memoir to be released Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010 9:49 AM (EST+7)
    UN strike brings services to a halt
    Union representatives and officials from the Palestinian refugee agency will meet Tuesday to try to end a strike that has brought refugee services to a grinding halt.

  • Monday Nov. 8, 2010 11:53 PM (EST+7)
    Thousands of students campaign for council elections at An-Najah University
    Colors were splashed at An-Najah National University in Nablus Monday as students affiliated with their respected political parties marched through campus, waving their large distinctive colored flags and chanting patriotic slogans in concert.

  • Monday Nov. 8, 2010 8:06 PM (EST+7)
    Israel plans 1,300 homes in Arab East Jerusalem
    Israel is pushing ahead with plans to build 1,300 new apartments for Jewish families in Arab East Jerusalem, the Interior Ministry said on Monday, despite fierce opposition from Palestinians.

  • Monday Nov. 8, 2010 4:05 PM (EST+7)
    Germany wants Gaza open and Israeli soldier freed
    German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle urged Israel on Monday to end its blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and called on the Islamist group to free captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

  • Monday Nov. 8, 2010 3:51 PM (EST+7)
    Stressed-out Gazans need therapists, pop pills
    If ever there was a little corner of the world where trauma therapists hanging out their shingle should do a boom business, it has to be Gaza.

    Read more on mental health | health

  • Monday Nov. 8, 2010 8:01 AM (EST+7)
    Israel charges imam with incitement against pope
    Israeli authorities have charged the imam of a mosque in Nazareth with inciting violence against Pope Benedict and supporting al Qaeda and "global jihad", the justice ministry said on Sunday.

  • Monday Nov. 8, 2010 7:57 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza scrap cleaners risk life near tense border
    A Palestinian man was wounded by Israeli gunfire on Sunday while collecting scrap from a border zone in the Gaza Strip, another casualty in one of the blockaded enclave's most dangerous ways to scrape a living.

  • Sunday Nov. 7, 2010 8:16 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian leadership warns US of Netanyahu's "game of seduction"
    Nabil Shaath, a senior Palestinian negotiator indicated that President Obama had abandoned his policy of pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu in favour of a "game of seduction".

  • Sunday Nov. 7, 2010 5:05 PM (EST+7)
    First Israeli firm to hire Palestinian engineers
    Mellanox Technologies, a high-tech Israeli company, considered to offshore jobs to India and China before concluding that hiring Palestinian engineers in the West Bank made more economic sense.

  • Sunday Nov. 7, 2010 10:13 AM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: Israeli military service becoming passe
    Israel's military is struggling with declining conscription rates, reports the Washington Post.

  • Sunday Nov. 7, 2010 9:57 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to withdraw from northern border town
    Israel plans to withdraw from the northern part of the border village of Ghajjar.

  • Sunday Nov. 7, 2010 9:47 AM (EST+7)
    Clashes as police demolish mosque in Negev
    Israeli police and residents clashed as a massive police presence moved into the Negev town of Rahat late Saturday to demolish a mosque, Haaretz reports.

  • Sunday Nov. 7, 2010 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    One injured when Israeli F-16s fire into Gaza
    Israel's airforce fired two missiles form F-16 fighter planes into Gaza Saturday night.

  • Saturday Nov. 6, 2010 11:40 AM (EST+7)
    Plea deal 'only option' for activist Makhoul
    The plea deal struck by the lawyers of activist Ameer Makhoul puts him in prison for seven to ten years.

  • Saturday Nov. 6, 2010 11:27 AM (EST+7)
    US knocks possible Palestinian statehood declaration
    The United States on Friday called "not helpful" possible attempts by Palestinians to seek a statehood declaration from the United Nations. 

  • Saturday Nov. 6, 2010 11:21 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Proposed Knesset laws make opinion a crime
    A new class of ten laws making their way through the Knesset would make it a crime to oppose certain aspects of Israel, writes Neve Gordon.

  • Saturday Nov. 6, 2010 10:57 AM (EST+7)
    Pessimism before next round of Fateh-Hamas talks
    As Palestinian factions Hamas and Fateh head for Damascus for talks on reconciliation, observers are nearly all pessimistic. 

  • Friday Nov. 5, 2010 8:45 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli fast train to run through West Bank
    Israel's long-awaited, $2 billion high-speed train that will run from Tel Aviv through Jerusalem is alarming many international spectators as planners moved parts of the route into the West Bank.

  • Friday Nov. 5, 2010 5:35 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt finds 13 Gaza tunnels used by smugglers
    Egyptian security officials uncovered thirteen tunnels used to smuggle goods under the border between Egypt and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip in the past two days.

  • Friday Nov. 5, 2010 4:19 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza surfer girls find freedom on the waves
    Two sisters from the Gaza Strip dip into the Mediterranean Sea with their surfboards, and not deterred from the political and societal upheaval that continues to flood their way. 

  • Friday Nov. 5, 2010 3:48 PM (EST+7)
    PA gives US more time to relaunch talks
    The Palestinians will give the United States several more weeks to try to relaunch direct peace talks with Israel, but will not buckle on their key demand for a halt to Israeli settlement activity, a top Palestinian official said on Thursday.

  • Friday Nov. 5, 2010 12:30 PM (EST+7)
    Integrating settlements in a Palestinian state
    Settlement leader Rabbi Menachem Forman is advocating a new approach to the problem of settlers in the West Bank: let them stay.

  • Thursday Nov. 4, 2010 9:47 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW-Hamas sees long road to reconciliation with Fatah
    A senior Hamas official said on Thursday next week's talks on security cooperation with rivals Fatah could narrow Palestinian divisions but suggested that reconciliation was some way off.

  • Thursday Nov. 4, 2010 7:42 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's Barak stung by "idiot" insult
    Sniping at Barak -- a former prime minister and an ex-general who has been widely hailed by friend and foe in Israel as a brilliant thinker -- a political rival in his own party called him "an idiot" on television late on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Nov. 4, 2010 7:19 PM (EST+7)
    Rise of Hamas military wing challenges reconciliation talks with Fatah
    Reconciliation talks slated to resume on Nov. 9 might be hindered as the rising clout of Al Qassam in Gaza dims prospects for mending the Hamas-Fatah rift

  • Thursday Nov. 4, 2010 6:17 PM (EST+7)
    Factions meet for youth, but no compromise in sight
    Palestinian party representatives, including members of Fateh and Hamas, sat in the same room yesterday reaching out to the young crowd in a rare political youth dialogue hosted by Sharek Youth Forum, a Ramallah-based nonpartisan youth organization.

  • Thursday Nov. 4, 2010 4:31 PM (EST+7)
    Forbes ranks Netanyahu as 24th most powerful person in the world
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ranked the 24th most powerful person in the world by Forbes magazine in its list of "The World's Most Powerful People" released on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Nov. 4, 2010 11:31 AM (EST+7)
    Israel rescinds travel privileges from Palestinian officials
    Israel has blocked Palestinian officials from driving their personal cars to Jordan, restricting the privilege to the president and prime minister, reported Israel radio on Thursday morning.

  • Thursday Nov. 4, 2010 10:06 AM (EST+7)
    US faults human rights body, will still work with it
    The United States criticized the main UN human rights forum on Wednesday for what it called an unbalanced approach to Israel but made clear it would go on working with a body it joined just last year.

  • Thursday Nov. 4, 2010 9:50 AM (EST+7)
    Salafi leader calls on Hamas to change its ways
    A leader of a Salafi group in the Gaza Strip called in an interview for Hamas to implement sharia or Islamic law in the swathe of land it controls.

  • Thursday Nov. 4, 2010 9:26 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Israel 'ambushed' UK official
    British officials were furious when a leaked report about halted cooperation between Israel and the UK greeted the British foreign secretary in his visit to the region Thursday, reports the Independent.

  • Thursday Nov. 4, 2010 9:11 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton plans to meet Netanyahu next week
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday she plans to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the United States next week.

  • Wednesday Nov. 3, 2010 9:01 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli military says it killed Palestinian man
    Israel admitted to assassinating 27-year-old Mohammed Nimnim, killed outside police headquarters in Gaza City early Wednesday afternoon.

  • Wednesday Nov. 3, 2010 7:37 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to publish Palestinian 'incitement index'
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu's cabinet deliberated a draft that would measure anti-Israeli incitement in the Palestinian Authority such as in schoolbooks, institutionalized media and remarks made by senior Palestinian Authority officials.

  • Wednesday Nov. 3, 2010 4:51 PM (EST+7)
    Israel halts strategic UK talks over lawsuits
    Israel has stopped sending delegations for routine strategic talks with Britain out of fear pro-Palestinian activists would seek their arrest for alleged war crimes.

  • Wednesday Nov. 3, 2010 2:02 PM (EST+7)
    British official to meet Palestinian activists against the Wall
    British Foreign Secretary Willian Hague will break with tradition and meet two Palestinians who participate in protests against the Wall Israel is constructing through the West Bank

  • Wednesday Nov. 3, 2010 1:47 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Obama's mid-term loss could be Netanyahu's Mideast win
    For Benjamin Netanyahu, the view from Capitol Hill seemingly couldn't get much better.

  • Wednesday Nov. 3, 2010 12:48 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas: Car explodes near Gaza police headquarters
    A car exploded outside a police headquarters in the city of Gaza on Wednesday, causing at least one casualty, Hamas radio said.

  • Wednesday Nov. 3, 2010 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    Abed Rabbo: Israel engineered US elections defeat
    Israel cooperated with Republicans to engineer the defeat of the Democratic party in US mid-term elections held Tuesday, charged PLO leader Yasser Abed Rabbo on Voice of Palestine Radio.

  • Tuesday Nov. 2, 2010 7:23 PM (EST+7)
    Amr Moussa: Talks being held on UN-led peace process
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Arab League nations are considering bringing the Middle East Peace talks directly to the United Nations, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said in an interview with Fox News Radio.

  • Tuesday Nov. 2, 2010 5:51 PM (EST+7)
    Settler violence against Palestinian children increasing says report
    Palestinian children are coming under increasing attack by a handful of violent, extremist Jewish settlers, a rights group said on Monday in a report on the human cost of settlement expansion.

  • Tuesday Nov. 2, 2010 5:16 PM (EST+7)
    Airport symbolises Palestinian statehood hopes
    Engineers in the West Bank have drawn up plans to turn a strip of desert in the Jordan Valley into an airport where they hope visitors will one day touch down in the independent state of Palestine.

  • Tuesday Nov. 2, 2010 12:34 PM (EST+7)
    Rights groups: Palestinian detainees face abuse
    Palestinian detainees are kept in small dirty cells, interrogated in uncomfortable positions and sometimes hit by their Israeli interrogators, found two human rights groups in a report issued Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Nov. 2, 2010 11:34 AM (EST+7)
    PM Fayyad inaugurates two Jerusalem-area schools, one by phone
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad participated in the inauguration of two schools in the Jerusalem area Tuesday morning, speaking to crowds at one of them by telephone, after Israeli officials banned his visit.

  • Monday Nov. 1, 2010 8:45 PM (EST+7)
    Israel blocks Palestinian PM Fayyad from entering J'lem
    Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch signed an order tonight requiring permits for Palestinian Authority officials entering Israel. The edict will prevent PA Prime Minister Saeb Fayyad tomorrow from a scheduled visit to two schools in East Jerusalem.

  • Monday Nov. 1, 2010 6:49 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian developer feels West Bank land squeeze
    A major developer says Palestinians will not be able to meet demand for 450,000 new homes in the West Bank over the next decade unless Israel eases restrictions on land use.

  • Monday Nov. 1, 2010 3:26 PM (EST+7)
    Lawyer: Boys abused in Israeli detention
    Two boys from the village of Beit Ur in Ramallah were abused in detention by being stripped naked and urinated upon periodically for two days, said their lawyer.

  • Monday Nov. 1, 2010 9:58 AM (EST+7)
    Dichter denied immunity for Spain visit
    Former head of Israeli security Avi Dichter was denied a request for immunity from prosecution in Spain, says a human rights group.

  • Monday Nov. 1, 2010 9:27 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Obama's defeat not Netanyahu's victory
    Officials in Tel Aviv should not be celebrating an expected poor showing by the Democratic party Tuesday, writes Akiva Eldar.

  • Monday Nov. 1, 2010 9:07 AM (EST+7)
    Some good news for Obama from Israel 'Tea Party'
    A "Say No to Obama" event in Israel drew only 100 supporters on Sunday to the launch of an Israeli version of the Tea Party movement that is challenging the US president in Tuesday's mid-term elections.

  • Sunday Oct. 31, 2010 12:42 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu plans US visit but unlikely to meet Obama
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to New Orleans early in November for an annual US Jewish conference, but is unlikely to meet President Barack Obama, who will be in Asia.

  • Sunday Oct. 31, 2010 10:13 AM (EST+7)
    Police: Jerusalem church fire was not arson
    A fire that broke out in a Jerusalem church on Thursday was not arson as originally reported, said a police spokesperson.

  • Sunday Oct. 31, 2010 9:30 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis rally to remember Yitzhak Rabin
    Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv Saturday to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the death of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

  • Sunday Oct. 31, 2010 9:15 AM (EST+7)
    Reps press Obama to oppose Palestinian UN bid
    A major Republican caucus has written to US president Barack Obama, asking him to oppose Palestinian efforts to appeal to the United Nations for a resolution on Palestinian statehood.

  • Sunday Oct. 31, 2010 8:54 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt author threatens to sue over Hebrew translation
    An Egyptian author said on Saturday he would take legal action against the publishers of an unauthorized Hebrew translation of his bestselling novel, released without his permission by a Jerusalem-based group.

  • Friday Oct. 29, 2010 7:24 PM (EST+7)
    Israel: UNESCO West Bank decision 'absurd'
    The UN body in charge of preserving historical sites has chosen to define West Bank shrines sacred to both Muslims and Jews as Palestinian.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the decision ‘absurd’ on Friday.


  • Friday Oct. 29, 2010 3:34 PM (EST+7)
    Thousands in Gaza City celebrate 23rd anniversary of Islamic Jihad
    Tens of thousands gathered in Gaza City today to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The supporters also praised the legacy of founder Fathi al-Shqaqi assassinated 15 years ago by Israel in Malta.

  • Friday Oct. 29, 2010 12:39 PM (EST+7)
    UNRWA: Lebanon's refugee camps are just as bad as Gaza
    UNRWA Lebanon director Salvatore Lombardo said yesterday in Beirut that Palestinians in Gaza and Lebanon's twelve refugee camps face similar hardships and squalid living conditions. At the beginning of the World Education Forum, Lombardo said Lebanese limitations on Palestinian employment mean continual disenfranchisement and economic ruin even for the less than three percent of Palestinian refugees with education.

  • Friday Oct. 29, 2010 12:01 PM (EST+7)
    US proposes long-term Israeli leases in E Jerusalem
    US has proposed a peace deal where Israel would lease land for decades in East Jerusalem from a future Palestinian state. While discussing future borders of Israel and Palestine in bilateral secret talks, the US proposed 40 and 90-year contracts for large land leases in the Jordan Valley and Jerusalem in exchange for Israeli recognition of a sovereign Palestinian nation.

  • Friday Oct. 29, 2010 11:30 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli Army block Palestinian children from attending film festival
    Israeli soldiers blocked Palestinian children from attending a children's film festival in Tel Aviv and watching their own acting in a Children Make Movies project about inter-cultural understanding in Palestine and Israel. The group was delayed long enough to miss their showtime, and returned to their village Umm al-Hir.

  • Friday Oct. 29, 2010 9:29 AM (EST+7)
    Fatah-Hamas feud keeps Gaza in the dark
    Fatah and Hamas are pointing fingers at each other over electrical blackouts and bills in the Gaza Strip. They blame each other for the mishandling of foreign aid and tax revenue leading to roughly half of Gaza's 1.5 million besieged and impoverished residents living without sufficient electricity, dependent on dangerous generators.

  • Thursday Oct. 28, 2010 6:43 PM (EST+7)
    Jordan condemns UNRWA head comment "right of return unlikely"
    Today the director of Jordan's Palestinian Affairs Department Wajih Azaizeh called remarks made by United Nations Relief and Works Agency head Andrew Whitley last week "irresponsible."

  • Thursday Oct. 28, 2010 6:10 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas, Egyptian FM: return to peace talks hinge on settlements
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday he was still focused on a return to direct peace talks with Israel but looking at alternatives. Abbas, speaking alongside Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, repeated his demand for a halt to Jewish settlement building on occupied land before any return to peace talks.

  • Thursday Oct. 28, 2010 11:42 AM (EST+7)
    Israel convicts Israeli-Arab of spying for Hezbollah
    An Israeli-Arab human rights activist was convicted of spying for the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah by an Israeli court on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Oct. 28, 2010 9:41 AM (EST+7)
    World education forum opens
    Thousands of delegates from around the world will be in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories from October 28-31 for the World Education Forum (WEF).

  • Wednesday Oct. 27, 2010 7:38 PM (EST+7)
    PA against attempts to persuade Hamas to join peace process
    The Palestinian Authority is wary of the US and EU's attempts to reach out to Hamas, it's rival party, to participate in the Middle East peace process. The PA’s announcement comes amid resumed Fatah and Hamas “reconciliation” talks expected next week.

  • Wednesday Oct. 27, 2010 4:39 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: In West Bank, Hamas beaten down, but not out
    Despite the Palestinian Authority's efforts to crackdown on Hamas supporters in the West Bank, which has seriously debilitated the movement, it is still far from dead. 

  • Wednesday Oct. 27, 2010 3:01 PM (EST+7)
    Protest leads to clashes in Um al-Fahm
    Clashes broke out between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in the northern town of Um al-Fahm Wednesday, as right wing Israelis staged a protest.

  • Wednesday Oct. 27, 2010 2:47 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian armed man killed near Israel-Gaza border
    An Israeli tank shell killed a Palestinian militant from the Islamic Jihad movement in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday near the Israeli border, Palestinian medical workers said.

  • Wednesday Oct. 27, 2010 10:42 AM (EST+7)
    Girl succumbs to treatable cancer in blockaded Gaza
    Two-year-old Nasma Abu Lasheen spent most of her short life being shuttled from one hospital to another, hoping for successful treatment of leukemia.

  • Wednesday Oct. 27, 2010 9:54 AM (EST+7)
    Police brace for clashes in Um al-Fahem
    Over a thousand Israel police officers have deployed in the northern Israel Arab town of Um al-Fahem in preparation for a demonstration by rightists.

  • Wednesday Oct. 27, 2010 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Children feel brunt of repeated demolitions
    “The first demolition was horrible for us kids,” said Alia, a 14-year-old resident of al-Araqib, a Palestinian Bedouin village in the northern Negev desert.

    Read more on house demolitions | Bedouin

  • Tuesday Oct. 26, 2010 10:12 PM (EST+7)
    A thousand celebrate legacy of Kahane in Jerusalem
    A thousand supporters gathered at the Ramada Renaissance Hotel in Jerusalem tonight to celebrate the legacy of Rabbi Meir Kahane, an ultra-nationalist assassinated 20 years ago. The American-born Kahane advocated the violent annexation of the West Bank and Gaza, founded the racist and banned Kach party, and called for Israel to adopt Jewish over democratic law.

  • Tuesday Oct. 26, 2010 7:36 PM (EST+7)
    Desmond Tutu asks opera to boycott Israel
    Archbishop Desmond Tutu today asked a South African opera troupe to cancel its planned Israeli tour, comparing the apartheid he earned a Nobel Peace Prize fighting against to Israel's current "society founded on discriminatory laws and racial exclusivity."

  • Tuesday Oct. 26, 2010 6:02 PM (EST+7)
    UN envoy demands Israel act against settler attacks
    A senior UN official condemned attacks by Jewish "settler extremists" on Palestinians' olive trees in the occupied West Bank and called on Israel to "combat violence and terror by Israelis."

  • Tuesday Oct. 26, 2010 9:30 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu plans for settlement freeze, coalition change
    Israel's prime minister is planning to implement a settlement freeze, changing a key party in his government coalition in order to do so, reported an Israeli daily on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Oct. 26, 2010 9:23 AM (EST+7)
    Israel slams Catholic synod statement
    Israel over the weekend slammed a statement made by a Catholic synod supporting Palestinian rights to a state with its capital in Jerusalem.

  • Tuesday Oct. 26, 2010 8:20 AM (EST+7)
    Hawkish Israeli minister drafts nuclear Iran plan
    Hardline Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has commissioned a report on how to prepare for a nuclear-armed Iran as doubt mounts about the efficacy of preventive action, an Israeli source said on Monday.

  • Monday Oct. 25, 2010 8:11 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas: Settlements are a unilateral step taken by Israel
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday that settlements have, for decades been a unilateral step taken by Israel. The statement came in response to Prime Minister Netanyahu's statement who has urged Palestinians not to take a unilateral approach towards statehood.

  • Monday Oct. 25, 2010 6:59 PM (EST+7)
    Marmara flotilla passenger: Israeli army didn't treat wounded
    Muhammed Zaidan, an Israeli-Arab who was aboard the Gaza-bound Turkish aid ship raided by the Israeli army on May 31st, stated Monday that the soldiers ignored wounded passengers. Treatment to bleeding passengers was refused for over one hour.

  • Monday Oct. 25, 2010 11:58 AM (EST+7)
    Is Palestine becoming another Middle East police state?
    As the Palestinian Authority develops an effective security apparatus with the aid of the United States and Europe, the lack of concurrent political reforms may lead Palestine into becoming another Middle East police state.

  • Monday Oct. 25, 2010 11:22 AM (EST+7)
    New demolition orders distributed in Silwan
    Israeli army and police descended on Silwan neighborhood in Jerusalem Sunday, distributing notices that more homes would be demolished in the threatened neighborhood.

  • Monday Oct. 25, 2010 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu warns Palestinians against unilateral acts
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Palestinians on Sunday not to take unilateral steps towards statehood, saying Israel was working closely with Washington on ways to restart peace talks.

  • Monday Oct. 25, 2010 8:31 AM (EST+7)
    'Breaking the Silence' posts new Gaza War abuse photos
    The Israeli human rights group, Breaking the Silence, which collects anonymous testimonies from Israeli soldiers, has posted another round of photos documenting abuse of Palestinian civilians during the war in Gaza of 2009.

  • Sunday Oct. 24, 2010 6:09 PM (EST+7)
    Saudi Arabia pledges $100 million to curb massive PA budget deficit
    A pledge of $100 million from Saudi Arabia and other international aid is easing the Palestinian Authority's (PA) financial crisis, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Oct. 24, 2010 5:34 PM (EST+7)
    UN Spokesman: Israel restricts building of Gaza schools
    A UN Spokesman speaking from Gaza on Sunday said that Israel has restricted the building of new schools in the Gaza Strip by barring the entry of construction material, according to Xinhua.

  • Sunday Oct. 24, 2010 4:59 PM (EST+7)
    Ashkenazi: Israelis fired 308 bullets aboard Gaza ship
    Israeli commandos fired 308 live bullets aboard a Gaza-bound aid ship in May to repel passengers who attacked them with lethal weapons including a snatched Uzi machine pistol, Israel's top general said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Oct. 24, 2010 10:17 AM (EST+7)
    Rafah crossing operating - but no one knows for how long
    Since Egypt opened Rafah crossing in June 2010, the border sees little of the chaos and traffic jams that it used to.

  • Saturday Oct. 23, 2010 10:00 AM (EST+7)
    Lawyer: 'White wash' continues with driver's testimony in Corrie trial
    The civil trial by the family of slain human rights activist Rachel Corrie against the Israeli government resumed on Thursday with the testimony of the bulldozer driver who crushed Rachel's body in 2003. 

  • Friday Oct. 22, 2010 7:37 PM (EST+7)
    Carter condemns Israeli E Jerusalem evictions
    Israeli policy in East Jerusalem is illegal, said Former US President Jimmy Carter while visiting the weekly Sheikh Jarrah protest.

  • Friday Oct. 22, 2010 5:51 PM (EST+7)
    Israel warns PA statehood declaration has consequences
    Israeli defense ministry threatened unspecified unilateral actions if the Palestinian Authority seeks statehood recognition from the United Nations and does not resume talks.

  • Friday Oct. 22, 2010 10:49 AM (EST+7)
    Peres: Peace with Palestinians would help US on Iran
    Israel needs good ties with the United States to survive and must be more understanding of US demands over securing peace with the Palestinians, Israeli President Shimon Peres said in remarks aired on Friday.

  • Thursday Oct. 21, 2010 7:13 PM (EST+7)
    Peace Now, AP: Settlement construction booming post-freeze
    Since the end of the construction moratorium on 26 February, almost 600 new illegal settlement projects have begun in the West Bank, according to separate studies done by the AP and Israeli human rights group Peace Now.

  • Thursday Oct. 21, 2010 5:43 PM (EST+7)
    Knesset Speaker criticizes former US President
    Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin criticized former President Jimmy Carter for meeting with two Hamas leaders in Damascus.

  • Thursday Oct. 21, 2010 10:02 AM (EST+7)
    Food festival revives declining Hebron old city
    Hebron’s old city came to life this week as hundreds gathered for its first traditional foods festival.

  • Thursday Oct. 21, 2010 8:39 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton: Talks only way forward for Mideast peace
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Israel and the Palestinians on Wednesday there was no "magic formula" to break an impasse over peace talks, but said hard work could still yield a deal.

  • Wednesday Oct. 20, 2010 6:39 PM (EST+7)
    Human Rights Watch calls on PA to investigate torture in prisons
    Human Rights Watch called on the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday to 'promptly investigate' the alleged torture of two detainees over the last month in a PA-run prison in Jericho.

  • Wednesday Oct. 20, 2010 5:49 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: US midterm vote to influence Mideast peace
    Next month's US midterm elections might do more than just redefine the political landscape in Washington, they could also have a significant impact on stalled Middle East peace talks. Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, launched with gusto by President Barack Obama in September, have fallen into limbo ahead of the Nov. 2 vote as both sides bide their time and wait to see how the US leader emerges from the campaign.

  • Wednesday Oct. 20, 2010 4:40 PM (EST+7)
    PA ready to build international airport in West Bank
    A minister in the Palestinian Authority has said the government is ready to begin building an international airport in the West Bank, according to the DPA.

  • Wednesday Oct. 20, 2010 4:05 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's Labour party threatens to leave governing coalition
    Israel's Labour Party would walk out of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government if peace talks with the Palestinians do not resume by the end of the year, a senior figure in the party said on Wednesday.

  • Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010 6:12 PM (EST+7)
    Carter: Gaza blockade must be lifted now
    From Damascus, former US President Jimmy Carter called on Israel to lift the three-year old blockade of Gaza.

  • Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010 5:59 PM (EST+7)
    Israel eyes US trade pact with Palestinians says minister
    Israel hopes a U.S.-backed initiative that helped it expand trade and economic ties with Egypt and Jordan could be part of a peace deal with the Palestinians, a top Israeli official said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010 4:39 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas: Israel agreed to trade Barghouti for Shalit
    Israel and Hamas agreed today to exchange two high-profile prisoners, Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar said. From the Gaza Strip, German mediator Gerhard Konrad produced a deal where Galid Shalit and Marwan Barghouti would be traded, according to Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian news agencies.

  • Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010 11:51 AM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem's street vendors targeted for harassment
    Despite having permits from the Israeli courts, Jerusalem's Palestinian street vendors are subjected to increasing harassment from the Israeli municipality, threatening a way of life that has persisted for decades. 

  • Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010 10:31 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli MK proposes bill to exclude Palestinians from giving tours
    An Israeli Minister of Knesset has proposed a bill that would bar any East Jerusalem resident from giving guided tours of the city, potentially stripping the livelihood of hundreds of Palestinian residents.

  • Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010 9:21 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli crackdown sends Silwan into panic
    Clashes broke out in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan Monday as Israeli forces sought to demolish a protest tent established to resist the growing presence of Israeli settlers in the area.

  • Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010 9:01 AM (EST+7)
    POLL: Many young Israeli Jews think they are smarter than Arabs
    A new poll finds that close to half of young Jews believe that they are smarter than Arabs, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010 8:53 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas adviser: Reconciliation must come before Israel talks
    Palestinians must first come to a national reconciliation pact for their to be a meaningful peace process, says an adviser to the Hamas prime minister.

  • Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010 8:14 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli PM wants loyalty oath extended to Jews
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to extend a loyalty oath for candidates for Israeli citizenship to include Jews as well as non-Jews, his office said on Monday.

  • Tuesday Oct. 19, 2010 8:08 AM (EST+7)
    Ambassador: Israel might extend settlement freeze
    Israel might renew a moratorium on building Jewish settlements in the West Bank after its end last month abruptly froze peace talks with the Palestinians, Israel's new UN ambassador said on Monday.

  • Monday Oct. 18, 2010 8:16 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians urge boycott of Israel's OECD debut
    The Middle East conflict cast a shadow on Monday over Israel's first conference as a member of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, with Palestinians urging members to boycott the Jerusalem meeting.

  • Sunday Oct. 17, 2010 7:27 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas uncovers Israeli collaborator spying since 1972
    Hamas interior minister Fathi Hamad said this Sunday the Gazan intelligence service has uncovered a collaborator who began spying for Israel in 1972 when he was sixteen.

  • Sunday Oct. 17, 2010 5:49 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli inquiry issues call for flotilla witnesses
    An Israeli commission investigating the storming of a Gaza-bound ship in which nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists were killed issued an open invitation on Sunday for passengers and crew to testify.

  • Sunday Oct. 17, 2010 4:57 PM (EST+7)
    New date sought for Paris peace summit - Israel
    A planned Israeli-Palestinian summit due to be held in Paris by the end of the month has been rescheduled, the Israeli prime minister's office said on Saturday, a sign of increased strain over stalled peace talks.

  • Sunday Oct. 17, 2010 4:11 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli airstrike kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza
    An Israeli air strike on Sunday killed two armed Palestinian in the northern Gaza Strip who had attempted to launch rockets at Israel, the Israeli military and Palestinian medics said.

  • Sunday Oct. 17, 2010 11:11 AM (EST+7)
    Tending the land, Palestinian villagers clash with settlers
    Friday marked the start of the Palestinian olive-picking season and, for the villagers of Azmut, it was a day of fear and trepidation. 

  • Saturday Oct. 16, 2010 11:47 AM (EST+7)
    Villagers revive destroyed home of Iqrit
    Marouf Ashkar, an internally displaced Palestinian refugee, hasn’t forgotten an inch of his village, which spanned over 25,000 dunams and counted approximately 500 residents before the Nakba of 1948.

    Read more on refugees and internally-displaced persons

  • Saturday Oct. 16, 2010 9:43 AM (EST+7)
    Hezbollah tightly controls media for Ahmadinejad visit
    It used to be that journalists were able to roam freely in southern Beirut. Not so anymore, says Global Post reporter Heather Murdoch.

  • Saturday Oct. 16, 2010 9:29 AM (EST+7)
    'Viva Palestina' flotilla allowed passage through Egypt
    A fleet of ships that organizers say is the largest to try to break the Gaza blockade is set to leave Egypt this weekend.

  • Saturday Oct. 16, 2010 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    US 'disappointed' on Israeli settlement building
    The United States express "disappointment" Friday after the Israeli government reportedly approved new housing in the settlements of Ramot and Pisgat Zeev. 

  • Saturday Oct. 16, 2010 8:08 AM (EST+7)
    General Dayton departs Palestinian security oversight
    Former air force bomber Lt. Gen. Michael Moeller took over last week for outgoing Palestinian security adviser Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, whose name has become synonymous with plans to build up the Palestinian security forces. 

  • Friday Oct. 15, 2010 6:40 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Ahmadinejad's tour to Lebanon is revealing
    Lebanon’s southern border, so often a battleground, hosted the last part of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s tour yesterday. Robert Fisk analysis the man conducting this provocative visit, so well received by Lebanon’s Shia Muslim population.

  • Friday Oct. 15, 2010 6:05 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: New loyalty oath contradicts Declaration of Independence
    The recently approved loyalty oath contradicts Israel's Declaration of Independence according to New Israeli Fund president Naomi Chazan, because it denies democratic rights to one out of every five Israelis.

  • Friday Oct. 15, 2010 5:31 PM (EST+7)
    Made in Palestine: women knit Jewish kippas
    In the Palestinian village of Lubban al-Gharbii in the occupied West Bank, more than a hundred Arab women are crafting one of the icons of the Jewish faith. For each skullcap, or kippa, the women ear eight shekels per skullcap. Across the West Bank, where one in five are unemployed, thousands of women weave kippas to be sold across the Wall to devout Israeli Jews.

  • Friday Oct. 15, 2010 4:46 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians protest new Jerusalem housing plan
    Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel on Friday of choosing "settlements over peace" in a protest over publication of a plan to build 238 housing units in East Jerusalem.

  • Friday Oct. 15, 2010 10:37 AM (EST+7)
    OXFAM calls on Israel to lift restrictions on olive production
    Oxfam international has called on Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinian farmers, which are 'stifling' the olive production industry, according to the AFP.

  • Friday Oct. 15, 2010 9:45 AM (EST+7)
    Dismay, disillusionment prevail in Palestinian camp
    The stalemate in direct peace talks with Israel risks undermining the moderate Palestinian leadership and should force world powers to reassess their Middle East strategy, senior Palestinian officials say.

  • Friday Oct. 15, 2010 8:51 AM (EST+7)
    Ex-President Carter to start Mideast peace tour
    Former US President Jimmy Carter will start a tour of the Middle East on Saturday to build support for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

  • Thursday Oct. 14, 2010 1:47 PM (EST+7)
    New law will disenfranchise Bedouin children
    A new amendment to the Israeli National Insurance Law will harm thousands of children, according a petition submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court by minority rights legal center Adalah.

  • Thursday Oct. 14, 2010 9:12 AM (EST+7)
    Rights groups testify before Israel's flotilla commission
    Three human rights organizations on Wednesday testified before the Israeli- government appointed public inquiry into Israel’s naval raid of the Mavi Marmara, the Gaza bound aid flotilla on which nine people were killed.

  • Thursday Oct. 14, 2010 8:36 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian negotiator denies positive response to Israeli offer
    Palestinians have not submitted a request to Israel and the United States for the borders of Israel in response to an exchange offer by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reports Xinua.

  • Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010 9:43 PM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem mayor calls for new East Jerusalem zoning plans
    Jerusalem's mayor, Nir Barkat, has once again called on Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve a controversial re-zoning plan for occupied East Jerusalem, according to the AFP.

  • Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010 4:23 PM (EST+7)
    PLO demands border clarity from US, Israel
    The Palestinians are seeking a map from the United States showing where Israel sees its final borders and making clear whether they include Palestinian land and homes, an official said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010 10:44 AM (EST+7)
    Olive groves in front line in struggle over land
    As the olive harvest gets underway, Palestinians are finding their trees vandalized, and entire groves of olives picked clean.

  • Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010 10:37 AM (EST+7)
    Lebanese Shiites give Ahmadinejad hero's welcome
    Thousands of Lebanese Shiites gave Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a tumultuous welcome on Wednesday at the start of a visit which has highlighted Western fears about Tehran's growing influence in Lebanon.

  • Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010 9:21 AM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Bilin organizer's wife talks about his trial, detention
    Magda Abu Rahme, the wife of detained Bilin community organizer Abdullah Abu Rahme, speaks of her relief after his sentencing this week to one year in prison.

  • Wednesday Oct. 13, 2010 0:53 AM (EST+7)
    US nudges Palestinians to answer Israeli proposal
    The United States nudged the Palestinian Authority to make a counter-offer to Israel's proposal for a new freeze on building in Jewish settlements if the Palestinians recognized Israel as a Jewish state.

  • Tuesday Oct. 12, 2010 8:26 PM (EST+7)
    Prospects for reviving Mideast peace talks
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threw a new twist into efforts to rescue Middle East talks by conditioning renewal of a partial settlement building freeze on Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

  • Tuesday Oct. 12, 2010 3:02 PM (EST+7)
    OECD tourism conference raises questions over international law
    The upcoming tourism conference set in Jerusalem for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a group of the world's wealthiest economies, has raised questions over Israel's tourism industry and its occupation of the Palestinian territories.

  • Tuesday Oct. 12, 2010 1:45 PM (EST+7)
    Rawabi development remains dusty hilltop without Israeli approval
    The Rawabi development project, the first planned Palestinian city to be built in the West Bank, remains stalled, unable to get the necessary Israeli government approval for an access road that will connect it to the major Palestinian city of Ramallah.

  • Tuesday Oct. 12, 2010 12:12 PM (EST+7)
    Israel pressed to investigate child shootings
    Humanitarian agencies are urging Israel investigate the shooting of some 12 boys and young men as they were collecting gravel near the military-imposed buffer zone in the Gaza Strip.

  • Tuesday Oct. 12, 2010 9:36 AM (EST+7)
    PA accepts joint-narrative textbook for schoolchildren, Israel rejects
    The Palestinian Authority has accepted a textbook into its school curriculum that includes the Israeli nationalist narrative alongside the Palestinian one.

  • Tuesday Oct. 12, 2010 8:28 AM (EST+7)
    Israel sentences community organizer to year in prison
    Israel’s military court Monday sentenced Palestinian community organizer Abdullah Abu Rahme to a year’s imprisonment for organizing demonstrations against the Wall Israel constructed at Bilin.

  • Monday Oct. 11, 2010 8:38 PM (EST+7)
    Territorial concessions only by referendum decides Israeli Ministerial panel
    The cabinet will support a bill that outlines a referendum that would be held prior to any territorial concessions said the he Knesset's Ministerial Committee on Legislation ruled on Monday.

  • Monday Oct. 11, 2010 5:42 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians say no to partial settlement freeze with conditions
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered the Palestinians a trade off on Monday to revive peace talks they quit -- a new freeze on building in settlements if they recognise Israel as a Jewish state.

  • Monday Oct. 11, 2010 4:58 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS-Abbas has few options as Mideast talks flounder
    A Palestinian threat of unilateral steps towards the creation of their own state if peace talks with Israel fail has little chance of success because it is unlikely to receive international support.

  • Monday Oct. 11, 2010 11:57 AM (EST+7)
    Arab MKs denounce law requiring loyalty oath
    Arab members of Israel's parliament denounced new amendments to Israel's citizenship law that will make it a requirement for citizens to swear allegiance to the "Jewish and democratic state of Israel."

  • Monday Oct. 11, 2010 8:39 AM (EST+7)
    Jericho revelers glimpse rare mosaic
    Palestinians celebrating the 10,000th birthday of Jericho got a rare glimpse of a large mosaic that usually remains covered to protect it from the elements.

  • Sunday Oct. 10, 2010 8:05 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS-Israel keeps door open to new settlement freeze
    Israel is not closing the door on a further freeze of new construction in West Bank settlements after the Palestinians, backed by Arab powers, gave Washington a one-month window to save peace talks from collapse.

  • Sunday Oct. 10, 2010 6:08 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli govt votes for loyalty oath to Jewish state
    The Israeli government voted on Sunday in favor of legislation that would require candidates for Israeli citizenship to pledge loyalty to the "Jewish and democratic state of Israel".

  • Sunday Oct. 10, 2010 1:42 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Rival Palestinian factions unlikely to reconcile soon
    Rival Palestinian factions Fateh and Hamas say they have come close to agreeing on an Egyptian- brokered pact for national reconciliation.

  • Saturday Oct. 9, 2010 11:04 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas may ask US to recognize Palestinian state
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has told Arab leaders he may seek US recognition for a Palestinian state taking in all of the West Bank should peace talks with Israel stay stalled, an aide said on Saturday.

  • Saturday Oct. 9, 2010 9:20 AM (EST+7)
    US welcomes Arab League backing
    A US State Department spokesperson welcomed the Arab League's decision Friday to allow the US an additional month to try to bring Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiating table.

  • Friday Oct. 8, 2010 10:40 PM (EST+7)
    Arabs give Mideast peace talks a few weeks to restart
    Arab states say direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are not advancing and will discuss alternatives in the coming weeks, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Friday.

  • Friday Oct. 8, 2010 7:59 PM (EST+7)
    Drug bonfire: Hamas declares war on drugs in Gaza City
    Hamas has displayed its war on the illegal drug trade in the Gaza Strip with the public burning of a multimillion-dollar stash of illegal drugs. The government staged the burning outside Nasser Children’s hospital in the heart of Gaza City.

  • Friday Oct. 8, 2010 7:31 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza flotilla attack: calls for international criminal court to step in
    Turkish victims of Israel’s naval raid on a Gaza bound aid ship are urging the International Criminal Court to prosecute members of the Israeli army involved in the raid.

  • Friday Oct. 8, 2010 3:08 PM (EST+7)
    Arab League says Arab-Israeli peace talks going nowhere
    The Arab League does not believe that peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are bearing fruit, but stopped short of asking the Palestinians to walk away, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Friday.

  • Friday Oct. 8, 2010 12:28 PM (EST+7)
    Columbia University inaugurates Center for Palestine Studies
    Columbia University, one of the leading institutions of higher education in the United States, inaugurated the Center for Palestine Studies on Thursday.

  • Friday Oct. 8, 2010 11:49 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis kill two Palestinians in Hebron incursion
    Israeli forces in the West Bank shot dead two Hamas fighters held responsible for the killing of four Israelis a month ago, a senior Palestinian security official said.

  • Thursday Oct. 7, 2010 1:06 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu seeks loyalty oath to Jewish nation-state
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will push for legislation to require those wanting to become Israeli citizens to pledge loyalty to the "nation-state of the Jewish people", an Israeli official said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Oct. 7, 2010 12:44 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian sees no serious talks with Netanyahu
    A senior Palestinian official said on Thursday he saw no hope of a serious peace process with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in some of the darkest comments to date on the US-mediated talks.

  • Thursday Oct. 7, 2010 12:41 PM (EST+7)
    In Holy Land, Christians community in decline
    In the land where Jesus lived, Christians say their dwindling numbers are turning churches from places of worship into museums.

  • Thursday Oct. 7, 2010 12:28 PM (EST+7)
    SPECIAL: West Bank sewage flows freely, politics preventing treatment
    Twenty-five million cubic meters of untreated sewage leak into the West Bank’s environment every year, according to the World Bank.

  • Thursday Oct. 7, 2010 8:17 AM (EST+7)
    Israel bombs Hamas base in Gaza
    Israeli war planes bombed a Hamas Islamist training camp in the Gaza Strip before dawn on Thursday following a rocket launching from the enclave a day earlier, Israeli military sources and Hamas officials said.

  • Wednesday Oct. 6, 2010 8:42 PM (EST+7)
    Olympic head calls for easing Palestinian access
    Olympics chief Jacques Rogge on Wednesday called for Israel to give more help to Palestinian athletes in his "message of peace" during a major tour of the region.

  • Wednesday Oct. 6, 2010 8:10 PM (EST+7)
    UEFA may evict Israeli soccer team over treatment of Palestinian athletes
    The President of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has said the Israeli team may be banned from the organization over its government's treatment of Palestinian athletes.

  • Wednesday Oct. 6, 2010 5:40 PM (EST+7)
    Tensions high as PA sentences Hamas fighter to 20 years
    The armed wing of the Hamas group and its allies said on Wednesday they would retaliate against the Western-backed Palestinian Authority if it continued to take action against their members in the occupied West Bank.

  • Wednesday Oct. 6, 2010 5:01 PM (EST+7)
    Dancing soldier video goes viral
    Two years after it was posted on YouTube, a video that appears to show an Israeli soldier dancing around a blindfolded and bound Palestinian woman detainee has gone viral on the Internet.

  • Wednesday Oct. 6, 2010 11:53 AM (EST+7)
    World graffitis messages on West Bank wall
    Post your message on a Dutch website for 30 Euros and you will soon find it painted on the Wall that Israeli has constructed through the West Bank.

  • Wednesday Oct. 6, 2010 11:35 AM (EST+7)
    US warns Lebanon against Ahmadinejad visit to south
    The US State Department said on Tuesday it had warned the Lebanese government about the risks of a visit by Iran's president to Lebanon next week.

  • Wednesday Oct. 6, 2010 11:26 AM (EST+7)
    US still pressing for settlement agreement
    US negotiators continue to talk to Israelis and Palestinians, pressing for an agreement that would allow negotiations between the two parties to continue face-to-face talks begun earlier this summer.

  • Tuesday Oct. 5, 2010 6:39 PM (EST+7)
    Fateh-Hamas to continue talks in Syria
    The two largest Palestinian political parties, Fateh and Hamas, will continue reconciliation talks in Syria on October 20th, according to a senior Hamas official on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Oct. 5, 2010 5:51 PM (EST+7)
    Rabbis deliver Qu'rans to site of torched mosque
    Two rabbis living in settlements near the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem delivered a box of new Qu'rans to the people of Beit Fajjar, whose mosque was torched by militant settlers early Monday morning.

  • Tuesday Oct. 5, 2010 8:33 AM (EST+7)
    Study shows Israelis, Palestinians both retaliate
    An unusual attempt to quantify the conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians shows that both act in retaliation for violent attacks, researchers reported on Monday.

  • Tuesday Oct. 5, 2010 8:31 AM (EST+7)
    Israel orders pro-Palestinian Nobel laureate deported
    A pro-Palestinian Nobel peace laureate has lost an appeal in the Israeli Supreme Court against her deportation after describing Israel as an apartheid state engaged in ethnic cleansing.

  • Monday Oct. 4, 2010 7:22 PM (EST+7)
    Hundreds of activists from Muslim countries planning new Gaza-bound flotilla
    A convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaza Strip is being organised by Pro-Palestinian activists from dozens of Muslim countries.  The convoy will mark a renewed effort to break Israel’s naval blockade of the area.

  • Monday Oct. 4, 2010 4:55 PM (EST+7)
    Korans burnt in West Bank mosque attack
    Jewish settlers opposed to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians were accused of setting fire to a mosque in the West Bank on Monday, burning the Koran and scrawling threats in Hebrew on its walls.

  • Monday Oct. 4, 2010 11:37 AM (EST+7)
    Court orders boy away from home for five months
    Thirteen-year-old Karam Dana tries to escape his fear by sleeping.

  • Monday Oct. 4, 2010 9:16 AM (EST+7)
    Pressure on as migrant worker child deportations near
    Pressure is increasing within Israel to halt the deportation of hundreds of children of migrant worker deemed illegal, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Sunday Oct. 3, 2010 4:19 PM (EST+7)
    Israel convicts troops who made boy into human shield
    An Israeli court-martial found two soldiers guilty on Sunday of forcing a nine-year-old Palestinian boy to search for suspected booby-traps on their behalf during the 2008-2009 war in the Gaza Strip.

  • Sunday Oct. 3, 2010 4:07 PM (EST+7)
    No talks until Israel halts settlements, PLO says
    UPDATE: Direct talks with Israel will not resume unless it halts the building of Jewish settlements on occupied land, the Palestinian leadership said on Saturday.

  • Sunday Oct. 3, 2010 1:05 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli policeman kills Palestinian laborer
    A Palestinian from Hebron was shot dead Sunday morning by an Israeli policeman in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya.

  • Sunday Oct. 3, 2010 11:12 AM (EST+7)
    Aid convoy arrives in Syria
    An aid convoy carrying goods and 400 activists intended for the Gaza Strip has arrived in Syria, reports Xinua.

  • Saturday Oct. 2, 2010 6:01 AM (EST+7)
    Ancient tree to help turn Jericho into tourist hub
    A gnarled sycamore tree in the center of Jericho, touted as the same tree climbed by a hated tax collector seeking to see Jesus in a biblical account, is soon to be the center of efforts to revive tourism in the city, reports the AP.

  • Saturday Oct. 2, 2010 3:37 AM (EST+7)
    Factional breakthrough comes with improved Hamas-Cairo relations
    A seeming breakthrough in talks between rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fateh has come about after a thaw in Hamas-Egypt relations, reports al-Ahram Weekly.

  • Saturday Oct. 2, 2010 3:19 AM (EST+7)
    Nobel peace prize winner denied deportation appeal
    Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire was denied an appeal Friday of a ban that prevents her from entering Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

  • Friday Oct. 1, 2010 1:24 PM (EST+7)
    Obama envoy ends Mideast talks with no breakthrough
    A US envoy concluded talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders on Friday without agreement on how to keep alive peace negotiations that are on hold due to a dispute over Jewish settlement building.

  • Thursday Sept. 30, 2010 8:56 AM (EST+7)
    EU's Ashton to join Middle East peace push
    European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she would depart for the Middle East on Wednesday as diplomatic pressure intensified to save faltering Israel-Palestinian peace talks.

  • Wednesday Sept. 29, 2010 9:32 AM (EST+7)
    Lawyer: Israeli flotilla raid could go to international court
    Israel's raid on an aid flotilla bound for Gaza could end up as a case before the International Criminal Court (ICC), a lawyer who investigated the May raid for the United Nations Human Rights Council said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010 3:21 PM (EST+7)
    Cyber takes centre stage in Israel's war strategy
    Cyber warfare has quietly grown into a central pillar of Israel's strategic planning, with a new military intelligence unit set up to incorporate high-tech hacking tactics, Israeli security sources said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010 1:03 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza's troubled tunnel trade swings into reverse
    Business has become so bad for Gaza's smuggler barons since Israel relaxed its blockade that tunnel traders have given up spiriting goods into the enclave, and some have even turned underground exporters.

  • Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010 12:23 PM (EST+7)
    Israel stops Jewish activists' yacht on way to Gaza
    The Israeli navy boarded a yacht in the Mediterranean on Tuesday to prevent a small group of Jewish activists sailing to Gaza.

  • Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010 11:29 AM (EST+7)
    Spain elevates Palestinian envoy status to ambassador
    The government of Spain has elevated the Palestinian mission to the European country to full diplomatic status, according to The Latin American Herald Tribune.

  • Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010 9:24 AM (EST+7)
    Refugees in Lebanon find little solace in negotiations
    For hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees living in the squalid camps of Lebanon, the current round of negotiations between the PLO and Israel brings little hope of solving their interminable situation.

  • Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010 8:50 AM (EST+7)
    UN committee finds Israel 'executed' American, five Turks on Gaza-bound ship
    A UN fact-finding committee reports that Israeli commandos executed a US citizen and five Turkish nationals aboard the Mavi Marmara headed to break a blockade on the Gaza Strip, reports Truthout.

  • Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010 8:48 AM (EST+7)
    US dismayed by Israeli move, sees Syrian interest
    The United States voiced disappointment on Monday over Israel's decision to let a freeze on new Jewish settlement building expire but said Syria was "very interested" in pursuing peace with the Jewish state.

  • Tuesday Sept. 28, 2010 8:41 AM (EST+7)
    Medics: Israel kills three armed Palestinians
    An Israeli strike in the central Gaza Strip on Monday killed three gunmen belonging to the Islamic Jihad group, Palestinian medics said.

  • Monday Sept. 27, 2010 5:07 PM (EST+7)
    Sarkozy calls Oct. Middle East talks in Paris
    French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday he would ask Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to peace talks in Paris before the end of October.

  • Monday Sept. 27, 2010 5:01 PM (EST+7)
    Fateh official: Jewish settlements at tipping point
    Expanding Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory have reached a point of no return and could kill an internationally backed, two-state solution, a top Fatah official said on Monday.

  • Monday Sept. 27, 2010 10:22 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli settlement freeze ends, talks in doubt
    Israel allowed its halt in construction in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank to expire on Monday, defying a US call to extend the moratorium and risking a Palestinian withdrawal from peace talks.

  • Sunday Sept. 26, 2010 8:09 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: Divided city of Hebron shows challenge of peace

  • Sunday Sept. 26, 2010 6:33 PM (EST+7)
    PFLP quits PLO over negotiations with Israel
    The Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has temporarily suspended its membership in the PLO over its decision to resume negotiations with Israel, according to the AFP.

  • Sunday Sept. 26, 2010 5:46 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Archbishop Desmond Tutu on boycotting Israel
    Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a hero of the South African struggle for equal rights, weighs in on the debate surrounding the University of Johannesburg's decision to possibly cut ties with Israel's Ben-Gurion University in the Negev, in the TIMES Live.

  • Sunday Sept. 26, 2010 4:30 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu urges settler restraint as moratorium ends
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Israeli settlers to act with restraint after a limited construction moratorium expires on Sunday, a plea that appeared aimed at keeping Middle East peace talks alive.

  • Sunday Sept. 26, 2010 4:09 PM (EST+7)
    Defying Israel, Jewish activists sail for Gaza
    A group of Jewish activists set sail for the Gaza Strip on Sunday, intent on defying an Israeli blockade and highlighting the suffering of Palestinians who live in the territory. 

  • Sunday Sept. 26, 2010 11:01 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas says no immediate halt to peace talks
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would not immediately halt talks with Israel if a limited settlement moratorium was not extended, a pan-Arab newspaper reported on Sunday.

  • Sunday Sept. 26, 2010 7:59 AM (EST+7)
    Mideast peace push faces settlement deadline
    A 10-month freeze on Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank expires at midnight on Sunday, imperiling Middle East peace talks less than a month after their launch by US President Barack Obama.

  • Saturday Sept. 25, 2010 7:28 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian leader vows peace, urges settlement end
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Saturday to do everything possible to make peace negotiations with Israel succeed and avoided any direct threats to break off the talks over settlements.

  • Saturday Sept. 25, 2010 10:17 AM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Why aren't the Bedouin treated like Israeli citizens?
    The Electronic Intifada interviews Ismael Abu Saad, founder of Ben Gurion University's Center for Bedouin Studies and Development.

  • Saturday Sept. 25, 2010 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    WATCH: Flash mob protests settlement construction
    Dozens of protesters took part in a flash mob performance on Friday afternoon in Tel Aviv.

  • Saturday Sept. 25, 2010 9:47 AM (EST+7)
    Ariel settlement is one obstacle before Palestinian-Israel peace
    The day before Israel's freeze on new settlement construction in the West Bank expires, The Independent features the large settlement of Ariel and why it stands in the way of peace.

  • Saturday Sept. 25, 2010 8:36 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas, Fateh revive Palestinian reconciliation talks
    The Islamist movement Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fateh faction agreed on Friday to help revive Egyptian efforts to narrow a schism between the two groups that has undermined the Palestinian cause.

  • Friday Sept. 24, 2010 4:33 PM (EST+7)
    Israel plays down scope of future settler projects
    Israel urged the Palestinians on Friday not to abandon recently resumed peace negotiations over the imminent expiry of a West Bank settlement moratorium, saying any new construction projects would be limited in scope,

  • Friday Sept. 24, 2010 4:26 PM (EST+7)
    UN atom assembly rejects Arab move targeting Israel
    Member states of the U.N. nuclear watchdog narrowly rejected an Arab-sponsored resolution on Friday calling on Israel to join a global anti-atomic weapons treaty, a diplomatic victory for the United States.

  • Thursday Sept. 23, 2010 1:45 PM (EST+7)
    Obama to tell UN Mideast talks need world support
    US President Barack Obama is to make a plea at the United Nations on Thursday for international support for the Middle East peace process, urging world leaders to make sure "this time is different" from previous failed efforts.

  • Thursday Sept. 23, 2010 9:45 AM (EST+7)
    Poll: Palestinians remain committed to negotiations
    A majority of Palestinians remain committed to pursuing negotiations with Israel found a public opinion poll released by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre Thursday.

  • Thursday Sept. 23, 2010 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    UN experts condemn Israel attack on Gaza flotilla
    An attack by Israeli commandos on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May was unlawful and resulted in violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, a panel of international experts said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Sept. 22, 2010 7:09 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt hits back at Israel at tense UN nuclear meet
    Egypt hit out at Israel on Wednesday for questioning its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, underlining tension between the Jewish state and Arab countries at an annual meeting of the UN atomic watchdog.

  • Wednesday Sept. 22, 2010 7:01 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli settlement guard kills Palestinian in East Jerusalem
    UPDATE: An Israeli security guard killed a Palestinian on Wednesday in an East Jerusalem district that sees frequent tensions over its Jewish settler enclave, local residents and Israeli police said.

  • Wednesday Sept. 22, 2010 4:34 PM (EST+7)
    Clinton urges Arab states to bolster Palestinian aid
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was reportedly pressing the leaders of Arab nations to fulfill financial commitments made to the Palestinian Authority, while at a United Nations meeting over nuclear proliferation.

  • Wednesday Sept. 22, 2010 3:53 PM (EST+7)
    Israel riot police clear Jerusalem mosque plaza
    Israeli riot police entered Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound on Wednesday to push back Palestinians who had thrown rocks at the nearby Jewish prayer site, the Western Wall, a police spokesman said.

  • Wednesday Sept. 22, 2010 9:14 AM (EST+7)
    Quartet keeps pressure on Israel over settlements
    The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators urged Israel on Tuesday to extend its settlement moratorium and called on Palestinian and Israeli officials to ensure their nascent direct peace talks continue.

  • Tuesday Sept. 21, 2010 2:50 PM (EST+7)
    Israel warns on being singled out at UN atom body
    Israel said on Tuesday an Arab-led campaign to single it out at the UN atomic watchdog could undermine any arms control measures in the Middle East.

  • Tuesday Sept. 21, 2010 2:14 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt arrests senior Hamas official, group says
    Hamas said on Tuesday that Egypt has detained one of its senior officials and Egyptian media reported he was being questioned over the death of an Egyptian soldier and a communications equipment shipment.

  • Tuesday Sept. 21, 2010 12:57 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt's Mubarak to Berlin, Rome to discuss Mideast
    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will leave on Tuesday for short visits to Germany and Italy to discuss Middle East peace negotiations, the state news agency MENA said.

  • Tuesday Sept. 21, 2010 9:16 AM (EST+7)
    Israel seeking spies release in exchange for freeze extension
    Israel has been seeking the release of an Israeli spy serving a life sentence in the United States in exchange for an extension on the freeze of settlement building set to expire at the end of the month.

  • Tuesday Sept. 21, 2010 8:40 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu proposes Israeli troops in Palestinian state
    Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted in a conference call with US Jewish organizations that Israeli military forces might be placed in a future Palestinian state.

  • Tuesday Sept. 21, 2010 8:35 AM (EST+7)
    Military instructs seizure of Palestinian ID's in settlements
    RAMALLAH, Sept 21 (JMCC) - The Israeli military has been instructing security personnel inside Israeli settlements in the West Bank to begin seizing the identification cards of Palestinian workers, according to Haaretz.

  • Tuesday Sept. 21, 2010 8:05 AM (EST+7)
    Quartet to urge Israel to keep settlement freeze
    The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators will on Tuesday call on Israel to extend its settlement moratorium, saying the freeze has had a positive impact as the two sides seek a peace deal within the next year.

  • Monday Sept. 20, 2010 7:49 PM (EST+7)
    Phone app monitors Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories
    Campaigners against Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories have launched a new web and iphone application that uses powerful mapping technology. This publicizes data that was previously hidden, too costly to distribute or inaccessible.

  • Monday Sept. 20, 2010 7:36 PM (EST+7)
    Israel, with PA, allows cars into Gaza for first time in 3 years
    Israel allowed on Monday the import of cars into the Gaza Strip for the first time since Hamas Islamists violently seized control of the territory in 2007.

  • Monday Sept. 20, 2010 7:16 PM (EST+7)
    Donors pressure Arabs to fund Palestinian gov't
    Rich Arab nations should support the Middle East peace process by boosting financial aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority as it prepares for statehood, Palestinian and Norwegian officials said on Monday.

  • Monday Sept. 20, 2010 10:36 AM (EST+7)
    Olmert discloses US readiness to take in Palestinian refugees
    Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert discloseds details of his own talks with Palestinians in a speech Sunday.

  • Sunday Sept. 19, 2010 8:31 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Egypt's spy chief meets Hamas leader in Saudi
    Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman met Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Saudi Arabia this month in an attempt to push for reconciliation between Palestinian factions, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported.

  • Sunday Sept. 19, 2010 6:06 PM (EST+7)
    Top Palestinian, Israeli officials head to US over settlements
    Top Palestinian and Israeli officials flew to Washington on Sunday in an attempt to break the deadlock over the looming expiration of Israel's ten-month settlement freeze, according to the AFP.

  • Sunday Sept. 19, 2010 4:12 PM (EST+7)
    Corruption-busting teenagers take on Palestinian government
    A group of Palestinian teenagers has been challenging the efficiency of the Palestinian Authority government across the West Bank as part of educational project in civic duty, according to a story in The Christian Science Monitor.

  • Sunday Sept. 19, 2010 11:48 AM (EST+7)
    Minister says peace talks should address loyalty
    Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman called for peace talks underway to address the loyalty of Israel's citizens.

  • Friday Sept. 17, 2010 5:55 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority is `well-positioned' for statehood, World Bank says
    RAMALLAH, September 17 (JMCC) - The Palestinian Authority is “well positioned” to establish estate says the World Bank. However it remains dependent on foreign donors, and its economic growth is under the status quo, unsustainable.

  • Friday Sept. 17, 2010 5:41 PM (EST+7)
    In developing Jenin suspicion of future failures prevails
    The northern West Bank city of Jenin has come on leaps and bounds in the last decade.  A thriving Palestinian town, its violent history seems lost in the past. However, even here, there is the sense that this town’s success is teetering on the knife-edge of political and economic uncertainty.

  • Friday Sept. 17, 2010 4:49 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill Hamas commander in West Bank
    Israeli soldiers shot dead a Hamas military commander in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the army and Palestinian officials said.

  • Thursday Sept. 16, 2010 12:44 PM (EST+7)
    Girls’ education threatened along with school
    At the Khan al-Ahmar school just off the main Jericho road, children in blue-striped uniforms try to concentrate on their lessons.

  • Thursday Sept. 16, 2010 9:57 AM (EST+7)
    EU to call on Israel to extend settlement freeze
    European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday will call on Israel to extend a moratorium on settlement building in the occupied West Bank, according to a draft of the summit conclusions seen by Reuters.

  • Wednesday Sept. 15, 2010 2:57 PM (EST+7)
    Israel bombs Gaza tunnels after Palestinian rockets
    Israeli aircraft bombed smuggling tunnels under the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt on Wednesday, killing a Palestinian, witnesses said, after armed groups stepped up rocket and mortar bomb attacks during peace talks in Jerusalem.

  • Wednesday Sept. 15, 2010 8:28 AM (EST+7)
    Peace talks to continue in Jerusalem
    Direct negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis will continue in Jerusalem as the latest round of talks conclude in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

  • Wednesday Sept. 15, 2010 8:13 AM (EST+7)
    Mitchell says Israel, Palestinians believe in deal
    Israeli and Palestinian leaders failed in talks on Tuesday to resolve a dispute over Jewish settlement building but remain convinced they can reach a peace deal in a year, according to US envoy George Mitchell.

  • Tuesday Sept. 14, 2010 3:25 PM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem council to discuss 1,362 new housing units in occupied Jerusalem
    Israel's Jerusalem Council has announced plans to discuss building 1,362 new housing units in occupied East Jerusalem, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

  • Tuesday Sept. 14, 2010 12:52 PM (EST+7)
    Egyptian host has limited power at Mideast talks
    Egypt, which in 1979 became the first Arab state to sign a peace deal with Israel, has little ability to cajole the two sides into any deal.

  • Tuesday Sept. 14, 2010 9:21 AM (EST+7)
    B'Tselem report: Israel fails to properly investigate soldiers
    Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has released a new report accusing Israel of failing to prosecute its soldiers over the killing of Palestinians.

  • Tuesday Sept. 14, 2010 8:15 AM (EST+7)
    Settlements row to dominate US led Mideast talks
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Egypt on Tuesday to lead a second round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, aiming to prevent negotiations from collapsing days after their launch.

  • Monday Sept. 13, 2010 7:34 PM (EST+7)
    40 years on, Black Hebrews struggle to find acceptance in Israel
    Thousands of African- Americans living in a desert village in Southern Israel and claiming to be a lost tribe of the country face an uncertain future. After a forty-year battle, the government has agreed to allow them to seek citizenship, however so far, only five adults and 16 children have been accepted.

  • Monday Sept. 13, 2010 6:52 PM (EST+7)
    Settlement freeze expiration date looms as the peace talks resume
    The Middle East peace talks are set to resume this week to the backdrop of the dead sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik. Under the guidance of Hilary Clinton, US special envoy George Mitchell will meet with Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. As September 26th, the expiration date on Israel’s partial moratorium on settlement building approaches, there are growing tensions between all the parties.

  • Monday Sept. 13, 2010 11:14 AM (EST+7)
    Official discrimination gives rise to informal policing in Old City
    Azmi Dana sits outside the linen cloth store that his family has owned for three generations. The expression on his face, weathered with age, darkens as he explains that, for Palestinians, the Old City’s security apparatus is a continual trauma.

  • Sunday Sept. 12, 2010 9:55 PM (EST+7)
    Israel refuses visit of EU foreign ministers
    Israel has refused a request by the European Union for a visit by five senior EU foreign ministers over reports that they wished to pressure Israel to extend its settlement freeze, according to the Israeli press.

  • Sunday Sept. 12, 2010 6:44 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli shelling kills 3 Palestinians in Gaza
    Israeli shelling killed three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, medical workers and witnesses said, after armed fighters in the Hamas-ruled territory fired rockets across the border.

  • Sunday Sept. 12, 2010 4:06 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu silent on Obama settlement freeze remarks
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignored in public remarks on Sunday a nudge from US President Barack Obama to extend a partial settlement freeze on land Palestinians want as part of their future state.

  • Sunday Sept. 12, 2010 10:22 AM (EST+7)
    Police discrimination in Jerusalem increasing, say residents
    A report released last week by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) says there is a growing trend of police discrimination against Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Police enforcement of the law is in many cases selective in favor of Jewish settlers, report residents.

  • Saturday Sept. 11, 2010 10:07 AM (EST+7)
    Obama: Extending Israel settlement freeze makes sense
    US President Barack Obama said on Friday he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu it would "make sense" to extend a freeze on new Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank while peace talks with Palestinians are moving forward.

  • Saturday Sept. 11, 2010 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    Sources: UAE gives Palestinian Authority $42 million
    The United Arab Emirates has donated $42 million to the Palestinian Authority, boosting support for President Mahmoud Abbas' cash-strapped government as it embarks on direct peace talks with Israel, Arab officials said on Friday.

  • Friday Sept. 10, 2010 7:40 PM (EST+7)
    Obama: If Israeli-Palestinian talks break down, we'll continue trying
    US President Barack Obama said Friday that the alternative to peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians is a status quo that puts both parties, and the United states, at risk.

  • Friday Sept. 10, 2010 6:32 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli air strikes target Hamas sites in Gaza
    Israel carried out air strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the Islamist group and Palestinian witnesses said.

  • Thursday Sept. 9, 2010 10:48 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli soldier convicted of killing Brit released early
    An Israeli soldier found guilty of manslaughter in the 2003 death of British activist Tom Hurndall was released Wednesday, after serving three quarters of his sentence.

  • Wednesday Sept. 8, 2010 5:14 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian refugees arrive in Italy from Iraq
    A small town on the coast of Italy that has transformed itself as a hub for refugees is now opening its doors to 200 Palestinian refugees from Iraq, reports the Financial Times. Yet, despite the warm reception, a lack of jobs in the area is providing hard times for the new residents.

  • Wednesday Sept. 8, 2010 4:43 PM (EST+7)
    Israel eyes impound of ships breaking Gaza blockade
    Anticipating fresh bids by pro-Palestinian activists to sail against its Gaza Strip blockade, and hoping to avoid a repeat of its bloody boarding of a Turkish aid ship in May, Israel has turned to maritime law.

  • Wednesday Sept. 8, 2010 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    Ramadan in Gaza's boundary zone
    Gazans living in the at-times-deadly boundary zone Israel has created suffer from numerous hardships this Ramadan. reports the Electronic Intifada.

  • Wednesday Sept. 8, 2010 10:16 AM (EST+7)
    Turn to winter time stirs debate in Israel
    Israel will turn back its clock to winter time at the peak of a hot summer this year.

  • Tuesday Sept. 7, 2010 2:40 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli settler fires on Palestinian car in West Bank
    An Israeli settler fired on a Palestinian car in the West Bank on Tuesday, according Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot.

  • Tuesday Sept. 7, 2010 9:56 AM (EST+7)
    Spokesman: Israel PM sees deal possible in year
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told visiting US congressmen he thinks it could be possible to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians in a year despite huge differences, his spokesman said.

  • Monday Sept. 6, 2010 5:51 PM (EST+7)
    Bulldozer operator to testify at Civil suit into Rachel Corrie's death
    The family of Rachel Corrie, the American activist crushed to death in Gaza seven years ago, could face the men driving the Israeli bulldozer that killed her in the second stage of their civil suit against the state. The Civil suit into Corrie’s death is to hear the testimony from vehicle operators.

  • Monday Sept. 6, 2010 5:38 PM (EST+7)
    Russia, Israel sign military cooperation deal
    Russia and Israel signed a framework military cooperation deal on Monday that Russia's defence chief suggested would lead to further purchases of Israeli weapons and technology.

  • Monday Sept. 6, 2010 5:33 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli Foreign Minister threatens Peace talks
    Just four days after the talks resumed, the Middle East Peace Process has once again been thrown into uncertainty. Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s Foreign minister has threatened to block any attempt to extend a freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank.

  • Monday Sept. 6, 2010 8:47 AM (EST+7)
    US actors back Israeli boycott of settlements
    More then 150 US actors, directors and other artists have signed a letter of support for Israeli actors refusing to work in a new theater in the settlement of Ariel.

  • Sunday Sept. 5, 2010 5:20 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu: Peace deal requires new approach
    A peace deal with the Palestinians will require a creative, new approach to issues that have defied resolution in past negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Sept. 5, 2010 5:12 PM (EST+7)
    Fayyad: Palestinians will not need budget aid by 2013
    The  Palestinian Authority (PA) will be able to finance its budget without the need for foreign aid by 2013 thanks to improved tax collection and cost-cutting, the prime minister said.

  • Sunday Sept. 5, 2010 4:29 PM (EST+7)
    Mideast talks to resume in Egyptian Red Sea resort
    The second round of direct peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians will take place in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on September 14-15, the Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Sept. 5, 2010 10:38 AM (EST+7)
    Civil rights group warns Jerusalemites feel unsafe at home
    The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has issued a report warning that Palestinian residents of Jerusalem feel unsafe in their homes.

  • Sunday Sept. 5, 2010 10:30 AM (EST+7)
    Settlement freeze a fiction, says watchdog group
    Israel's settlement freeze is a fiction, Peace Now tells Der Spiegel.

  • Sunday Sept. 5, 2010 10:20 AM (EST+7)
    Balata official calls for greater participation of Fayyad in peace talks
    Speaking to the Independent, Nablus parliamentarian and Fateh official Husam Khader called for Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's participation in Israeli-Palestinian talks. 

  • Sunday Sept. 5, 2010 9:55 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority lashes out at Iranian president
    The Palestinian Authority responded Saturday in a strongly-worded statement to comments made by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

  • Sunday Sept. 5, 2010 9:12 AM (EST+7)
    Two killed, two injured in Gaza airstrikes

    Israeli aircraft struck targets in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Saturday after Palestinian militants fired a rocket from the territory into Israel, security officials and witnesses said.


  • Saturday Sept. 4, 2010 11:43 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton: Clock ticking for Israeli-Palestinian peace
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday urged Israel and the Palestinians to overcome the final obstacles to peace, saying their new talks may be a last chance to end the conflict.

  • Saturday Sept. 4, 2010 10:17 AM (EST+7)
    Attacks show Hamas still strong
    Deadly drive-by shootings by Hamas gunmen this week proved that the Palestinian militant group can still operate in the West Bank when its leadership demands.

  • Saturday Sept. 4, 2010 10:10 AM (EST+7)
    Armed groups uniting in attacks against Israel
    Palestinian armed groups announced late Thursday that they were joining forces in planning and carrying out attacks against Israel, reports The National.

  • Friday Sept. 3, 2010 5:57 PM (EST+7)
    US, Israel spying behind BlackBerry woe-Dubai police
    Concerns over Israeli access to BlackBerry data, and the use of the device by the United States to spy on the United Arab Emirates are behind the Gulf state's moves to curb the smartphone, Dubai's police chief said.

  • Friday Sept. 3, 2010 4:51 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt protests Iranian comments on peace talks
    Egypt has cancelled a visit by Iran’s foreign minister after he accused Arab leaders of betrayal for attending the new round of Mideast direct peace negotiations in Washington.

  • Friday Sept. 3, 2010 4:15 PM (EST+7)
    Israel, Palestinians agree to more peace meetings
    Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to a series of direct talks on Thursday, seeking to forge the framework for a U.S.-backed peace deal within a year and end a conflict that has boiled for six decades.

  • Thursday Sept. 2, 2010 2:29 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli settlers start new construction, defy talks
    Hours before peace talks were set to begin in Washington, Jewish settlers defiantly announced plans on Thursday to launch new construction in their West Bank enclaves in a test of strength with Palestinian Islamists.


  • Thursday Sept. 2, 2010 2:05 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas says will continue attacks on Israelis
    Hamas said on Thursday its militants would keep on attacking Israelis and denounced peace talks between Israel and the West Bank-based Palestinian government due to start in Washington later in the day.

  • Thursday Sept. 2, 2010 10:39 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians shown bound on Facebook found, recall incident
    The Palestinians shown bound and blindfolded in an Israeli soldier's Facebook photos have been identified by an Israeli human rights organization.

  • Thursday Sept. 2, 2010 10:09 AM (EST+7)
    Gun restrictions to be eased for settlers after shootings
    Israel's interior minister is arranging for the easing of gun restrictions for Israeli settlers after two shootings this week in the West Bank, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Thursday Sept. 2, 2010 9:36 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas claims responsibility for West Bank attack
    The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas claimed responsibility on Thursday for a shooting attack in which two Israelis were wounded in the occupied West Bank.

  • Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010 7:50 PM (EST+7)
    Protesters gather in Ramallah to oppose talks
    For an hour Wednesday, al-Manara Square in downtown Ramallah became the scene of colorful protest against the resumption of direct talks.

  • Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010 6:31 PM (EST+7)
    West Bank killings "cynical" hit at peace talks-UN
    This week's fatal shooting of four Israelis in the West Bank was a transparent attempt to derail the first direct peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, the U.N. chief said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010 2:55 PM (EST+7)
    Barghouti dismisses talks, stresses Palestinian unity
    Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti said peace talks with Israel were destined to fail and the Palestinians must instead focus on ending their deep national divide.

  • Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010 11:06 AM (EST+7)
    Barak: Israel ready to cede parts of Jerusalem in peace deal
    Israel is ready to cede parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinians in the framework of a peace deal, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday ahead of the start of talks in Washington.

  • Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010 10:50 AM (EST+7)
    Bedouin future at stake in the Negev
    The Negev, constituting nearly two-thirds of Israel’s territory, has been almost entirely nationalized by the state, with the land held in trust for world Jewry. But the Bedouin have outstanding legal claims on nearly 80,000 hectares of ancestral property.

  • Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010 10:45 AM (EST+7)
    Academics join actors in settlement boycott
    Some 150 Israeli academics have said in a letter that they will no longer work in Israeli settlements in support of a similar boycott by Israeli actors.

  • Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    Time runs out for families of illegal migrant children
    Nearly 400 migrant worker families in Israel whose children's residency status has not been legalized could face deportation in weeks.

  • Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010 8:48 AM (EST+7)
    Obama's Mideast push clouded by West Bank attack
    President Barack Obama was poised on Wednesday to launch a new US push for Middle East peace even as a flareup of Hamas violence and a deadlock over Israeli settlements loomed as potential deal-breakers.

  • Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010 8:38 AM (EST+7)
    Four Israelis killed on eve of Mideast summit
    Four Israeli settlers were shot dead in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday in an attack that the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas said was its first assault on Middle East peace talks due to start on Wednesday in Washington.

  • Tuesday Aug. 31, 2010 11:00 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu heads to US for peace summit
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Washington on Tuesday for peace talks with the Palestinians, leaving up in the air the question of future Jewish settlement construction once a partial freeze ends.

  • Tuesday Aug. 31, 2010 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians in Lebanon unsatisfied, despite labor law changes
    Recent amendments to Lebanese law grant work permits to Palestinians in the private sector, and some welfare benefits, and are an important step in the right direction, according to the UN’s agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), but many Palestinians say they fall short of what they had hoped for.

  • Tuesday Aug. 31, 2010 9:03 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Netanyahu sets test for Obama
    As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sets off for Washington Tuesday, his goal in talks with Palestinians scheduled to begin Thursday likely has less to do with the peace process than Iran.

  • Tuesday Aug. 31, 2010 8:35 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian PM Fayyad wagers on statehood
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad held a press conference on Monday to mark the halfway point of the Palestinian Authority’s two-year plan for building the institutions of statehood, saying the government would be able to deliver within one year.

  • Monday Aug. 30, 2010 6:18 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Ex-gunman skeptical of "dignified" Mideast peace
    For Mahmoud Assadi, the Intifada has only just finished. Released by Israel a few months ago, the former fighter says this is the time for Palestinians to recover from their last uprising, not launch a new one.

  • Monday Aug. 30, 2010 6:16 PM (EST+7)
    Irish groups to buy ship for new Gaza aid flotilla
    Pro-Palestinian groups in Ireland launched a fundraising drive on Monday to buy a ship for a second attempt to breach Israel's sea blockade of Gaza.

  • Monday Aug. 30, 2010 6:13 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: To Palestinians, third intifada as unlikely as peace
    While the prospect of peace between Israel and the Palestinians appears remote, so too does the chance of open conflict -- for now at least.

  • Monday Aug. 30, 2010 5:58 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt urges EU to bolster US-led Mideast peace bid
    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urged Europe on Monday to throw its weight behind US-led efforts to secure a peace agreement between Palestinians and Israelis.

  • Monday Aug. 30, 2010 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Obama's Mideast push is foreign policy gamble
    When President Barack Obama finally brings Israeli and Palestinian leaders back to the negotiating table this week, it will mark not only his deepest foray into Middle East peacemaking but also his riskiest.

  • Sunday Aug. 29, 2010 9:08 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Moussa pessimistic on Israeli-Palestinian talks
    Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Sunday he had little hope that direct peace talks between Israel and Palestine, which are due to start on Thursday, will be successful.

  • Sunday Aug. 29, 2010 8:20 PM (EST+7)
    Israel won't extend settlement freeze ahead of talks
    The Israeli cabinet will not vote on extending a partial freeze in West Bank settlement construction before the start of the peace talks in Washington on Sept. 2, a senior cabinet minister told Reuters on Sunday.

  • Sunday Aug. 29, 2010 4:44 PM (EST+7)
    Washington funds Palestinian ad campaign in Israel
    The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has contributed $250,000 for a Palestinian ad campaign directed at the Israeli public, according to UPI.

  • Sunday Aug. 29, 2010 11:55 AM (EST+7)
    Rabbi: Abbas, Palestinians should die
    An influential Israeli rabbi has said God should strike the Palestinians and their leader with a plague, calling for their death in a fiery sermon before Middle East peace talks set to begin next week.

  • Sunday Aug. 29, 2010 11:40 AM (EST+7)
    ACCOUNT: Professor relates stifling atmosphere on Israeli campuses
    University professor Neve Gordon describes the way that attacks on himself and other left-wing professors are stifling the atmosphere on Israeli campuses.

  • Sunday Aug. 29, 2010 11:31 AM (EST+7)
    Israel gas discoveries set off competition
    The discovery of vast untapped natural gas reservoirs in the Mediterranean Sea have set off competition over the rights to the find, reports the Washington Post.

  • Sunday Aug. 29, 2010 11:13 AM (EST+7)
    Many clocks tick as Israelis, Palestinians open talks
    Many clocks will be ticking during the next year when Washington hopes an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal can be hammered out.

  • Friday Aug. 27, 2010 8:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israel begins forming negotiations team for direct peace talks
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday evening began forming Israel's negotiating team for the direct peace negotiations set to commence next week in Washington, the Prime Minister's Office announced.

  • Friday Aug. 27, 2010 8:01 PM (EST+7)
    Israel: Arabic to be taught to fifth-graders
    The study of Arabic will be compulsory for fifth-grade students in Jewish public schools in Northern Israel under a pilot project starting in September, an Israeli Ministry of Education official said Tuesday.

  • Friday Aug. 27, 2010 7:12 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu proposes bi-weekly meetings with Abbas
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas every two weeks to improve the prospects of Middle East peace talks, a diplomatic source said on Friday.

  • Thursday Aug. 26, 2010 12:55 PM (EST+7)
    Ramallah opposition meet broken up
    Dozens of men believed to be plain-clothed security broke up a Ramallah meeting Wednesday set to protest Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' entry into direct negotiations with Israel.

  • Thursday Aug. 26, 2010 12:30 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians torch cars in Jerusalem violence
    Palestinians torched half a dozen vehicles in East Jerusalem on Thursday and threw stones and firebombs at Israeli police after Jewish settlers approached a mosque, local residents and police said.

  • Thursday Aug. 26, 2010 8:14 AM (EST+7)
    Game unites settlers, Palestinians
    American football, not the most genteel of sports, is proving to be an unlikely force in bringing together Israelis and Palestinians.

  • Thursday Aug. 26, 2010 8:09 AM (EST+7)
    Tensions rise between Hamas and other groups
    Tensions among radical Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip burst into the open on Wednesday after Hamas, which controls the enclave, detained four members of the rival Islamic Jihad.

  • Wednesday Aug. 25, 2010 2:09 PM (EST+7)
    Court convicts human rights organizer
    An Israeli court has convicted an organizer of protests against the Wall that Israel is constructing through the West Bank.

  • Wednesday Aug. 25, 2010 1:17 PM (EST+7)
    Lieberman: Prospects bleak for peace
    Israel and the Palestinians have virtually no chance of reaching a peace deal within the one-year target set by the United States, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 25, 2010 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    UN nuclear chief in Israel to press it on NPT
    The head of the UN nuclear agency is in Israel to advance a resolution that calls on the Jewish state to put its atomic sites under UN inspection and join the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Israeli TV said on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 25, 2010 9:15 AM (EST+7)
    ACCOUNT: Nobel laureate tells of Israeli ship interception
    Nobel laureate Mairead Maquire tells of her encounter on the high seas with the Israeli military aboard the MV Rachel Corrie.

  • Wednesday Aug. 25, 2010 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    Gazans turn to drugs in despair
    After Israel's war in Gaza, reports The National, Gazan's recreational drug use skyrocketed, as residents sought relief from trauma and psychosomatic ailments.

  • Wednesday Aug. 25, 2010 8:38 AM (EST+7)
    Power cuts cast shadow over boiling Ramadan in Gaza
    Some locals blame it on internal Palestinian politics, others try to blame it on Israel. Whatever the reason, constant electricity outages during a summer heat wave are driving people to distraction in Gaza.

  • Wednesday Aug. 25, 2010 8:34 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas says peace talks will deal blow to Palestinians
    Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said on Tuesday that peace talks between Palestinians and Israel next week could deal a fatal blow to the Palestinian cause.

  • Tuesday Aug. 24, 2010 9:47 AM (EST+7)
    Deportees' terms rejected by Israeli interior minister
    Israel's interior minister is refusing to reinstate Jerusalem residency rights to four Hamas officials, despite a deal brokered over the terms of the reinstatement.

  • Tuesday Aug. 24, 2010 9:04 AM (EST+7)
    After long struggle, West Bank village on the grid
    After nine years of lobbying, the West Bank village of Tuwani finally has electricity, reports the Electronic Intifada.

  • Monday Aug. 23, 2010 9:19 PM (EST+7)
    UN rights body team starts flotilla probe in Turkey
    Investigators from the United Nations Human Rights Council have begun questioning witnesses of Israel's May 31 capture of a Gaza-bound boat in which nine people died, the UN said on Monday.

  • Monday Aug. 23, 2010 7:08 PM (EST+7)
    Israelis, Palestinians feud ahead of direct talks
    Israeli and Palestinian leaders sparred on Monday over Jewish settlements and Israeli calls for security guarantees before the launch of Quartet-sponsored direct peace talks in Washington next week.

  • Monday Aug. 23, 2010 5:36 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians turn to education reform
    In an important new move, the Palestinian Authority has recently begun highlighting education as one of the main centrepieces in the next phase of the state and institution building programme.

  • Monday Aug. 23, 2010 4:44 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Barack Obama makes his push for Palestine
    Despite deep pessimism surrounding the emergence of direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians, the American president still holds a few chips that may come in handy at the negotiating table. 

  • Monday Aug. 23, 2010 4:21 PM (EST+7)
    Norway oil fund excludes 2 Israeli companies
    Norway's $450 billion oil fund has excluded two Israeli firms involved in developing settlements and one Malaysian forestry firm on ethical grounds, Norway's finance ministry said on Monday.

  • Monday Aug. 23, 2010 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Abbas warns diplomats on need for settlement freeze extension
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has sent letters to three foreign leaders warning them that if Israel does not extend its settlement freeze page September 26 when it is set to expire, direct negotiations are in jeopardy.

  • Sunday Aug. 22, 2010 8:51 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza war planner to head Israeli military
    Major General Yoav Galant, the head of Israel's Southern Command and an architect of the 22-day assault on the Gaza Strip in 2009, has been named the new Chief of Staff of the Israeli military.

  • Sunday Aug. 22, 2010 8:41 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu sees 'difficult' talks ahead
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians would be "difficult but possible", acknowledging skepticism over whether talks starting next month could succeed.

  • Sunday Aug. 22, 2010 10:47 AM (EST+7)
    Trophy photos fact of life in Israel, say rights workers
    When a former Israeli soldier caused a storm by posting photos of herself with Palestinian prisoners on Facebook, rights workers said such behavior was commonplace in the Israeli military. 

  • Saturday Aug. 21, 2010 5:40 PM (EST+7)
    Dejected Palestinians see no hope in peace talks
    A resumption of Middle East peace talks inspires little hope among Palestinians who say the prospect of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel seems no more than a dream.

  • Saturday Aug. 21, 2010 11:37 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt president to attend Mideast talks launch
    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has accepted an invitation by the United States to attend the launch of direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians that aim to reach a peace deal within 12 months, state media said.

  • Saturday Aug. 21, 2010 10:59 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian factions to meet on reconciliation
    Palestinian factions Hamas and Fateh plan to meet Saturday to discuss moving forward on a reconciliation pact.

  • Saturday Aug. 21, 2010 10:23 AM (EST+7)
    Village constricted by building rules, settlements
    Because Israeli regulations prevent residents from building in the village, Nabi Samwil has little chance to grow.

  • Saturday Aug. 21, 2010 8:29 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians warn new settlement will derail talks
    Palestinian leaders on Friday accepted a US invitation for face-to-face peace talks with Israel but said they would withdraw if it resumed Jewish settlement building on occupied land.

    Read the Quartet statement

  • Friday Aug. 20, 2010 9:40 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: US faces challenges in Israeli-Palestinian talks
    US President Barack Obama scored a fragile diplomatic victory on Friday as Israel and the Palestinians indicated they were ready to resume direct peace talks in Washington on Sept. 2.

  • Friday Aug. 20, 2010 7:58 PM (EST+7)
    Clinton invites Israel, Palestinians to direct talks
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume direct talks in Washington on Sept. 2 with the aim of reaching a peace deal within one year.

  • Friday Aug. 20, 2010 7:55 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's Netanyahu accepts U.S. peace talks invite
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday accepted a U.S. invitation to direct peace talks with Palestinians, his office said.

  • Friday Aug. 20, 2010 4:53 PM (EST+7)
    Homeless Gazans seize Hamas government building
    Forty families whose houses were destroyed in conflict with Israel took over a building belonging to Gaza's Hamas rulers this week in a sign of dissatisfaction with the Islamist movement's failure to provide shelter.

  • Thursday Aug. 19, 2010 11:21 AM (EST+7)
    Israel foreign ministry cuts funding to Mossad
    Israel's foreign ministry is cutting most funding to its spy agency as payback for the Mossad's participation in a labor strike.

  • Thursday Aug. 19, 2010 10:48 AM (EST+7)
    UN releases Palestinian, Israeli responses to war crimes report
    The United Nations Wednesday released submissions made by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in response to a report charging that war crimes were carried out during Israel's war in Gaza in late 2008.

  • Wednesday Aug. 18, 2010 7:37 PM (EST+7)
    'Breaking the Silence' posts more soldier's photos
    Israeli human rights group 'Breaking the Silence' has posted more photos of Israeli soldiers posing with detained and dead Palestinians in an effort to show how widespread the phenomenon is, after one soldier's photo's on Facebook sparked wide controversy.

  • Wednesday Aug. 18, 2010 6:40 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli right wing launches 'Wikipedia' campaign
    Although the online encyclopedia Wikipedia has always been a battle ground for disparaging public voices, Israeli settlers have now launched a campaign to make their viewpoints more directly heard.

  • Wednesday Aug. 18, 2010 9:27 AM (EST+7)
    PA crackdown on mosques criticized by Hamas
    Hamas leaders in Gaza are calling the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah to account for ordering several changes in the operations of mosques and cracking down on Hamas-affiliated preachers.

  • Wednesday Aug. 18, 2010 9:21 AM (EST+7)
    Bassam Aramin's search for justice
    The Independent traces the battle of the father of slain Palestinian girl Abir Araminin his search for justice.

  • Wednesday Aug. 18, 2010 9:06 AM (EST+7)
    Israel carries out air strikes in Gaza
    Israel carried out air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after two soldiers were wounded in a mortar bomb attack by militants, the Hamas Islamist group and Palestinian witnesses said.

  • Wednesday Aug. 18, 2010 9:00 AM (EST+7)
    Man shot after rushing Turkey's Israel embassy
    A Palestinian man known to Israeli police was shot and wounded by Turkish embassy security guards on Tuesday after breaking into the mission in Tel Aviv and taking hostages.

  • Wednesday Aug. 18, 2010 8:57 AM (EST+7)
    Lebanon law gives Palestinians few civil rights
    Lebanon's parliament passed a law on Tuesday granting Palestinian refugees basic civil rights and rights campaigners said more needed to be done.

  • Tuesday Aug. 17, 2010 1:27 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Israeli in Facebook storm defends prisoner photos
    A discharged Israeli female soldier was condemned by Israeli and Palestinian authorities on Monday for posting pictures of herself on Facebook posing next to bound and blindfolded Palestinians.

  • Tuesday Aug. 17, 2010 12:45 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians condemn holy site construction plans
    Palestinians condemned Monday an Israeli plan to build a massive elevator for tourists to the Western wall plaza at Jerusalem's sensitive holy sites.

  • Tuesday Aug. 17, 2010 10:41 AM (EST+7)
    Series of home demolitions planned for Kafr Aqab
    Israeli officials are planning to demolish 30 homes in the Palestinian neighborhood of Kufr Aqab, an adviser to the Palestinian president has disclosed.

  • Tuesday Aug. 17, 2010 9:26 AM (EST+7)
    Court rules Israeli army responsible for Palestinian girl's death
    An Israeli court has ruled that the Israeli army bears the responsibility for the death of a Palestinian girl three years ago in Jerusalem.

  • Tuesday Aug. 17, 2010 8:57 AM (EST+7)
    Armed Palestinian killed on Gaza border
    Israeli troops killed a Palestinian activist on the border with the Gaza Strip after an exchange of fire on Monday in which a soldier was also lightly wounded, the army said.

  • Monday Aug. 16, 2010 7:46 PM (EST+7)
    UNRWA faces massive budget crisis
    A spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said on Monday that the organization that works for refugees is facing an $84 million deficit and may be forced to close schools and clinics that it operates in the Gaza Strip.

  • Monday Aug. 16, 2010 6:54 PM (EST+7)
    Settlement freeze threatens direct talks
    Direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians may be off the table before they are actually on if Israel's 10-month moratorium on settlement construction comes to an end in September.

  • Monday Aug. 16, 2010 4:36 PM (EST+7)
    'Viva Palestina' flotilla to set sail
    An aid flotilla, known as 'Viva Palestina,' will set sail from three cities in mid-September, according to a an article published by former British parliamentarian George Galloway in the Morning Star.

  • Monday Aug. 16, 2010 2:33 PM (EST+7)
    Hanieh: "We expected a real change"
    In an interview with Russia Today, Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Hanieh expresses disappointment over US policy, and praises Russia's involvement.

  • Monday Aug. 16, 2010 11:16 AM (EST+7)
    Norway: Cash for Palestinians needed to support peace
    The Palestinian Authority's budget is in the red and donors should make good on pledges to fill the gap, said Norway's foreign minister, who chairs a donor group that backs the Palestinian government.

  • Monday Aug. 16, 2010 11:11 AM (EST+7)
    New draft bill restricting Israeli organizations
    The Israeli Knesset is set to discuss a new draft of the bill written to restrict Israeli organizations.

  • Monday Aug. 16, 2010 10:56 AM (EST+7)
    Israel removes Gilo blast wall
    The Israeli military began removing on Sunday a cement blast wall surrounding the settlement of Gilo near Bethlehem.

  • Monday Aug. 16, 2010 10:50 AM (EST+7)
    Spy suspect back in Israel
    A man suspected of assisting in the Dubai killing of Hamas operative Mahmoud Mabhouh has returned to Israel.

  • Monday Aug. 16, 2010 9:34 AM (EST+7)
    Jordan Valley Bedouins suffer demolitions, evacuations
    Israeli officials on Sunday told residents of Farisiya village in the Jordan Valley that their homes were slated for demolition in 24 hours. This will be the third time that bulldozers have flattened the Bedouin village.

  • Sunday Aug. 15, 2010 10:07 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu approves building new classrooms in settlements
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday approved the installation of 23 mobile classrooms in West Bank settlements. There is no legal construction plan to allow for this decision. Israel had agreed to a 10 month partial moratorium on construction that is not set to expire until September.

  • Sunday Aug. 15, 2010 9:32 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas, secular groups, oppose direct talks with Israel
    Two secular Palestinian organizations joined Hamas on Sunday in calling on President Mahmoud Abbas not to bow to US pressure to resume direct peace talks with Israel, which they described as dangerous.

  • Sunday Aug. 15, 2010 5:42 PM (EST+7)
    The alternative peace summit
    A group of young Israeli and Palestinian activists have taken the literal approach to scaling the difficulties that have, for weeks, brought stalemate to political diplomacy between the two sides – by climbing Mont Blanc.

  • Sunday Aug. 15, 2010 11:12 AM (EST+7)
    Lebanese forces shoot dead suspected leader of armed group
    Lebanese security forces killed a suspected leader of the group Fatah al-Islam on Saturday in a shootout near the border with Syria, security sources said.

  • Sunday Aug. 15, 2010 11:06 AM (EST+7)
    Islamic Jihad speaks out against Hamas
    Islamic Jihad, suffering under a Hamas crackdown to maintain the ceasefire with Israel, is bitterly critical of Gaza's Islamist rulers.

  • Sunday Aug. 15, 2010 10:54 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Palestinians to announce direct talks in 'days'
    Palestinians will announce a start to direct talks with Israel in "days," a US official told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

  • Friday Aug. 13, 2010 6:09 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Israeli force against flotilla premeditated
    Testimonies from Israel's top leadership regarding the Gaza flotilla raid has revealed that a violent confrontation with passengers was expected weeks in advance.

  • Friday Aug. 13, 2010 4:58 PM (EST+7)
    German court releases Dubai assassination suspect
    A German court has released an Israeli citizen held in connection with the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai, on Friday.

  • Friday Aug. 13, 2010 4:32 PM (EST+7)
    Clinton prods Netanyahu on Mideast peace talks
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about issues blocking direct peace talks with the Palestinians as the Obama administration boosted pressure for talks to begin as soon as possible, the State Department said on Friday.

  • Friday Aug. 13, 2010 3:23 PM (EST+7)
    IDF soldier on leave attacks Peace Now activists
    A soldier from the Givati Brigade of the Israeli army attacked a group of Peace Now activists conducting a peaceful demonstration in Tel Aviv on Friday. The left wing activists were passing out flyers near Tel Aviv’s central train station.

  • Friday Aug. 13, 2010 1:38 PM (EST+7)
    Besieging Israel's siege; the Palestinian boycott campaign goes global
    In just a few years the Palestinian campaign to boycott Israeli products has gone global. In Washington DC a food co-op is refusing to buy Israeli products. Boycotting Israeli produce also remains a hot topic in universities across the United Kingdom and such boycotts have gained support from prominent figures, including Nobel peace laureates Desmond Tutu and M?iread Maguire.

  • Friday Aug. 13, 2010 12:20 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW-"Direct talks" no Mideast miracle cure
    Moving from indirect talks to direct negotiations on the Middle East conflict may yield little unless Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a surprise in store, says a US veteran of the peace process.

  • Thursday Aug. 12, 2010 6:41 PM (EST+7)
    Israel said to reject Palestinian formula for talks
    Major powers are working on a statement to set the basis for direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, a Western diplomat said on Thursday.

  • Thursday Aug. 12, 2010 4:21 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli court releases settler accused of murder
    An Israeli court in Petah Tikvah has released Haim Pearlman, a former Israeli settler accused of murdering four Palestinians and injuring seven others, to house arrest this week, according to AFP.

  • Thursday Aug. 12, 2010 11:29 AM (EST+7)
    Arab MK calls video release 'incitement'
    Parliamentarian Haneen Zoabi has called a video released by the Israeli military further "incitement" against her and other Arab Knesset members.

  • Thursday Aug. 12, 2010 9:18 AM (EST+7)
    Program joins Palestinian and Israeli interns in US
    A new program is pairing Palestinian and Israeli young people in Washington DC, and sending them out to work for peace organizations of the "other side."

  • Thursday Aug. 12, 2010 8:48 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Netanyahu rejects Palestinian demands, talks with US envoy fail
    Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a Palestinian proposal that direct talks be based on a Quartet statement calling for a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, reports Haaretz.

  • Wednesday Aug. 11, 2010 5:45 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza's drug dealers face punishment of death
    Gaza's de facto attorney general, Mohammad Abed, has declared that drug dealers in the Hamas-run Strip will be executed for their crime.

  • Wednesday Aug. 11, 2010 4:08 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Direct talks in sight as US envoy meets Netanyahu
    UPDATE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he wanted to quickly get down to full-scale peace talks on Wednesday as he met US envoy George Mitchell to hear the latest from the Palestinian camp.

  • Wednesday Aug. 11, 2010 2:00 PM (EST+7)
    General: Israel wasn't ready for flotilla resistance
    Israeli troops were not ready for the violent resistance they met when they boarded a Gaza-bound aid ship and ended up killing nine pro-Palestinian activists, the country's top military officer said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 11, 2010 12:33 PM (EST+7)
    Settlers bring dress code to Sheikh Jarrah
    Palestinian residents report finding signs written in Hebrew calling on those entering the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood to dress modestly.

  • Wednesday Aug. 11, 2010 11:29 AM (EST+7)
    Rightists force way into Jericho synagogue
    A group of two dozen settlement activists forced their way past Israeli police and entered a synagogue in the Palestinian town of Jericho Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 11, 2010 10:19 AM (EST+7)
    UN panel on Gaza flotilla incident begins work
    The United Nations sought to head off any potential clash with Israel over a UN inquiry into a deadly Israeli assault on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, as a panel began work on the task on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 11, 2010 10:02 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Fayyad pushes back against Fateh?
    Tensions within Abbas’ party are spilling over into government politics.

  • Tuesday Aug. 10, 2010 6:02 PM (EST+7)
    Signs of movement in Middle East peace talks
    US peace envoy George Mitchell had "serious and positive" talks on Tuesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but there was no agreement yet on a move to direct negotiations with Israel.

  • Tuesday Aug. 10, 2010 4:49 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Libya to fund Gaza homes after deal to free Israeli
    A rare deal between foes Israel and Libya to free an Israeli photographer will let Libya underwrite the rebuilding of 1,250 Gaza Strip homes destroyed in Israel's offensive there last year, UN officials said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Aug. 10, 2010 4:30 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey says blame for flotilla deaths solely on Israel
    Israel should admit sole responsibility for the killing of nine activists during a raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Aug. 10, 2010 1:10 PM (EST+7)
    "I take full responsibility," Barak tells Gaza flotilla probe
    Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday took “full responsibility” for Israel’s deadly naval raid on the Turkish Gaza bound flotilla. He admitted that the government had authorised the launch of the operation in full knowledge of the potential risks.

  • Tuesday Aug. 10, 2010 10:29 AM (EST+7)
    US lawmakers block money for Lebanon's army
    US lawmakers said on Monday they were blocking US funding for Lebanon's military after a deadly border clash last week between Lebanon and Israel.

  • Tuesday Aug. 10, 2010 9:41 AM (EST+7)
    Hezbollah says Israel staked out Hariri's road routes
    Lebanon's Hezbollah displayed on Monday what it said was Israeli surveillance footage of routes used by assassinated former premier Rafik al-Hariri, saying this pointed to Israel carrying out the 2005 attack on his motorcade.

  • Monday Aug. 9, 2010 4:47 PM (EST+7)
    Small Jerusalem protest movement keeps growing
    By RUTH SHERLOCK
    One year ago, an ad hoc movement of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals was born around a series of evictions in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.  At a time when most observers believed the Israeli left wing had died out, the protests continue to draw participation today – and have even spread to other locales.

  • Monday Aug. 9, 2010 3:13 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli PM says Turkey ignored flotilla warnings
    Turkey ignored repeated warnings and appeals "at the highest level" to halt a Gaza aid flotilla, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told an Israeli inquiry on Monday into the fatal raid by his troops.

  • Monday Aug. 9, 2010 1:23 PM (EST+7)
    TRANSCRIPT: Excerpts from Netanyahu testimony to Turkel commission
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu testifies to an Israeli commission investigating the deadly events that unfolded when Israel raided a flotilla of ships headed for the Gaza Strip in May. 

  • Monday Aug. 9, 2010 10:43 AM (EST+7)
    Lebanese military denies Hezbollah influence
    Lebanese officials have denied charges that its military is unduly influenced by Hezbollah, considered a terrorist group by Israel and the United States, reports The National.

  • Sunday Aug. 8, 2010 6:04 PM (EST+7)
    REPORT: Child workers in Gaza
    Despite Israel’s easing of the Gaza blockade in mid-June very little has changed for many of Gaza’s poorest families. Shop supplies might be more ample but many still cannot afford to buy them. Many families send their children to work in the city's rubbish dumps, streets and workshops.


  • Sunday Aug. 8, 2010 5:15 PM (EST+7)
    New Arab Liason officer for Jerusalem police a controversial choice
    A controversial figure accused of torturing an Arab detainee has been appointed as the new adviser on Arab affairs by Jerusalem’s police. The news appointment has drawn widespread condemnation from Israeli-Palestinian legislators and human-rights groups.

  • Sunday Aug. 8, 2010 5:09 PM (EST+7)
    Israel says US bomb shelter advice misses mark
    A warning to U.S. citizens traveling to the Red Sea resort of Eilat that they should locate the nearest bomb shelter should properly apply to the next-door Jordanian resort of Aqaba, an irked Israel said on Sunday.

  • Saturday Aug. 7, 2010 7:56 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas: Israel fired rockets at Eilat, Aqaba to justify more Gaza assaults
    Hamas has suggested that Israel fired the rockets that hit the Red Sea port resorts of Israel and Jordan. The Palestinian group that controls the Gaza Strip said that Israel might use the killing of one Jordanian civilian to justify another assault on Gaza.

  • Saturday Aug. 7, 2010 3:23 PM (EST+7)
    Lebanon bent on building up army after Israel clash
    Lebanon said on Saturday it was committed to building up its armed forces after complaints by Israel about Western assistance to the military following a deadly border clash between the two countries.

  • Saturday Aug. 7, 2010 12:41 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian power plant shuts down during heat wave
    Gaza's sole power plant is shutting down during a period of unseasonably hot weather for lack of fuel, officials report.

  • Friday Aug. 6, 2010 7:04 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza home turns into Palestinian museum
    A life long love of antiquities has inspired one man in the Gaza Strip to convert part of his home into a museum.

  • Friday Aug. 6, 2010 5:37 PM (EST+7)
    Older Gazans recall Israelis, youth sees only army
    The last two decades of the Israeli-Palestinian altered has done more than change the landscape with checkpoints, walls and settlements, it has changed people's perceptions of the other side. Between generations the disparity in perceptions has become distinctly apparent.

  • Friday Aug. 6, 2010 5:02 PM (EST+7)
    POLL: View of Obama dims in Arab world
    A majority of people in the Arab world now hold a negative view of President Barack Obama and the United States in a substantial change from how he was seen at the start of his presidency, according to a public opinion poll released on Thursday.

    Read more about Obama's own view of the Arab-Israeli conflict...

  • Friday Aug. 6, 2010 1:24 PM (EST+7)
    Lebanon and Israel: If only it was just about trees
    The clash along the Lebanese-Israeli border, on August 3, ended in deaths of two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalists and an Israeli officer.  UN peacekeepers quickly intervened to end the fighting. The Economist reflects on the wider significance of this backyard brawl.

  • Friday Aug. 6, 2010 12:58 PM (EST+7)
    West Bank culture boost as Cinema Jenin rolls out red carpet
    The battle-scarred refugee city of Jenin is the unlikely home to the latest romcom and action movie.  The new Cinema Jenin has opened its doors with a three-day film festival.

  • Friday Aug. 6, 2010 8:14 AM (EST+7)
    Turkish aid ship seized by Israel near Gaza returns home
    Israel released an impounded Turkish aid ship on Thursday on which its navy killed nine pro-Palestinian activists in a botched boarding as they tried to run the Gaza Strip blockade in May.

  • Thursday Aug. 5, 2010 11:31 AM (EST+7)
    Injuries, arrests at second razing of Negev village
    Hundreds of Israeli soldiers raided the unrecognized Bedouin village of Araqib in the Negev Wednesday, demolishing homes for the second time in days.

  • Thursday Aug. 5, 2010 10:19 AM (EST+7)
    WATCH: Protesting child becomes Palestinian icon
    Caught on video forced to witness the arrest of his father by Israeli soldiers, four-year-old Khaled al-Jabari has become a symbol of Palestinian sorrow and steadfastness.

  • Thursday Aug. 5, 2010 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Jordan Valley’s potential remains locked under Israeli restrictions
    The most resource-rich area of the West Bank is also its poorest and least developed.

  • Thursday Aug. 5, 2010 9:21 AM (EST+7)
    'Impossible' to rebuild Gaza quickly, says top UN official
    UN agencies have calculated that the Gaza Strip needs about 86,000 new housing units, mostly because of population growth but also to replace the thousands of homes destroyed or damaged as a result of Israeli military operations.

  • Thursday Aug. 5, 2010 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    Peacekeepers 'lost contact' with Israeli general
    United Nations peacekeepers told The National that Israel's military liaison officer stopped taking their calls during the fighting that broke out on the Lebanon-Israel border Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 4, 2010 8:31 PM (EST+7)
    Israel threatens harsh response to any attacks
    Israel holds Lebanon and Hamas responsible for separate attacks on its territory this week and will continue to respond forcefully to violence, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 4, 2010 5:46 PM (EST+7)
    Human Rights Chief: Two UN Gaza probes will not overlap
    Two United Nations investigations into Israel's May 31 interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla will not overlap but rather complement each other, a senior diplomat at the UN Human Rights Council said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 4, 2010 5:27 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Abbas cornered as US pressure grows for talks
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is holding fast against U.S. pressure to begin direct peace talks with Israel before he is ready.

  • Wednesday Aug. 4, 2010 4:51 PM (EST+7)
    British Muslims urged to boycott Israeli dates during Ramadan
    Muslims living in the UK are being urged to boycott Israeli-exported dates during the holy month of Ramadan, according to an article published in the Guardian.

  • Wednesday Aug. 4, 2010 1:42 PM (EST+7)
    UN: Israeli soldiers in Israel during clash
    A UN force said on Wednesday Israeli soldiers had been operating inside Israel at the onset of deadly border clashes with Lebanese troops that have raised fears of wider conflict.

  • Wednesday Aug. 4, 2010 1:36 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza militants may be behind rockets, Egypt says
    Gaza armed groups may be behind rockets that hit Israel and Jordan on Monday, Egypt's official news agency quoted a security source as saying on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Aug. 4, 2010 9:13 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli politician to found new Arab-Jewish party
    Former Israeli parliamentarian Avraham Burg plans to start a new Arab-Jewish political party, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Wednesday Aug. 4, 2010 8:51 AM (EST+7)
    UN official confirms Israeli military claims
    An official with the UNIFIL organization that monitors the Lebanese-Israel border has confirmed that Israeli forces notified it and Lebanese authorities that it was going to carry out maintenance work on Tuesday, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Wednesday Aug. 4, 2010 8:23 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli shelling kills Gaza activist
    Israeli shellfire killed a Palestinian activist and wounded another in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian medical officials said.

  • Tuesday Aug. 3, 2010 12:51 PM (EST+7)
    At least four dead in clashes on Lebanese-Israel border
    Israeli artillery shelled a Lebanese village on Tuesday, killing four people, after Lebanese Army troops fired warning shots at Israeli soldiers along the usually quiet but tense frontier, witnesses said.

  • Tuesday Aug. 3, 2010 10:58 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Israel seeks war to escape talks, say Palestinians
    A rise in Gaza casualties comes as part of a series of airstrikes by Israel and rocket firings by Gazan armed groups. The question remains: why this escalation now?

  • Tuesday Aug. 3, 2010 10:32 AM (EST+7)
    Envoy Mitchell on way to region
    US Middle East envoy George Mitchell is on his way to the region in coming days, reports Voice of America.

  • Tuesday Aug. 3, 2010 8:54 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to deport hundreds of 'foreign' children
    Israeli officials decided this week to deport hundreds of children of foreign workers, raising the ire of rights groups.

  • Tuesday Aug. 3, 2010 8:30 AM (EST+7)
    Lessons learned, Palestinians say borders are key
    The legacy of the failed Camp David talks and the second intifada is a profound loss of hope.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 9:19 PM (EST+7)
    UN's Ban opens international Gaza flotilla probe
    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon announced an international inquiry on Monday into Israel's deadly May 31 attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, after the Jewish state agreed to cooperate with the probe.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 8:53 PM (EST+7)
    Last Kaffiyeh factory struggles to stay afloat
    Kaffiyehs, the most recognizable symbol of Palestinian national identity, is under threat of extinction in the Palestinian territories.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 6:32 PM (EST+7)
    New Gaza leisure projects focus on fun not hardship
    New leisure projects and restaurants have been springing up in the Gaza Strip, some partially funded by Hamas Islamists ruling a territory long seen as a symbol of Palestinian hardship.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 5:33 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas resists US pressure for direct talks
    The Palestinian president told a visiting US official on Monday that Israel must commit to clear terms of reference for peace talks before the start of direct negotiations, Palestinian officials said.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 2:51 PM (EST+7)
    Ramallah building boom symbolizes West Bank growth
    The din of earth-movers leveling the hilly terrain of Ramallah for construction is unremitting as modern buildings shoot up all over the West Bank city.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 12:39 PM (EST+7)
    Israel fears Turks could pass its secrets to Iran
    Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak has voiced concern that once-stalwart ally Turkey could share Israeli intelligence secrets with Iran, revealing a deep distrust as Ankara's regional interests shift.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 12:01 PM (EST+7)
    Court issues injunction against settlers in Palestinian home
    An Israeli court Sunday ordered Israeli settlers who took over a Palestinian home not to make any changes to the property, and to allow renters to enter the second floor of the building.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 11:01 AM (EST+7)
    Israel agrees to UN flotilla inquiry
    Israel has agreed in principle to the establishment of a United Nations committee of inquiry into its interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla in late May, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 10:55 AM (EST+7)
    ACCOUNT: Palestinian shot near settlement unarmed, says family
    The family of a Palestinian killed last week outside the settlement of Barkan says Bilal Abu Libdeh had gone to the settlement to find work, disputing the military's account that he was an infiltrator.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 10:50 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Obama issued written warning to Palestinians
    US president Barack Obama warned Palestinians that if they do not engage in direct negotiations with Israel, their relations with the United States could suffer.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    Ten years after Camp David, Palestinians remember disappointment, failure
    In July 2000, Palestinians and Israelis came together in final status negotiations under the Maryland pines. Ten years later, Palestinians remember the bitter lessons of those talks.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 9:26 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Rocket hits Jordanian port, injures four
    A rocket fired from outside Jordanian territory hit a hotel area in the Red Sea port of Aqaba on Monday and injured four civilians, one seriously, an interior ministry source said.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 8:44 AM (EST+7)
    Radio: Rockets hit Eilat's port, none hurt
    At least three rockets or mortar bombs struck in and around Israel's southern port of Eilat on Monday but caused no casualties, Israel Radio reported, citing initial information received from emergency services.

  • Monday Aug. 2, 2010 8:35 AM (EST+7)
    Blast in Gaza home injures dozens
    An explosion in the house of a Hamas commander in the Gaza Strip has wounded 32 people, a Hamas official and medical workers in the Palestinian territory said on Monday.

  • Sunday Aug. 1, 2010 8:59 PM (EST+7)
    Syria says no compromise with Israel on occupied land
    Syria will not negotiate with Israel over letting the Jewish state keep occupied territory, President Bashar al-Assad said, days after Israel's prime minister expressed interest in resuming talks with Damascus.

  • Sunday Aug. 1, 2010 8:07 PM (EST+7)
    Rabbis arrest highlights growing violent extremism in settlements
    Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira, one of the most notorious proponents of violent extremism in Israel, is being held by authorities on incitement charges, according to The National.

  • Sunday Aug. 1, 2010 6:31 PM (EST+7)
    Mubarak and Peres hold talks
    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held talks in Cairo Sunday with his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres.

  • Sunday Aug. 1, 2010 9:38 AM (EST+7)
    Israel strikes Gaza tunnels after rocket launch
    Israeli aircraft bombed a smuggling tunnel and a militant training camp in the Gaza Strip on Sunday after a rocket was fired into Israel from the territory, the Israeli army and militants said.

  • Saturday July 31, 2010 11:47 AM (EST+7)
    Muslim Brotherhood to boycott November Jordan elections
    The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan has announced that it will not participate in November general elections.

  • Saturday July 31, 2010 11:27 AM (EST+7)
    US probe links American companies to Dubai killers
    A US investigation into the trail left by killers of a Hamas man in Dubai implicates US companies, reports the Wall Street Journal.

  • Saturday July 31, 2010 11:16 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli air strike kills Hamas commander in Gaza
    An Israeli air strike has killed a Hamas military commander and rocket maker in the Gaza Strip, the Islamist group that rules the Palestinian territory said on Saturday.

  • Friday July 30, 2010 8:22 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians, settlers clash near Nablus
    Palestinians from the village of Iraq Burin clashed with settlers from the neighboring settlement of Bracha on Friday, according to the AFP.

  • Friday July 30, 2010 4:23 PM (EST+7)
    UN rights body tells Israel to end Gaza blockade
    Israel must lift its military blockade of the Gaza Strip and invite an independent, fact-finding mission to investigate its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a United Nations rights body said on Friday.

  • Friday July 30, 2010 11:34 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian rocket hits Israeli city, no injuries
    A rocket fired by Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip struck the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Friday, causing damage but no casualties, officials said.

  • Friday July 30, 2010 9:17 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas likely to hold direct talks with Israel, say diplomats
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to agree to holding direct peace talks within weeks say western officials. In what could be the gamble of his political career Abbas may bow to US pressure and begin in face-to-face negotiations.

  • Friday July 30, 2010 8:39 AM (EST+7)
    Is Peres warning Palestinians away from direct talks?
    Refuse direct Middle East peace talks. This is the message that Former justice minister Haim Ramon of Kadima brought in a meeting with Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat earlier this month, reports a source quoted by Israel Radio. Ramon , says the source, was sent as an emissary of President Shimon Peres.

  • Thursday July 29, 2010 6:44 PM (EST+7)
    A boy's death brings Jenin cinema back to life
    In 2005, 11-year old Ahmed Khatib was killed by Israeli soldiers in the streets of Jenin. In an extraordinary gesture, Khatib's father donated his son's organs to six Israelis. The story was documented in a film, which eventually led to the reestablishment of Jenin's only cinema.

  • Thursday July 29, 2010 5:54 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian women dig for new opportunities in Gaza
    A group of Palestinian women is breaking new ground in the Gaza Strip by working as ditch-diggers to support their families.

  • Thursday July 29, 2010 5:07 PM (EST+7)
    Arab League agrees in principle to Palestinian talks
    The Arab League has agreed in principle to direct Palestinian talks with Israel provided the Palestinians see fit, Qatar's foreign minister said on Thursday.

  • Thursday July 29, 2010 2:17 PM (EST+7)
    Settlers take over Jerusalem Old City building
    Jewish settlers occupied a two-story building in the Old City of Jerusalem early Thursday.

  • Thursday July 29, 2010 1:20 PM (EST+7)
    Feeble, choked river Jordan struggles for salvation
    Christian pilgrims alarmed by claims that baptism in the River Jordan could make them sick are being urgently reassured by Israeli officials that the water poses no health risk.

  • Thursday July 29, 2010 12:10 PM (EST+7)
    West Bank Bedouins worse off than Gazans
    A report published recently by Save the Children UK entitled Life on the Edge, warns that many parts of Area C have plummeted into a humanitarian crisis more acute than in Gaza.

  • Thursday July 29, 2010 12:01 PM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem home demolitions to proceed next week
    An attorney for families whose homes are threatened with demolition in Isawiya, in occupied East Jerusalem, says the demolitions are expected to begin on Sunday.

  • Wednesday July 28, 2010 5:32 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt denies Iranian MPs visas to Gaza
    Egypt has denied visas to four lawmakers from Iran intending to visit the Gaza Strip, according the AFP.

  • Wednesday July 28, 2010 4:44 PM (EST+7)
    Homeless Gazan family struggles to survive
    For over a year and half, many families in Gaza have had to brave winter cold and summer heat living in simple tents, struggling to survive.

  • Wednesday July 28, 2010 4:08 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians set to reject direct talks for now
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will tell the Arab League on Thursday indirect talks with Israel have not progressed enough to justify face-to-face peace negotiations, a Palestinian official said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday July 28, 2010 10:52 AM (EST+7)
    US student shot by Israeli army seeks bills paid
    An American student who was shot in the face by a tear gas canister at a Ramallah demonstration is requesting that the Israeli military pay her medical bills, reports the New York Times.

  • Wednesday July 28, 2010 9:46 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces seek to erase Bedouin village
    Israeli forces sought to erase a Bedouin village in the Negev that officials refuse to recognize as a legitimate community.

  • Wednesday July 28, 2010 9:08 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Abdullah, Abbas and Netanyahu meet
    Israeli and Palestinian leaders met with Jordan's king for over two hours Tuesday, Jordanian sources told the website Quds.net.

  • Wednesday July 28, 2010 8:59 AM (EST+7)
    Indyk: Settlement crisis won't be repeated
    Former US ambassador Martin Indyk argues that direct Israeli-Palestinian talks will create a momentum where it will not matter whether or not Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu extends Israel's ten-month settlement freeze.

  • Tuesday July 27, 2010 5:45 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli, Jordan leaders discuss Palestinian talks
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah discussed on Tuesday ways of launching direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, a Jordanian palace official said.

  • Tuesday July 27, 2010 5:37 PM (EST+7)
    Britain gives funds to monitor Israeli West Bank settlements
    The British government is to contribute £93,000 this year to monitor the growth of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The gathering of this information, often difficult or dangerous work is conducted by Jewish lady Hagit Ofra and her settlement watch team. She is the Director of Peace Now.

  • Tuesday July 27, 2010 5:21 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli blockaded Gaza strip is a 'prison camp', says British PM
    British Prime Minister David Cameron during a visit to Turkey, likened life for Palestinians in Gaza to that of  being in a “prison camp”. The comment marks the Prime Minister’s strongest intervention yet in the Israel – Palestine conflict.

  • Tuesday July 27, 2010 12:27 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza smuggler set up for life, thanks to Israel
    Demand for Abu Mohammed's smuggling services has fallen in the weeks since Israel announced it would loosen its blockade of the Gaza Strip by letting more goods in.

  • Tuesday July 27, 2010 12:15 PM (EST+7)
    Gazans want 'Marshall plan', Israel policy falls short
    The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat pledged to turn Gaza into Singapore on the Mediterranean. Today, four years of sanctions have turned it into something quite different.

  • Tuesday July 27, 2010 9:41 AM (EST+7)
    Independents continue talks with Fateh, Hamas
    An independent committee of political figures is heading into round two of talks with Fateh and Hamas over bridging the gaps between them, reports The National.

  • Tuesday July 27, 2010 9:19 AM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak on threats to Israel
    Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak is interviewed by the Washington Post on the eve of a visit to the United States.

  • Tuesday July 27, 2010 8:29 AM (EST+7)
    US grocery chain to boycott Israel
    A US supermarket chain has become the first American grocery store to officially join the global grassroots boycott of Israel.

  • Monday July 26, 2010 6:21 PM (EST+7)
    FM Lieberman tours West Bank's settlements
    Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman conducted a tour of the West Bank’s Jewish settlements on Monday.

  • Monday July 26, 2010 5:52 PM (EST+7)
    France raises Palestinian diplomatic status
    France is raising the diplomatic status of the Palestinian Authority in a move aimed at giving the Palestinians more legitimacy as they push for an independent state within two years.

  • Monday July 26, 2010 5:15 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION:Netanyahu's recorded hostility to peace process is no real surprise
    Hostility, venom, and contempt. These are the words to best describe a recently released tape recording of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opinion of the peace process.

  • Monday July 26, 2010 1:32 PM (EST+7)
    Melee in Burin after settler attack
    Israeli settlers entered the West Bank village of Burin and attacked villagers on Monday, Palestinian residents said.

  • Monday July 26, 2010 10:09 AM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Facebook blocks 'Palestinian' groups
    Facebook appears to automatically block attempts to register pages including the word "Palestinian", reports blogger Rex Brynen.

  • Monday July 26, 2010 9:30 AM (EST+7)
    Israel air force strikes tunnels
    Israeli war planes struck three smuggling tunnels and an open area in Nuseirat refugee camp early Monday morning, Palestinian sources said.

  • Monday July 26, 2010 9:11 AM (EST+7)
    US, Israel sign deal to upgrade Arrow missile shield
    Israel and the United States have signed an agreement to make the Arrow II ballistic shield capable of shooting down missiles at a higher altitude, the Israeli Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

  • Monday July 26, 2010 8:43 AM (EST+7)
    Arab Knesset member warns of third intifada
    Israel's harassment of its Palestinian minority could inspire a third intifada, said Arab Knesset member Haneen Zoabi.

  • Monday July 26, 2010 8:10 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Israel interfering with US training of Palestinian security
    Israel is interfering with US training of Palestinian security forces, finds a new report by a US government watchdog group.

  • Sunday July 25, 2010 6:40 PM (EST+7)
    Ashkenazi: All Israeli teens should serve country
    Chief of General Staff Lt. – Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi is calling for service in either the army, police, fire service or other organizations to be made for all teenagers in Israel, regardless of religion or ethnicity.

  • Sunday July 25, 2010 6:29 PM (EST+7)
    Islamic leader begins jail sentence for spitting on police
    Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic movement in Israel began his five month jail sentence on Sunday. Salah has been convicted of assault after spitting on a border police guard during a protest against Israeli construction near the Al-Aqsa mosque in 2007.

  • Sunday July 25, 2010 5:59 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas urges direct dialogue with EU
    Hamas officials on Saturday called on countries in the European Union to engage in direct dialogue. The Islamist movement has controlled the Gaza Strip since the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections.

  • Sunday July 25, 2010 5:31 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas: Despite international pressure we cannot start direct talks

    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday that he would continue to resist moving immediately to direct talks with Israel despite heavy international pressure to do so.

  • Sunday July 25, 2010 11:07 AM (EST+7)
    World Lutheran body elects Palestinian bishop to lead
    The World Lutheran Federation has elected Palestinian bishop Munib Younan as its president.

  • Sunday July 25, 2010 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    Passports held hostage in factional rift
    Gaza residents who apply for passports from Ramallah-based officials are subject to a security check before the passport is issued. In practice, this means that some applications are denied on the basis of political affiliation, reports Haaretz.

  • Sunday July 25, 2010 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    Arrest connects Shin Bet with settler groups
    The arrest last week of an Israeli man suspected of killing four Palestinians has inadvertently exposed connections between Israel's secret service and the right wing settler movement.

  • Saturday July 24, 2010 1:51 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: With pressure, Israel’s military investigates – but only a little
    A blizzard of criticism that peaked over Israel’s 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip has led to a series of accountability exercises by the Israeli military.

  • Saturday July 24, 2010 10:31 AM (EST+7)
    Former EU parliamentarian detained in Bilin
    Former EU parliamentarian Luoisa Morgantini was briefly detained by Israeli forces, reports CNN.

  • Saturday July 24, 2010 10:25 AM (EST+7)
    UN criticizes Gaza aid flotillas
    The United Nations has criticized ongoing attempts to break Israel's sea blockade of the Gaza Strip.

  • Saturday July 24, 2010 10:19 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli left tracks continued construction in settlements
    Israeli settlement expert Dror Etkes tracks ongoing building in Israel's settlements -- construction underway despite the government's ten-month moratorium.

  • Saturday July 24, 2010 10:09 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt official: Gaza wall 'big failure'
    A wall that Egypt is constructing to stop smuggling between Egypt and the Gaza Strip has been breached in hundreds of places, officials told the Associated Press.

  • Friday July 23, 2010 5:36 PM (EST+7)
    UN rights forum names team to probe Israel ship raid
    The United Nations Human Rights Council appointed a team of international experts on Friday to investigate Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and called on all parties to cooperate.

  • Friday July 23, 2010 1:55 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to return impounded Gaza aid ships to Turkey
    Israel will return the Turkish aid ships on which its troops killed nine activists in May, Israeli officials said on Friday, in what appeared to be a new bid to repair frayed ties with its former ally.

  • Friday July 23, 2010 11:03 AM (EST+7)
    US upgrades diplomatic ties with Palestinians
    Diplomatic relations between the United States and the Palestinian Authority are set to upgrade this week. The US will grant the PA’s mission in Washington the status of a PLO ‘general delegation’. This is the same status it already enjoys in most European countries.

  • Friday July 23, 2010 9:53 AM (EST+7)
    Fighters turn to theatre to advocate Middle East peace
    Combatants for Peace, a group drawn from Israel and Palestine's forces, are transforming their own experiences into drama. The question is whether this will help find a resolution to political conflict.

  • Friday July 23, 2010 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    Israel urges international community to block Lebanese ships bound for Gaza
    Israel has launched an international diplomatic campaign to keep two Lebanese ships, intending to sail to Gaza from leaving Tripoli’s shores. It warned that the vessels shall be stopped.

  • Thursday July 22, 2010 9:15 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas warns Fateh to get organized or die
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has warned the Fateh party he leads that its days are numbered unless it puts its house in order.

  • Thursday July 22, 2010 1:46 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas: Direct peace talks decision in seven days
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said he would decide in the next seven days whether conditions are now ripe to proceed to face-to-face peace talks with Israel.

  • Thursday July 22, 2010 12:10 PM (EST+7)
    Ranks of international supporters swell after flotilla incident
    The ranks of a group of foreign supporters of Palestinians are swelling after its role in planning and recruiting participants for a Gaza-bound aid fleet in May.

  • Thursday July 22, 2010 10:34 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops photographed training for clashes at al-Aqsa mosque
    Israeli forces are training for clashes at the al-Aqsa mosque, reports a Palestinian religious center.

  • Thursday July 22, 2010 9:46 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian killed near Barkan settlement
    Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian that they said was trying to infiltrate the Israeli settlement of Barkan Thursday morning.

  • Thursday July 22, 2010 8:41 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli shelling kills two, wounds six
    Israeli shellfire killed two armed Palestinian and wounded six people, including a 10-year-old girl, in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian medical workers and an official with an armed group said.

  • Thursday July 22, 2010 8:32 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey talks to Hamas about healing Fateh rift
    Turkey's foreign minister met the leader of Hamas this week in Syria, where they discussed how to heal a rift between the Islamist group and rival Palestinian faction Fateh, Turkey's Anatolia news agency reported.

  • Wednesday July 21, 2010 5:02 PM (EST+7)
    Israel extends law banning Palestinian family reunification
    Fifty-three Israeli law-makers voted on Wednesday to extend the Citizenship and Entry law, which bans Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens from receiving family unification.

  • Wednesday July 21, 2010 11:05 AM (EST+7)
    Poll: Most Israelis support ending settlement freeze
    A small majority of Israelis supports renewing settlement construction when a ten-month partial moratorium ends in September, finds a new poll.

  • Wednesday July 21, 2010 10:34 AM (EST+7)
    Official: Fateh leadership rejects direct talks
    The top leadership of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fateh party met Tuesday, only to frown on a move to direct talks with Israel without Israeli concessions.

  • Wednesday July 21, 2010 8:48 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian government accuses Israeli fuel company of theft
    The Palestinian cabinet resolved Tuesday to take to court Israeli companies it says have been stealing Palestinian fuel.

  • Wednesday July 21, 2010 8:21 AM (EST+7)
    Israel submits report on Gaza war
    A new Israeli report on the 2008-2009 war in the Gaza Strip says that Israel's army is taking steps to reduce the number of civilian casualties in future wars and will restrict the use of white phosphorous.

  • Tuesday July 20, 2010 9:13 PM (EST+7)
    Tukey continues to give Israel cold shoulder
    Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshal met in Damascus on Monday. But Israel is seeking to maintain positive relations with Turkey.

  • Tuesday July 20, 2010 8:29 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli spy cases revive divisions in Lebanon
    Lebanon's arrest of two telecoms workers could mark a breakthrough in its spy war with Israel but has revived internal divisions that brought the country to the brink of civil war in 2008.

  • Tuesday July 20, 2010 8:16 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: Plan to deport children of foreign workers sign of Israel's inhumanity
    Israel is reversing a long-held policy against deporting minors. Hundreds of children and their families are set to be expelled to their parent countries of origin in a move  intended to crackdown on the country's migrant worker population.

  • Tuesday July 20, 2010 8:01 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli lawmaker visits flashpoint religious site
    A senior lawmaker of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing party on Tuesday visited a flashpoint religious site in Jerusalem revered by Jews and Muslims, a move that has sparked violence in the past.

  • Tuesday July 20, 2010 6:54 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians experience first day at the beach
    Some 1,000 Palestinians will be granted a day at the beach by an Israeli organization working to arrange for them the military permits required.

  • Tuesday July 20, 2010 6:39 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Abbas seeks international troops in exchange for move to direct talks
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly asked for international troops to man the borders of the occupied Palestinian territories in exchange for agreeing to engage in direct talks with Israel.

  • Monday July 19, 2010 8:49 PM (EST+7)
    New Israeli rocket shield passes final test
    An Israeli system that shoots down rockets passed final tests on Monday and will be deployed near Israel's borders by November, the Defence Ministry said.

    Read more about Israel's rocket defense system.

  • Monday July 19, 2010 7:03 PM (EST+7)
    Israel eyes extending law to appropriate Palestinian property in East Jerusalem
    The Israeli government has signaled to the High Court of Israel that it plans on extending a law on abandoned properties to East Jerusalem.

  • Monday July 19, 2010 6:31 PM (EST+7)
    Rights group urges UAE to allow appeal by deportees
    Human Rights Watch called on the United Arab Emirates on Monday to allow hundreds of Palestinians and Lebanese nationals expelled from the Gulf Arab state in the past year to appeal their deportation.

  • Monday July 19, 2010 5:00 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli military considers lifting ban on Israelis entering 'Area A'
    The Israeli military is considering lifting a 10-year old ban on Israelis entering parts of the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority. 

  • Monday July 19, 2010 9:46 AM (EST+7)
    Water crisis hits Israel-controlled areas of West Bank
    The worst place to be in the West Bank in terms of water and sanitation facilities is an Israeli-controlled stretch of land known as Area C, where the Palestinian Authority is technically responsible for water services, but simply unable to deliver.

  • Monday July 19, 2010 9:23 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas officials in Gaza ban women smoking in public
    Hamas officials in Gaza have banned women from smoking water pipes in public, claiming it has a negative on public morality, reports The Independent.

  • Monday July 19, 2010 9:18 AM (EST+7)
    Video threatens to embarrass Israeli premier
    A secretly-recorded video portrays the Israeli prime minister nine years ago describing how he deceived the US administration and stymied peace negotiations, reports The National.

  • Monday July 19, 2010 8:32 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli, Palestinian leaders in talks with Mubarak
    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met Palestinian and Israeli leaders and the US peace envoy on Sunday with a return to direct talks on the agenda, but a breakthrough still seemed distant.

  • Sunday July 18, 2010 10:56 AM (EST+7)
    EU envoy urges Israel to ease off further on Gaza
    Israel should ease its Gaza blockade further and allow Palestinians to resume exports from the territory, the European Union's foreign policy chief said on Sunday during a visit to the Hamas-controlled enclave.

  • Sunday July 18, 2010 9:18 AM (EST+7)
    Israel set to force citizens to swear oath to Jewish state
    Swearing an oath of loyalty to a “Jewish and democratic” state may soon become a requisite for new Israeli citizens. Israel’s cabinet, which meets Sunday, is expected to approve this law, and extend measures that reduce the chances for Palestinians to achieve citizenship.

  • Saturday July 17, 2010 5:40 PM (EST+7)
    Two photographers attacked by Israeli troops
    Two Palestinian photographers have reportedly been attacked and hospitalized by Israeli troops while covering a weekly protest near the West Bank city of Hebron.

  • Saturday July 17, 2010 4:54 PM (EST+7)
    Mitchell wraps up meetings with Palestinian officials
    US Special Envoy George Mitchell wrapped up his latest round of meetings with the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank on Saturday.

  • Saturday July 17, 2010 1:34 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas clarifies terms for direct Mideast talks
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel must agree to the idea of a third party guarding the borders of a future Palestinian state before direct peace talks can begin.


  • Friday July 16, 2010 8:00 PM (EST+7)
    Gilad Shalit and the politics of prisoner exchange
    Although a popular movement has formed in Israel calling for the government to do what it takes to secure the release of soldier Gilad Shalit, taken prisoner four years ago by Hamas, some analysts say a prisoner exchange is unlikely to take place.

  • Friday July 16, 2010 6:29 PM (EST+7)
    EU Chief heads to Gaza
    Catherine Ashton, the foreign affairs chief for the European Union, will be in Gaza on Sunday as part of a three-day tour of the region, which begins on Saturday.

  • Friday July 16, 2010 4:21 PM (EST+7)
    POLL: 46 percent of Israelis believe Obama 'pro-Palestinian'
    A poll conducted by The Jerusalem Post has found that 46 percent of Israeli Jews believe that US President Barack Obama is 'pro-Palestinian', while only 9 percent believe he is 'pro-Israeli'.

  • Friday July 16, 2010 12:15 PM (EST+7)
    US will continue to protect Israel diplomatically and militarily says official
    The United States will continue to sustain Israel’s military force, and protect the country in the diplomatic arena said US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice on Wednesday.

  • Friday July 16, 2010 11:20 AM (EST+7)
    Who'd be a travel agent in Gaza?
    A travel agent in an enclosed territory; business has not been easy for Nabil Shurafa. With changes in the restrictions imposed by the Gaza blockade Shurafa hopes that things will improve, but there remains a long way to go before he can declare business as usual.

  • Friday July 16, 2010 9:31 AM (EST+7)
    'Two state solution favoured by British Jews
    A majority of British Jews prefer a “two-state solution” with Palestinians to the situation in Israel today, and over 50% would support entering in negotiations with Hamas, found a report published Friday.

  • Thursday July 15, 2010 8:03 PM (EST+7)
    Despite settlement freeze, building remains apace
    Despite a 10-month settlement freeze declared by Prime Minister Netanyahu's government over seven months ago, construction has continued at a relatively equal pace, reports The New York Times.

  • Thursday July 15, 2010 7:07 PM (EST+7)
    TRANSCRIPT: Video of Netanyahu claiming responsibility for failure of Oslo
    A translated transcript of a video released by Israel's Channel 10 showing Prime Minister Netanyahu explaining in 2001, how he worked to sabotage the Oslo Accords while in his first term in office.

  • Thursday July 15, 2010 1:23 PM (EST+7)
    Fateh urges no direct Mideast talks for now
    The Palestinian president's Fateh party said on Thursday there should be no move to face-to-face Middle East peace talks sought by the United States without progress in the indirect talks it is mediating.

  • Thursday July 15, 2010 11:25 AM (EST+7)
    Conversion bill causes consternation in Israel and US
    A bill moving through parliament that would put Israel's chief rabbi in charge of conversions has raised concerns both domestically and from close Israel ally, the United States' Congress.

  • Thursday July 15, 2010 10:54 AM (EST+7)
    Military convicts commander, soldier in shooting of bound Palestinian
    An Israeli military court has convicted a soldier and his commander of shooting a bound Palestinian with a rubber-coated bullet in the village of Nilin two years ago.

  • Thursday July 15, 2010 10:31 AM (EST+7)
    Experts: Just 10% of Gaza water suitable for human use
    The Gaza Strip’s 1.5 million people are living on the edge of a health disaster, their main source of drinking water too saline for human consumption, say experts.

  • Thursday July 15, 2010 8:54 AM (EST+7)
    Libyan Gaza-bound aid ship arrives in Egypt port
    A Libyan-chartered ship carrying aid for Palestinians reached an Egyptian port on Wednesday after altering its course following a warning from Israel's navy not to head to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

  • Wednesday July 14, 2010 10:16 PM (EST+7)
    UN envoy says trouble with Lebanon villagers over
    A U.N. envoy to Lebanon said on Wednesday he believed trouble between U.N. peacekeepers and villagers in south Lebanon that has led to confrontations in recent weeks had now been sorted out.

  • Wednesday July 14, 2010 9:59 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Mubarak defers Netanyahu meeting over East Jerusalem demolitions
    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak postponed his planned meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's recent demolition of illegal Palestinian structures in East Jerusalem, Army Radio quoted the Egyptian daily Al-Shorouq as reporting Wednesday.

  • Wednesday July 14, 2010 9:42 PM (EST+7)
    Israelis inciting anti-Israel boycotts could soon be forced to pay
    The initial reading of a bill calling for heavy fines to be imposed on Israeli citizens who initiate or incite boycotts against Israel was approved by the Knesset on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday July 14, 2010 12:21 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza-bound aid ship on new course to Egypt
    A Libyan-chartered ship carrying aid for Palestinians set a new course for the Egyptian port of El Arish on Wednesday after Israel's navy warned it away from the blockaded Gaza Strip, an Israeli official said.

  • Wednesday July 14, 2010 12:15 PM (EST+7)
    Israel considers restricting citizenship to select branches of Judaism
    Israel's parliament advanced on Monday a bill that could restrict citizenship to certain branches of Judaism.

  • Wednesday July 14, 2010 10:32 AM (EST+7)
    Idleness, despondency and despair in Gaza
    Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are not suffering from lack of food, reports the New York Times, but rather despair. 

  • Wednesday July 14, 2010 9:18 AM (EST+7)
    Presbyterian church compromises on divestment calls
    The Presbyterian church, meeting in Minnesota Friday, reached a compromise solution over a resolution on the Middle East conflict that had drawn the ire of right-wing Jewish groups in the United States.

  • Wednesday July 14, 2010 8:46 AM (EST+7)
    US criticizes Israeli house demolitions
    A US government spokesperson criticized Israel's demolition of six Palestinian homes in Jerusalem Tuesday, reports al-Jazeera.

  • Wednesday July 14, 2010 8:39 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli shelling kills Palestinian woman in Gaza
    Israeli army shelling killed a Palestinian woman and wounded five of her relatives in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday, hospital officials said.

  • Wednesday July 14, 2010 8:32 AM (EST+7)
    Arab MK stripped of diplomatic privileges over role in flotilla affair
    Israel's parliament voted on Tuesday in favor of scrapping the diplomatic privileges of an Arab lawmaker accused of siding with the state's enemies by taking part in an aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip.

  • Wednesday July 14, 2010 8:17 AM (EST+7)
    Libyan ship nears Gaza, but final port in doubt
    A Libyan ship carrying aid for Palestinians in Gaza has asked to dock in Egypt, an Egyptian official said on Tuesday, but mission organizers said the ship was still headed for the Israeli-blockaded territory.

  • Tuesday July 13, 2010 8:47 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli navy challenges Gaza-bound Libyan ship
    The captain of a Gaza-bound Libyan aid ship on Tuesday rejected an Israeli demand that it dock instead in Egypt, the mission organizers said, setting course for a new confrontation over Israel's naval blockade.

  • Tuesday July 13, 2010 8:41 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas clashes with Hezbe Tahrir movement
    Clashes broke out in Gaza Strip Tuesday between the international Hezbe Tahrir movement and Gaza police.

  • Tuesday July 13, 2010 3:42 PM (EST+7)
    Five years on, boycott tactic seen as danger to Israel
    Five years after its inception, a decentralized grassroots network promoting a comprehensive boycott of Israel is celebrating a mounting streak of successes.

  • Tuesday July 13, 2010 2:23 PM (EST+7)
    US conservatives form new pro-Israel lobby group
    A group of leading American conservatives has established a new pro-Israel lobby group. The group’s intention is to attack President Obama over his “anti-Israel” stance says the US website Politico.

  • Tuesday July 13, 2010 1:03 PM (EST+7)
    Israel razes inhabited Palestinian home in Jerusalem
    Israel razed on Tuesday an inhabited Palestinian home in East Jerusalem for the first time in eight months, effectively ending an unofficial freeze of such internationally-condemned demolitions.

  • Tuesday July 13, 2010 11:58 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli court delays decision on Jerusalem deportee
    An Israeli court hearing held Monday to determine the fate of a Palestinian politician ordered to leave Jerusalem ended inconclusively, said his lawyers.

  • Tuesday July 13, 2010 9:39 AM (EST+7)
    Council approves construction of 32 new homes in East Jerusalem
    The Jerusalem municipal planning committee on Monday approved construction of 32 new apartments in the Jewish neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev across the Green Line.

  • Tuesday July 13, 2010 9:03 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton urges Turkey to keep open dialogue with Israel
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged Turkey to continue dialogue with Israel. In a 45 minute meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davotuglu on Monday, Clinton deemed the relationship between to the countries crucial to the future of the Middle East.

  • Tuesday July 13, 2010 8:22 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli army finds errors in deadly Gaza ship raid
    An Israeli military inquiry released on Monday found intelligence and operational errors in a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla but defended the use of force behind the killings of nine Turkish activists.

  • Monday July 12, 2010 7:55 PM (EST+7)
    Racism against Druze soldiers from Israeli settlers
    Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz has reported an increase in racism toward Druze soldiers serving in the Israeli army in the OPT.

  • Monday July 12, 2010 6:40 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli and Palestinian security officials convene in Jenin
    The head of Israel's internal security service, the Shin Bet, spent the day in the West Bank city of Jenin on Monday, as part of wider efforts to coordinate security with the Palestinian Authority.

  • Monday July 12, 2010 4:41 PM (EST+7)
    Peaceful protesters demonstrate against elections postponement
    Hundreds of Palestinians from civil society organizations and political parties gathered Monday outside the cabinet headquarters in Ramallah to protest the postponement of local council elections.

  • Monday July 12, 2010 2:01 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian bus union protests market expansion
    The Palestinian bus company union held a protest Monday against the Palestinian Authority's opening of the market to dozens of new private bus companies.

  • Monday July 12, 2010 12:08 PM (EST+7)
    High court to hear petition against settler control of Silwan site
    An Israeli settler organization's control of a Jerusalem-area state park is being challenged in Israel's courts.

    Read more on Silwan and settlements...

  • Monday July 12, 2010 11:06 AM (EST+7)
    Reports: Military inquiry finds Israel was unprepared for flotilla raid
    Israel's military failed to prepare adequately for what turned into a deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, according to findings of a military inquiry quoted by the Israeli media on Monday.

  • Monday July 12, 2010 9:44 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli archeologists find Jerusalem's oldest written document
    Israeli archeologists say they have unearthed a fragment of a written document from the 14th century in a dig in Jerusalem between the contested Silwan area and Jerusalem's holy sites.

  • Monday July 12, 2010 9:34 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's Arab towns to get bus service
    Israel's Arab towns will get bus service for the first time since Israel was established, announced Israeli officials Sunday.

  • Monday July 12, 2010 9:27 AM (EST+7)
    For Syria's Palestinian refugees, homeland part of nearly-forgotten past
    For some in the youngest generation, reports The National, Palestine is part of a meaningless past. 

  • Monday July 12, 2010 8:59 AM (EST+7)
    Lebanese near compromise over refugee civil rights
    Lebanon's factions are nearing compromise over granting Palestinian refugees civil rights without offering them nationality, reports the Daily Star.

  • Monday July 12, 2010 8:45 AM (EST+7)
    Senior Palestinian calls Jerusalem a 'time bomb'
    Ahmed Qurei, a former prime minister and negotiator, joined Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli foreign minister and now opposition leader in parliament, in calling on both sides to work harder to achieve a two-state solution.

  • Sunday July 11, 2010 7:06 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu says will meet Egypt's Mubarak on Tuesday
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Egypt on Tuesday to continue talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak about a possible move toward direct peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

  • Sunday July 11, 2010 5:17 PM (EST+7)
    Israel says won't let Libyan aid ship reach Gaza
    Israel will not allow an aid ship sent by a Libyan group to reach Gaza, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday, just over a month after Israeli commandos killed nine activists in a raid at sea.

  • Sunday July 11, 2010 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas vows to crack down on collaborators after amnesty period
    Hamas authorities in control of the Gaza Strip say they will crack down on collaborators with Israel, now that a two-month amnesty period is over, reports Xinua.

  • Sunday July 11, 2010 8:30 AM (EST+7)
    Supporters flock to Shalit protest tent
    Israelis of all walks of life are stopping in to visit the Shalit family and their supporters as the protest for their son's release. 

  • Sunday July 11, 2010 8:24 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis professors fight right-wing agenda
    Hundreds of Israeli professors have signed a petition objecting to the education minister's involvement with efforts to punish educators who support the boycott against Israel.

  • Saturday July 10, 2010 8:42 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas says wants progress for direct Mideast talks
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he wanted progress in indirect peace talks with Israel before any move to face-to-face talks, which the United States wants the two sides to begin.

  • Saturday July 10, 2010 8:38 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza aid ship sails from Greece, may head to Egypt
    A ship carrying aid for Palestinians blockaded by Israel in Gaza left Greece on Saturday, just over a month after 9 activists died in an Israeli raid on an aid flotilla trying to reach Gaza.

  • Saturday July 10, 2010 3:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli official: Libyan ship to be diverted from blockaded Gaza
    Israel's foreign ministry has reached an agreement with the captain of a Libyan aid ship that will divert the ship and its cargo from the blockaded Gaza Strip to a port in Egypt, said an Israeli spokesperson Saturday.

  • Saturday July 10, 2010 2:13 PM (EST+7)
    Next Mitchell visit brings pressure, fear Palestinians
    US envoy George Mitchell will visit the region next week, announced the Palestinian president's office Saturday.

  • Saturday July 10, 2010 12:21 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli author injured at Jerusalem protest
    Israeli author David Grossman was reportedly injured at a Friday demonstration against Jewish settlement in Sheikh Jarrah, occupied East Jerusalem.

  • Saturday July 10, 2010 12:11 PM (EST+7)
    Aid ship to sail from Greece for blockaded Gaza
    A ship carrying aid for Palestinians will leave for Gaza on Friday or early Saturday, just over a month after a deadly Israeli raid on an aid flotilla trying to break the blockade of the impoverished territory.

  • Saturday July 10, 2010 8:38 AM (EST+7)
    Obama, Abbas discuss path to direct peace talks

    US President Barack Obama kept up his push to revive direct Middle East talks as he spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday about ways to advance the fragile peace process with Israel.


  • Thursday July 8, 2010 6:58 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey reserves right to act over Gaza raid
    Turkey would be entitled to take any measure to protect its citizens' rights if Israel fails to apologize or accept an international inquiry into its raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship, Turkey's foreign minister said on Thursday.

  • Thursday July 8, 2010 2:38 PM (EST+7)
    In medical emergencies, Wall can be deadly barrier
    A new joint report by the United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) has found that the Wall is having a grave impact on the health of Palestinians.

  • Thursday July 8, 2010 10:09 AM (EST+7)
    Israel charged with war crimes in control of housing and water
    Israel on Thursday was accused of serious human rights violations, including war crimes, in the area of housing and access to water.

  • Thursday July 8, 2010 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    UN welcomes blockade easing while pressing for complete end
    The UN and international relief organizations have cautiously welcomed Israel’s easing of import restrictions on the Gaza Strip, but say only the complete lifting of the blockade can address the humanitarian crisis.

  • Thursday July 8, 2010 9:33 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's Wall still far from completion
    Israel has only completed 64 percent of the Wall it is building through the West Bank eight years after construction began, reports the Jerusalem Post. 

  • Thursday July 8, 2010 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Rush on brand names in Gaza
    With the recent easing of Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods into Gaza, Palestinians are rushing to the stores to buy brand name goods that have been missing from the shelves for so long.

  • Thursday July 8, 2010 9:18 AM (EST+7)
    Rights groups ridicule Israel's war crimes investigations
    Human rights groups have responded to Israel's decision to prosecute four cases of possible war crimes with ridicule, reports The National.

  • Thursday July 8, 2010 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    US senator says Israel not on verge of Iran strike
    Israel is not on the verge of a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, said US Senator John McCain Wednesday, reports the Washington Post.

  • Thursday July 8, 2010 8:19 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu offers Palestinians talks on settlements
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he was prepared to discuss "right away" the future of Jewish settlements if Palestinians entered direct peace talks with Israel.

  • Wednesday July 7, 2010 9:11 PM (EST+7)
    Israel signals no easing of Gaza movement restrictions
    An Israeli court on Wednesday rejected a request by a Palestinian woman from the Gaza Strip to study in the Israeli-occupied West Bank despite Israel's recent moves to relax the Gaza blockade.

  • Wednesday July 7, 2010 8:05 PM (EST+7)
    SPECIAL: Schools suffer as Palestinians in Area C forced out
    After the demolition of a school, 15 homes and some animal sheds this year in the Jordan Valley community of Khirbet Tana, more than half of the families left. Education in Area C of the West Bank is in crisis, aid agencies warn, just like the Palestinians who live there. 

  • Wednesday July 7, 2010 6:46 PM (EST+7)
    Jewish settlers control 42 per cent of West Bank says report
    Jewish settlers control more than 42 per cent of the occupied West Bank reveals a new report by B’Tselem. Released just as the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington to discuss Israeli-Palestinin peace talks, the report claims that this represents a powerful obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state.

  • Wednesday July 7, 2010 5:32 PM (EST+7)
    REPORT: US-Israel nuclear partnership strengthens
    Army Radio alleges that the US has pledges to sell Israel materials that will enhance Israel’s nuclear technology and other supplies as well as producing electricity. This comes despite the fact that Israel is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

  • Wednesday July 7, 2010 5:03 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians wary of direct peace talks with Israel
    U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu want direct talks soon on a Middle East peace treaty, but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is wary of walking into a trap.

  • Wednesday July 7, 2010 9:04 AM (EST+7)
    Fateh lawmaker briefly detained in Jerusalem
    Israeli police released Palestinian parliamentarian Azzam Ahmed after holding him for approximately an hour Wednesday.

  • Wednesday July 7, 2010 7:48 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey's president says Israel acting irrationally
    Turkey's President Abdullah Gul said on Tuesday that divisions within Israel's coalition were stopping the Jewish state repairing relations ruined by the storming of a Gaza-bound aid ship over a month ago.

  • Wednesday July 7, 2010 7:31 AM (EST+7)
    Obama urges direct Mideast peace talks soon
    US President Barack Obama urged Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday to resume direct peace talks by September and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised "concrete steps" to clear the way.

    Read more on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process...

  • Tuesday July 6, 2010 12:35 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli-Turkish ties have remained unchanged
    Despite the heavy rhetoric emanating out of Ankara these days, relations between Turkey and Israel have not undergone any dramatic change.

  • Tuesday July 6, 2010 11:03 AM (EST+7)
    US tax exempt funds support settlements in West Bank
    For years American citizens have been contributing to the development of Israeli settlements through tax-free donations to groups supporting the settlement enterprise.

  • Tuesday July 6, 2010 9:32 AM (EST+7)
    Thousands missing out on education in Gaza
    Thousands of Palestinian refugee children in the Gaza Strip are unable to receive adequate education, according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

  • Tuesday July 6, 2010 8:17 AM (EST+7)
    Obama, Israel's Netanyahu to hold fence-mending talks
    UPDATE: President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet on Tuesday seeking to show they have turned the page on an unusually rocky period in relations between Washington and its close ally.

  • Tuesday July 6, 2010 8:13 AM (EST+7)
    European envoys accept Israel offer to visit Gaza
    A delegation of European foreign ministers on Monday accepted Israel's invitation to visit the Gaza Strip and said it was an "important opportunity" to monitor the implementation of measures announced by Israel.

  • Tuesday July 6, 2010 8:03 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis, Palestinians call for prisoner exchange
    Thousands of Israelis and dozens of Palestinians separately gathered on either side of the Gaza Strip border on Monday demanding a prisoner swap.

  • Monday July 5, 2010 8:52 PM (EST+7)
    For first time, Israel says what isn't allowed into Gaza
    The Israeli government published Monday afternoon a list of items banned from entering the Gaza Strip, and a list of building materials that will be allowed to enter under certain conditions.

    Read the Israeli government banned substances list...

  • Monday July 5, 2010 7:19 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian PM meets Israeli minister, presses demands
    The Palestinian prime minister said he pressed demands including a halt to Israeli army incursions in Palestinian West Bank towns in a rare high-level meeting with the Israeli defence minister on Monday.

  • Monday July 5, 2010 6:01 PM (EST+7)
    US questions its unwavering support for Israel
    For nearly the first time, Israel's formidable position as a strategic asset is being questioned as a liability by policy makers in Washington.

  • Monday July 5, 2010 2:55 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey says will cut ties with Israel if no apology
    Turkey will cut ties with Israel unless it receives an apology over a deadly Israeli raid on a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying on Monday.

  • Monday July 5, 2010 11:03 AM (EST+7)
    Israel uneasy over migrant labor
    Israel is now home to an estimated 250,000 migrant workers, most of them Chinese.

  • Monday July 5, 2010 10:06 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians: Barak-Fayyad meet to ease Palestinian daily life
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has three things on his agenda when he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak Monday afternoon, say Palestinian officials.

  • Monday July 5, 2010 8:31 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Obama, Netanyahu reach agreement over settlement freeze
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama have agreed that Israel will continue its settlement freeze in most areas of the occupied West Bank, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Sunday July 4, 2010 9:36 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian PM to meet Israeli minister
    Israel's defence minister will meet the Palestinian prime minister on Monday, the first meeting between the two politicians since February and the first sign of progress in indirect, US-mediated talks.

  • Sunday July 4, 2010 7:03 PM (EST+7)
    West Bank city gears up to go green
    The Palestinian city of Nablus may become the first city in the West Bank to host a recycling plant. Efforts are underway to establish the plant and enhance environmental awareness in the Palestinian territories.

  • Sunday July 4, 2010 1:16 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli court delays ruling again in deportation case
    An Israeli court has delayed for the second time a ruling in the case of Hamas Mohammed Abu Tir, who has refused to leave the city of Jerusalem as ordered last month.

  • Sunday July 4, 2010 11:54 AM (EST+7)
    Senior Palestinian negotiator denies report of swap proposal
    Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat has denied reports published in the daily newspaper al-Hayat that Palestinians proposed a land swap of 2.3 percent to the Israeli side in ongoing proximity talks.

  • Sunday July 4, 2010 11:49 AM (EST+7)
    Senior Lebanese Shi'ite cleric Fadlallah dies
    Lebanon's Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, one of Shi'ite Islam's highest religious authorities, died on Sunday at the age of 74, a medical source at a Beirut hospital said.

  • Sunday July 4, 2010 11:41 AM (EST+7)
    Settlers worry about Palestinian boycott
    A new Palestinian law that will make it illegal to work in Israeli settlements has settlers worried about the future of their businesses, reports the AFP.

  • Sunday July 4, 2010 8:57 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian who planned Munich attacks dies in Syria
    The Palestinian who masterminded the deadly assault on Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics died in Syria on Saturday, Palestinian officials said.

  • Saturday July 3, 2010 11:13 AM (EST+7)
    Muslim Brotherhood launches social networking site
    The Muslim Brotherhood has launched its own version of Facebook, "Ikhwanbook".

  • Saturday July 3, 2010 8:50 AM (EST+7)
    Fence-mending on agenda for Obama-Netanyahu talks
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking forward to a warmer White House welcome from President Barack Obama next week after their relationship hit a low point over Jewish settlement policy.

    Read more on settlements and US foreign policy...

  • Friday July 2, 2010 2:58 PM (EST+7)
    Talks begin to give PA more authority on Gaza crossings
    Discussions have begun between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the possible transfer of responsibility into the crossings in the Gaza strip.

  • Friday July 2, 2010 2:43 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: Ten years after Camp David the idea of peace negotiations on equal terms is defunct
    A decade after Camp David, peace negotiations have regressed to indirect consultations and hope for resolution continues to erode. What is needed says the Guardian’s Ben White, is a change in strategy.

  • Friday July 2, 2010 12:31 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli minister denies promising Turkey compensation for Gaza flotilla victims
     Israel has denied reports on Friday that he had agreed to compensation for the families of the 9 activists killed in Israel’s Navy raid on the Turkish aid flotilla.

  • Friday July 2, 2010 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    STUDY: Gaza siege damages Palestinians' health
    Palestinian health experts studying the impact of Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip say it threatens to cause long-term damage to Palestinians' health, with many children at risk of stunted growth or malnutrition.

  • Friday July 2, 2010 9:36 AM (EST+7)
    Fayyad: Indirect talks with Israel not progressing
    Indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have not yet made enough progress to justify the start of face-to-face negotiations, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said on Thursday during a visit to France.

  • Thursday July 1, 2010 10:00 AM (EST+7)
    Silwan plan could be war crime, warns UN expert
    UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian rights Richard Falk has warned Israel that plans to demolish 22 homes in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan could open Israel to charges of war crimes.

  • Thursday July 1, 2010 9:51 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli warplanes strike Gaza
    Israeli warplanes shelled Gaza overnight Wednesday.

  • Thursday July 1, 2010 9:27 AM (EST+7)
    German opposition urges dialogue with Hamas
    The international community must pursue negotiations with Hamas if it wants to reach a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, Germany's main opposition Social Democrats (SPD) said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday July 1, 2010 8:15 AM (EST+7)
    Parliamentarian Abu Tir slated for court hearing on expulsion
    Israeli police arrested late Wednesday Palestinian parliamentarian Mohammad Abu Tir. Officials said he would attend a court hearing Thursday that would determine whether he is further detained or fined and deported.

  • Thursday July 1, 2010 8:12 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Netanyahu envoy, Turkish minister in secret talks
    An envoy for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held secret talks on Wednesday with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on salvaging ties frayed by the Gaza ship raid, Israeli and Turkish media reported.

  • Wednesday June 30, 2010 8:50 AM (EST+7)
    Thousands of Gazans trek to Cairo for medical treatment
    Thousands of Gazans are taking advantage of an open border crossing with Egypt since the start of June to seek treatment for a range of illnesses in Cairo hospitals.

  • Wednesday June 30, 2010 8:43 AM (EST+7)
    Without agreement, East Jerusalem waste flows into Dead Sea
    In lieu of an agreement over what to do with Palestinian sewage from East Jerusalem, the waste water continues to flow into the environmentally fragile Dead Sea.

  • Wednesday June 30, 2010 8:16 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces bar Palestinians from hundreds of dunams in Jerusalem
    Israeli authorities have closed off hundreds of dunams of land north of the town of Isawiya in occupied Jerusalem for the establishment of a national park.

  • Wednesday June 30, 2010 8:01 AM (EST+7)
    Obama, Saudi king discuss two-state Mideast solution
    US President Barack Obama and Saudi Arabian King Abdullah on Tuesday stressed the importance of a two-state solution to Middle East peace that secured a Palestinian homeland alongside a strong Israel.

  • Tuesday June 29, 2010 7:37 PM (EST+7)
    UN rights envoy: 'Israel plan to raze homes illegal'
    Israel's plan to demolish some 20 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem is illegal and reflects its systematic bid to drive Palestinians out of the holy city, a UN human rights expert charged on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday June 29, 2010 2:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israel FM: No Palestinian state before 2012
    No Palestinian state will be founded in the next two years, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday, citing difficulties in US-mediated peace negotiations as well as divisions among the Palestinians.

  • Tuesday June 29, 2010 11:10 AM (EST+7)
    Lieberman's 'blueprint' for peace, expel Palestinians from Israel
    Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has unhashed an old plan advocating the forced 'transfer' of Palestinian communities out of Israel and into a future Palestinian state.

  • Tuesday June 29, 2010 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians seek new partner: American Jews
    On a recent trip to the United States, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, met with a group of 30 American Jewish heavyweights in Washington DC to talk and answer questions about the state of affairs in Israel/Palestine

  • Tuesday June 29, 2010 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    OPINION: A special regime for Jerusalem
    The Jerusalem Old City Initiative prescribes a regime for managing Jerusalem's thorniest issues. 

  • Tuesday June 29, 2010 8:40 AM (EST+7)
    Israel condemned for expelling Palestinian politicians
    Israel has come under heat from Palestinians and Israeli human rights groups for its decision to expel four Palestinian politicians from Jerusalem.

  • Monday June 28, 2010 6:11 PM (EST+7)
    In quarter of Jerusalem, Armenians fear for future
    Jerusalem's Armenian community is a dwindling historic population, struggling to hold on to its place in the Holy City.

  • Monday June 28, 2010 5:37 PM (EST+7)
    Saudi king seeks Obama action on Mideast peace
    Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah will press US President Barack Obama in Washington this week to take a stronger stance with Israel over stalled peace talks with the Palestinians, analysts and diplomats said.

  • Monday June 28, 2010 12:33 PM (EST+7)
    Gunmen set fire to second UN summer camp in Gaza
    Masked Gunmen set fire to a children's summer camp run by the United Nations Works and Relief Agency (UNWRA) in the Gaza Strip, Sunday evening.

  • Monday June 28, 2010 12:18 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey denies airspace to Israeli military
    The Israeli military will no longer be allowed to fly its military aircraft in Turkish airspace, according to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan.

  • Monday June 28, 2010 10:51 AM (EST+7)
    Iranian Red Crescent ship canceled
    Iran's Red Crescent Society has cancelled a plan to send a shipload of aid to the Gaza Strip, saying it was denied access to pass through the Suez Canal, a claim rejected by an Egyptian official.

  • Monday June 28, 2010 8:43 AM (EST+7)
    Lebanon arrests telecom exec suspected of spying for Israel
    Lebanese security authorities have arrested a senior executive at state-owned mobile telecom firm Alfa on suspicion of spying for Israel, security sources said on Sunday.

  • Monday June 28, 2010 8:15 AM (EST+7)
    Dozens injured in second night of Silwan clashes
    For the second day in a row, the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan witnessed heavy clashes between Israel police and border guards and Palestinian residents.

  • Monday June 28, 2010 7:47 AM (EST+7)
    Syria wants Brazil to help with Mideast peace
    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has invited Brazil to help negotiate peace in the Middle East, a sign that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has strengthened his country's standing abroad.

  • Sunday June 27, 2010 8:15 PM (EST+7)
    US-Israel relations move into 'tectonic rift' says US ambassador
    Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, described a shift in relations between the two countries as a 'tectonic rift' at a diplomat's conference in Jerusalem, on Saturday.

  • Sunday June 27, 2010 7:54 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: Woman's rights activist in Gaza
    Read an interview with Naila Ayesh, a rare voice for woman's rights in the Gaza Strip.

  • Sunday June 27, 2010 5:11 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas security men seize money from Gaza bank
    Hamas forces seized $16,000 on Sunday from a Gaza bank that had frozen the funds as part of an anti-money laundering campaign launched by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

  • Sunday June 27, 2010 12:03 PM (EST+7)
    Captive Israeli soldier's parents march for swap
    The parents of an Israeli soldier held in the Gaza Strip since 2006 began a 12-day march on Sunday from their northern home to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence to press for a prisoner swap.

  • Sunday June 27, 2010 11:58 AM (EST+7)
    G8 calls for change in blockaded Gaza
    The Group of Eight rich nations on Saturday pressed Israel and the Palestinians to work for direct peace talks, and said conditions in Gaza under an Israeli blockade were "not sustainable and must be changed."

  • Sunday June 27, 2010 9:28 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Lebanon’s Palestinians demand space to breath
    On Sunday, 132 Lebanese and Palestinian organizations from across the country will march together to the Lebanese prime ministers’ residence in demand of better rights.

  • Sunday June 27, 2010 8:40 AM (EST+7)
    UN officials warn of explosion in Lebanon’s teeming refugee camps
    A ten-minute taxi ride from Beirut’s dazzling nightclubs, fast cars and luxury restaurants, Ahmad picks his way through crowded waste-strewn passageways. 

  • Saturday June 26, 2010 3:34 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli army kills Egyptian smuggler
    The Israeli army shot and killed an Egyptian smuggler and injured another on Saturday after they crossed into Israel carrying narcotics, security sources said.

  • Saturday June 26, 2010 1:40 PM (EST+7)
    Iran says Gaza aid delegation to go on Lebanon ship
    Iranian lawmakers protesting at Israel's blockade of Gaza plan to travel on an aid ship that plans to leave from Lebanon, an official said on Saturday.

  • Saturday June 26, 2010 10:08 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas leader's estranged son threatened with deportation from US
    Mousab Yusef, the estranged son of Ramallah Hamas leader Hasan Yusef, is threatened with deportation from the United States, despite having said he worked for years as an informant for Israel.

  • Saturday June 26, 2010 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    Hundreds demonstrate in Beit Safafa, Silwan
    Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated Friday against Israel's evictions and house demolitions in Jerusalem, centering their protests in Bet Safafa and Silwan.

  • Saturday June 26, 2010 8:55 AM (EST+7)
    UN: Bid to grant Palestinians rights in Lebanon will reduce militancy
    A proposed law to grant Palestinian refugees in Lebanon basic civil rights will promote their sense of dignity and well-being, reducing militancy in refugee camps across the country, a UN official said on Friday.

  • Friday June 25, 2010 9:33 PM (EST+7)
    US asks Hamas to keep talks under wraps
    US official and unofficial sources have asked Hamas to refrain from publicizing their contact with Washington claims one senior Hamas figure.

  • Friday June 25, 2010 7:21 PM (EST+7)
    OPINION: Israel has missed every opportunity to free Shalit
    Four years after Israel Defense Force soldier Gilad Shalit was captured by Palestinian armed men in the Gaza Strip, Haaretz’s Amos Harel reflects on the missed opportunities on the part of the Israeli government to secure his release.

  • Friday June 25, 2010 5:59 PM (EST+7)
    Israel offers to let Europe diplomats visit Gaza
    Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has invited  his Italian counterpart to lead a European Ministerial delegation to Gaza.

  • Friday June 25, 2010 5:14 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli air strikes kill two Palestinians in Gaza
    Two Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes against targets in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical workers said on Friday.

  • Thursday June 24, 2010 12:15 PM (EST+7)
    Clock runs down for Jerusalem deportees
    Three Jerusalem parliamentarians and a former minister affiliated with the Islamic movement Hamas are running out of time before an Israeli order deporting them from the city goes into effect.

  • Thursday June 24, 2010 11:26 AM (EST+7)
    Lebanese aid group uses misinformation to trick foes
    The Lebanese organizers of an aid ship headed to the Gaza Strip are using misinformation as one of their tools as they try to reach their destination.

  • Thursday June 24, 2010 8:15 AM (EST+7)
    UN's Ban criticizes plan to raze Jerusalem homes
    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon criticized Israeli municipal authorities on Wednesday for pressing ahead with a plan to raze Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, calling it unhelpful and illegal.

  • Wednesday June 23, 2010 5:30 PM (EST+7)
    Swedish dockworkers boycott Israel, won't off load ships
    The Swedesh Port Workers Union implemented a boycott of Israeli ships in all Sweden's ports, on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday June 23, 2010 4:50 PM (EST+7)
    UN questions worth of Israeli vow to ease Gaza grip
    The head of the United Nations' Palestinian refugee agency said on Wednesday the fine print of Israel's pledge to ease its Gaza blockade raised questions about how effective it would prove to be.

  • Wednesday June 23, 2010 10:28 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli military changes operational procedures
    Israel's military has drawn up new operational rules for any new war in the occupied Gaza Strip, the Jerusalem Post reports.

  • Wednesday June 23, 2010 10:07 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Palestinians supported watered-down UN flotilla resolution
    Palestinian officials appear to have supported a watered-down version of a resolution before the United Nations human rights body calling for an independent investigation of Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla last month.

  • Wednesday June 23, 2010 8:27 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces, settlers surround Beit Safafa home
    Israeli police surrounded the Salah family homes in Beit Safafa Wednesday morning while Israeli settlers tried to install temporary housing nearby.

  • Tuesday June 22, 2010 1:38 PM (EST+7)
    New bill seeks to outlaw boycott - both of settlements and of Israel

    If passed, the bill will lead to heavy sanctions on Palestinian authorities and individuals, as well as Israeli and foreign activists


  • Tuesday June 22, 2010 12:19 PM (EST+7)
    The silent expulsion: revoking Jerusalem residency
    For years the revocation of Jerusalem residency has been the silent plight of Palestinians, receiving little attention from the outside world.

  • Tuesday June 22, 2010 10:21 AM (EST+7)
    US concerned over plan to raze 22 East Jerusalem houses
    White House spokesman P.J. Crowley expressed concern on Monday over Israel's plan to destroy 22 more houses in East Jerusalem owned by Palestinians.

  • Tuesday June 22, 2010 9:13 AM (EST+7)
    Four deported politicians refuse to leave Jerusalem
    Three Palestinian parliamentarians and a former minister are refusing to leave the city of Jerusalem as ordered by Israeli officials.

  • Tuesday June 22, 2010 9:03 AM (EST+7)
    American dock workers don't cross picket line to unload Israeli ship
    Dock workers at the Port of Oakland in California refused to cross a picket line on Monday to unload an Israeli cargo ship, citing safety reasons.

  • Tuesday June 22, 2010 8:19 AM (EST+7)
    Barak tells UN to shelve flotilla inquiry plan
    Israel's defense minister on Monday urged the UN chief to shelve plans for a UN-backed independent investigation of a deadly Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last month.

  • Monday June 21, 2010 8:02 PM (EST+7)
    UN agency calls for full lifting of Gaza blockade
    Nothing short of the full lifting of Israel's blockade on Gaza would allow the territory to be rebuilt, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees said on Monday, a day after Israel said it would ease its siege.

  • Monday June 21, 2010 6:24 PM (EST+7)
    Lebanon OKs aid ships to head to Gaza
    Lebanon said on Monday it would allow a Gaza-bound aid ship to sail despite warnings from Israel that it reserved the right to use all necessary means to stop ships that try to sail from Lebanon to Gaza.

  • Monday June 21, 2010 5:00 PM (EST+7)
    Germany denies Israel ties hurt over minister row
    Germany denied on Monday that its relations with Israel had been damaged by a decision to bar Development Minister Dirk Niebel from visiting Gaza, where he wanted to see a humanitarian project part-funded by Berlin.

  • Monday June 21, 2010 4:32 PM (EST+7)
    Israel sets big rail plans, dreams of regional hub
    Israel's government is dreaming big as it allots funding for a rail system that would restore historic Palestine as a regional transit hub.

  • Monday June 21, 2010 12:42 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli panel revives plan to demolish Silwan homes
    Israel took another step on Monday towards implementing a construction plan that would entail demolishing some 20 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, a project Palestinians condemn as settlement expansion.

  • Monday June 21, 2010 8:35 AM (EST+7)
    Lebanese flotilla not carrying usual suspects
    Perfume, lipstick, gossip, and embraces. The participants in the Lebanese flotilla that is seeking to set sail towards the Gaza blockade are not the usual suspects -- they are women of suave sophistication from Beirut’s chattering classes.

  • Sunday June 20, 2010 8:39 PM (EST+7)
    Israel unveils procedures to ease Gaza blockade
    Israel announced new procedures on Sunday to ease its land blockade on the Gaza Strip, saying it would start allowing in all goods except for weapons and materials that can be used to make them.

  • Sunday June 20, 2010 5:10 PM (EST+7)
    Germany slams Israel over barring minister entry to Gaza
    The German government expressed anger at Israel Sunday over its decision to deny entry to the German minister of development, Dirk Niebel, into the Gaza Strip.

  • Sunday June 20, 2010 8:40 AM (EST+7)
    Without upkeep, Gaza's medical equipment slowly quits and falls apart
    Hundreds of patients come to Gaza's Shifa hospital every day - despite the fact that the hospital‘s main diagnostic instruments are out of order.

  • Saturday June 19, 2010 5:23 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt says will not alter Palestinian unity pact
    Egypt will not amend a pact written to reconcile rival Palestinian movements and the Islamist Hamas should join Fatah in signing it, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said on Saturday.

  • Saturday June 19, 2010 10:23 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's secular courts clash with ultra-orthodox public
    An Israeli court ruling banning segregation in Israeli schools has set up a confrontation between Israel's secular legal system and a large ultra-orthodox population, reports The National.

  • Saturday June 19, 2010 10:05 AM (EST+7)
    Fateh's decline sealed with canceled elections
    The cancellation of local council elections scheduled for July confirms the crumbling of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fateh party, reports the Associated Press.

  • Saturday June 19, 2010 9:53 AM (EST+7)
    Tens of thousands of Ultra-Orthodox Jews rally in the name of religious rights
    Over 100,000 religious orthodox Jews took part in a protest in Jerusalem on Wednesday against an Israeli court decision that they argue suppresses their religious rights.

  • Saturday June 19, 2010 9:00 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to use all means to stop Gaza-bound Lebanese flotilla
    Israel told the United Nations on Friday it reserved its right to use "all necessary means" to stop ships that it said planned to try to sail from Lebanon to bring aid to Gaza, blockaded by the Jewish state.

  • Friday June 18, 2010 5:49 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas pressures Mitchell to help bring end to Gaza siege during discussion of peace process
    President Mahmoud Abbas and US Special envoy George Mitchell met on Friday to discuss the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

  • Friday June 18, 2010 5:04 PM (EST+7)
    International community sceptical about Israel's easing of Gaza blockade
    Israel’s decision to ease the Gaza blockade has received mixed reactions from the international community.

  • Thursday June 17, 2010 10:55 AM (EST+7)
    Israel says easing Gaza blockade
    Israel's security cabinet decided on Thursday to ease a Gaza land blockade following an international outcry over a deadly raid on an aid flotilla.

    Read more on Israel's blockade of Gaza 

  • Thursday June 17, 2010 10:49 AM (EST+7)
    Analysts decry canceling of Palestinian elections
    When the Palestinian government indefinitely postponed local council elections scheduled for July, democracy was the main loser, analysts told The National.

  • Thursday June 17, 2010 10:41 AM (EST+7)
    UN still proposing international probe into Israeli raid
    The United Nations secretary general is pressing forward with efforts to establish an international inquiry into Israel's interception of Gaza-bound aid ships last month, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Thursday June 17, 2010 10:34 AM (EST+7)
    Israel discussing fate of activists' belongings
    Israeli officials discussed Wednesday the fate of the various personal belongings confiscated from activists aboard a fleet of Gaza-bound ships intercepted by the Israeli navy late last month.

  • Thursday June 17, 2010 9:06 AM (EST+7)
    Syria's Assad says Israeli raid raises region war risk
    Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has said Israel is being run by a "pyromaniac government" and its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla had increased the risks of war in the region.

  • Wednesday June 16, 2010 5:07 PM (EST+7)
    Turkish flotilla organizers to send more Gaza ships
    A Turkish pro-Palestinian group said on Wednesday it will send another aid flotilla to Gaza next month, again trying to break an Israeli blockade after its last convoy was the target of a deadly Israeli raid in May.

    Read an interview with an organizer of the last flotilla...

  • Wednesday June 16, 2010 4:13 PM (EST+7)
    Israel pushes Gaza blockade talks to Thursday
    Israel's security cabinet met on Wednesday to consider easing a Gaza blockade following an international outcry over a deadly raid on an aid flotilla, but adjourned without taking any decisions.

  • Wednesday June 16, 2010 4:12 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Turkey set to freeze ties with Israel
    A Turkish newspaper reported on Wednesday that Turkey would halt military cooperation with Israel and would not send back an envoy, withdrawn after an Israeli commando operation to stop an aid convoy reaching Gaza.

  • Wednesday June 16, 2010 2:08 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli ministers weigh easing Gaza blockade
    Israel's security cabinet met on Wednesday to consider easing the Gaza blockade, officials said.

    Read more on the Gaza blockade...

  • Wednesday June 16, 2010 12:00 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Israeli police killed motorist after he was subdued
    Israeli police officers shot at and killed a motorist suspected of attacking them after he had already been subdued, reports the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

  • Wednesday June 16, 2010 10:05 AM (EST+7)
    Rights group criticizes Turkel probe
    Amnesty International on Tuesday criticized Israel's investigation into its attack on a Gaza-bound aid fleet last month as lacking in transparency.

  • Wednesday June 16, 2010 9:38 AM (EST+7)
    Israel boosts W.Bank security
    Israel plans to install new surveillance systems in the Wall that it has constructed through the West Bank to scan for infiltrators into Israel.

  • Wednesday June 16, 2010 9:31 AM (EST+7)
    Jordan's king says Israel blocking country's nuclear energy program
    Jordan's King Abdullah told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that Israel was blocking Jordan's attempts to develop a nuclear energy program.

  • Tuesday June 15, 2010 9:04 PM (EST+7)
    UN to deliver Gaza cargo on ships seized by Israel
    The United Nations has agreed to deliver to Gaza cargo aboard three aid ships seized by Israel on May 31 and has won the consent of Israel and the cargo's Turkish owners to do so, a UN envoy said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday June 15, 2010 7:28 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas wants Israel to open all Gaza crossings
    Israel should open all seven of its crossings to Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday, as Israel said it was considering ways to ease its blockade of the coastal strip.

  • Tuesday June 15, 2010 3:01 PM (EST+7)
    Ireland tells Israel to withdraw staffer over Dubai hit
    Ireland's government said on Tuesday it was calling on Israel to withdraw a designated member of staff at its Dublin embassy over the use of fake passports in the assassination of a top Hamas militant in Dubai in January.

  • Tuesday June 15, 2010 2:28 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians warn of Gaza water crisis
    While Israel continues to defend the legitimacy of its blockade of the Gaza Strip, another sort of disaster is looming in the occupied Palestinian territory: one and a half million Palestinians are facing a severe water shortage.

  • Tuesday June 15, 2010 9:41 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's impartial international observers?
    UPDATE: Israel's recent announcement of its internal investigation into the deadly raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters, has sparked an outcry from Turkey and the Palestinians, including reservations from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on the impartiality of its panel-members.

  • Tuesday June 15, 2010 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    Flotilla activists say will not cooperate with Israeli panel
    Israeli Knesset member Hanin Zoabi said Monday that she and other activists involved with the Freedom Flotilla would not cooperate with a state panel examining Israel's interception of the flotilla's six boats last month.

  • Tuesday June 15, 2010 8:42 AM (EST+7)
    UN appoints committee to monitor Goldstone investigations
    The United Nations has appointed a three-person panel to monitor the independent investigations of the Israelis and Palestinians into the allegations of war crimes committed during Israel's 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip which ended in early 2009.

  • Tuesday June 15, 2010 8:04 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Egypt in awkward position via Gaza blockade
    Pressure inside the Arab world and throughout the international community has been mounting for Israel to lift the three year blockade of the Gaza Strip, putting Israel's erstwhile ally, Egypt, in an awkward position regarding its own complicity in the siege.

  • Tuesday June 15, 2010 7:49 AM (EST+7)
    UN's Ban reacts cautiously to Israel flotilla probe
    The United Nations said on Monday that Ban Ki-moon "took note" of Israel's announcement about its probe of a recent deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla but continued to push for a full international investigation.

  • Monday June 14, 2010 9:56 PM (EST+7)
    Israel sets up inquiry into deadly Gaza ship raid
    Israel's cabinet approved on Monday an Israeli inquiry into a deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, responding to international demands for impartiality by putting two foreign observers on the panel.

  • Monday June 14, 2010 6:38 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas says his govt must have role in new supplies to Gaza
    President Mahmoud Abbas has said any new system for supplying the Gaza Strip must involve his West Bank-based government -- a position rejected by the Hamas Islamists who govern the territory.

  • Monday June 14, 2010 6:19 PM (EST+7)
    Blair expects Israel to ease Gaza blockade soon
    Middle East envoy Tony Blair declared on Monday that in principle Israel has agreed to ease the three-year- old blockade of Gaza.

  • Monday June 14, 2010 1:05 PM (EST+7)
    Pessimistic Gazans greet Arab League chief
    As Arab League chief Amr Moussa concluded a tour of the ravaged Gaza Strip, Palestinian residents were hopeful that actions, not only words, would result from the historic visit.

  • Monday June 14, 2010 10:56 AM (EST+7)
    Jewish boat to set sail against Israeli policies
    “Not in our name” is the message that the Jewish-commanded vessel soon to set sail towards blockaded Gaza wishes to send to the Israeli government.

  • Monday June 14, 2010 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    Iran poised to send ships to defy Gaza blockade
    Iran is waiting for government permission before dispatching a number of aid ships to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, reports The National.

  • Monday June 14, 2010 9:02 AM (EST+7)
    Israel set to approve flotilla panel with international observers
    The Israeli cabinet was set Monday to approve a panel of inquiry into Israel's interception of a fleet of ships headed for blockaded Gaza.

  • Monday June 14, 2010 8:45 AM (EST+7)
    ICRC: Gaza blockade breaks law
    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip violates the Geneva Conventions and called for its lifting.

  • Monday June 14, 2010 8:43 AM (EST+7)
    Three Israeli policemen injured in W.Bank attack
    Palestinian gunmen shot and wounded three Israeli policemen in an attack on their vehicle in the occupied West Bank on Monday, police said.

  • Sunday June 13, 2010 9:40 PM (EST+7)
    Blair: Gaza blockade could be eased in coming days
    Middle East envoy Tony Blair said on Sunday he hoped to see movement in the next few days on easing the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

  • Sunday June 13, 2010 7:17 PM (EST+7)
    Building coexistence through football
    Some 350 children from Israel, Palestine and Jordan participated in an annual one-day soccer tournament in Israel, last week.

  • Sunday June 13, 2010 7:01 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza plight a crisis with a difference
    Israeli leaders have attempted to claim that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but professionals on the ground are quick to disagree, asserting that Gaza may not fit the typical mold of a crisis, but circumstances are dire nonetheless.

  • Sunday June 13, 2010 4:23 PM (EST+7)
    Arab League chief visits Gaza Strip
    Arab League chief Amr Moussa visited the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the highest Arab official to do so since its seizure by Hamas Islamists in 2007, and called for an end to Israel's blockade of the Palestinian territory.

  • Sunday June 13, 2010 8:17 AM (EST+7)
    Galloway plans joint sea and land convoy to Gaza
    Former member of parliament George Galloway announced a September convoy to Gaza that will approach the area both by land and sea simultaneously.

  • Sunday June 13, 2010 8:10 AM (EST+7)
    Courthouse planned for Mamilla cemetery
    After years of controversy over the construction of a museum on the site of the Mamilla cemetery, the Jerusalem municipality has renewed plans to build a courthouse complex on the same site.

  • Sunday June 13, 2010 8:01 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians hold first motor races
    Palestinians held their first road race in Nablus last week, reports the Global Post.

  • Sunday June 13, 2010 7:27 AM (EST+7)
    Suspected Israeli spy arrested over Hamas killing

    Polish police have arrested a suspected Israeli spy wanted in connection with the hit-squad killing of a Hamas leader in Dubai back in January, officials said on Saturday.


  • Saturday June 12, 2010 10:39 AM (EST+7)
    Activists disrupt Caterpiller shareholder meeting
    Pro-Palestinian activists disrupted a shareholder meeting of the Caterpillar company last week, forcing the company's CEO to defend its policy of selling bulldozers to Israel.

  • Saturday June 12, 2010 10:22 AM (EST+7)
    German activists file war crimes complaints
    Two German parliamentarians and a human rights activist have filed a case with a German court alleging war crimes by the Israeli military.

  • Saturday June 12, 2010 8:40 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli police kill Palestinian driver in Jerusalem
    Israeli policemen on Friday shot dead a Palestinian driver in Arab East Jerusalem after his car ran into them, an Israeli police spokesman and Palestinian medical workers said.

  • Friday June 11, 2010 7:41 PM (EST+7)
    Israel says seeks global help to ease Gaza embargo
     Israel said on Friday it wants to enlist global support to improve the flow of civilian goods to the blockaded Gaza Strip, while seeing to it that weapons do not reach the Hamas-ruled territory.

  • Friday June 11, 2010 2:53 PM (EST+7)
    EU to raise pressure on Israel to lift Gaza blockade
    European Union foreign ministers will call on Israel next week to lift a three-year-old blockade of Gaza which they describe as "unacceptable and counterproductive" -- including to Israel's security.

  • Friday June 11, 2010 1:15 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas: Hope eroding for two-state Mideast solution
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed concern on Thursday that hope was waning for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.

  • Friday June 11, 2010 12:54 PM (EST+7)
    Israel finalizes arrangements for Gaza flotilla probe
    Israel is expected on Friday or Saturday to announce the final committee to head an investigation into the nine deaths on the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish aid flotilla sailed towards the Gaza blockade nearly two weeks ago.

  • Thursday June 10, 2010 7:30 PM (EST+7)
    EU to open market fully to Palestinian exports soon
    The European Commission plans to open European Union markets fully to Palestinian exports in the coming months to help strengthen the Palestinian economy, the EU trade chief said on Thursday.

  • Thursday June 10, 2010 7:30 PM (EST+7)
    Arab League chief set for Gaza visit
    Arab League chief Amr Moussa plans to visit the Gaza Strip on Sunday in what the ruling Hamas movement called a sign of mounting Arab pressure for an end to an Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory.

  • Thursday June 10, 2010 6:48 PM (EST+7)
    Officials: Palestinian local elections postponed
    Palestinian local elections scheduled to be held in the West Bank in July have been postponed due to divisions in the Fatah party over who would run, Palestinian officials said on Thursday.

  • Thursday June 10, 2010 2:24 PM (EST+7)
    Knesset moves to criminalize boycott supporters
    Twenty-five members of Israel's Knesset moved to pass a bill on Wednesday that would make it a punishable crime to initiate, encourage or aid a boycott against the state of Israel.

  • Thursday June 10, 2010 1:30 PM (EST+7)
    Forging Palestinian unity tough task, even for Turkey
    The prospect of Israel easing its blockade of Gaza has generated new pressure on Fateh and Hamas to end their feud, but the chances of the rival factions restoring Palestinian unity soon appear faint.

  • Thursday June 10, 2010 9:13 AM (EST+7)
    READ: Flotilla organizer answers charges
    IPS news publishes an interview with Freedom Flotilla organizer Huwaida Arraf.

  • Thursday June 10, 2010 9:07 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli flotilla to intercept future Turkish aid
    According to Der Spiegel., a group of Israeli students is hoping to intercept future aid shipments from Turkey with a flotilla of yachts.

  • Thursday June 10, 2010 8:30 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli raid looms over Turkey-Arab meet
    Turkey can count on applause from Arab foreign ministers for championing the cause of Gaza's Palestinians meeting in Istanbul on Thursday, but some may be discomfited that Turkey has done what they have failed to do.

  • Thursday June 10, 2010 8:15 AM (EST+7)
    Obama calls situation in Gaza unsustainable
    US President Barack Obama urged Israel on Wednesday to help ease restrictions on humanitarian aid and civilian goods for Gaza after a deadly flotilla raid, saying the situation in the blockaded coastal strip was unsustainable.

  • Wednesday June 9, 2010 6:08 PM (EST+7)
    Obama meets Abbas, seeks to contain flotilla fallout
    President Barack Obama hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on Wednesday seeking to ensure that fallout from Israel's Gaza flotilla raid does not derail fragile US-led peace efforts.

  • Wednesday June 9, 2010 5:56 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu says ready to testify in Israel's own flotilla inquiry
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he was willing to testify in an inquiry Israel intends to hold into its deadly raid on a convoy of aid ships bound for the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip.

  • Wednesday June 9, 2010 4:38 PM (EST+7)
    Gates: US concerned at Turkey-Israel fallout
    The United States is concerned at a breakdown in Turkey's relations with Israel and fears Europe's rebuff of Ankara's EU aspirations is pushing the pivotal country "eastward", Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday June 9, 2010 4:36 PM (EST+7)
    Israel eases Gaza blockade to allow in snack food
    Israel is easing its Gaza embargo to allow snack food and drinks into the Palestinian enclave, Palestinian officials said on Wednesday, following an international outcry over Israel's raid on an aid flotilla.

  • Wednesday June 9, 2010 9:17 AM (EST+7)
    UN clears last of Gaza white phosphorus
    The UN Mine Action Team (UNMAT) in Gaza has completed the destruction of white phosphorus ordnance left over from the Israeli “Cast Lead” military operation in the Gaza Strip between December 2008 and January 2009.

  • Wednesday June 9, 2010 9:10 AM (EST+7)
    VIEW: Two more families to be evicted in Sheikh Jarrah
    The Siyam-Idkadk and Kanabi families were issued eviction orders by Israeli officials late last month. Here the Palestine Monitor features a photo essay of the families' life in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

  • Wednesday June 9, 2010 9:01 AM (EST+7)
    Israel asks US for more arms
    Israel has requested that the US increase the number of weapons it supplies to Israel, and to grow by half a domestic weapons stockpile, reports The Independent.

  • Wednesday June 9, 2010 8:31 AM (EST+7)
    Obama to offer Abbas aid in flotilla aftermath
    President Barack Obama on Wednesday is expected to offer Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fresh US aid for Gaza as Washington seeks to contain the fallout over Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.

  • Wednesday June 9, 2010 8:18 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Israel to ease Gaza blockade in exchange for weakened inquiry
    Negotiations are underway for Israel to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip in exchange for a watered-down international inquiry into its deadly interception of a fleet of aid ships.

  • Tuesday June 8, 2010 12:22 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian - Israeli shadow peace talks being held away from media spotlight
    Political sources in occupied East Jerusalem have disclosed that Palestinian - Israeli negotiations are once again under way under the aegis of the US administration.

  • Tuesday June 8, 2010 12:02 PM (EST+7)
    Parliamentarian Zuabi rejects 'political revenge'
    Member of the Israeli Knesset Hanin Zuabi denounced efforts underway to strip her of her diplomatic immunity after her participation in a fleet of aid ships headed for the blockaded Gaza Strip.

  • Tuesday June 8, 2010 11:48 AM (EST+7)
    Official: Arab league chief to visit Gaza next week
    A Palestinian official confirmed that preparations are underway in Gaza to host Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa next week.

  • Tuesday June 8, 2010 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    Criticism of Israel permitted in US policy shift
    Under President Barack Obama, the United States no longer provides Israel with automatic support at the United Nations where the Jewish state faces a constant barrage of criticism and condemnation.

  • Tuesday June 8, 2010 9:31 AM (EST+7)
    Israel seeking US support for internal Gaza flotilla investigation
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office is proposing to form a commission of inquiry into the events surrounding a deadly naval raid on a Gaza-bound aid fleet.

  • Monday June 7, 2010 9:20 PM (EST+7)
    Israel set to create state panel to investigate flotilla raid
    Despite near universal calls for an international commission to investigate Israel's deadly raid on a humanitarian flotilla last week, Israel has said it will create a state run commission according to Haaretz on Monday.

  • Monday June 7, 2010 9:00 PM (EST+7)
    Officials: Crisis may hurt Turkish-Israeli trade
    The Gaza flotilla crisis between Israel and Turkey could disrupt a $3 billion trade channel that has been central to their once-strong alliance, Israeli and Turkish officials said on Monday.

  • Monday June 7, 2010 4:54 PM (EST+7)
    US, Egypt discuss ways to ease Gaza's plight
    US Vice President Joe Biden said on Monday that he was working closely with Egypt on new ways of dealing with the problems facing the Palestinians in Gaza as a result of the Israeli blockade.

  • Monday June 7, 2010 4:42 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey heaps pressure on Israel over Gaza at talk
    Turkey called for international punishment of Israel for its deadly raid on a Turkish Gaza-bound aid ship at a summit on Monday where Ankara will also urge an immediate end to Israel's blockade of the territory.

  • Monday June 7, 2010 9:18 AM (EST+7)
    In PR war, Israel acknowledges editing tapes
    The Israeli military has admitted editing tapes of radio transmission that it released to the media.

  • Monday June 7, 2010 9:03 AM (EST+7)
    Senior Israeli officers call for probe
    Senior Israeli officers have called in an open letter for an internal probe of Israel's boarding of a fleet of aid ships last week, which resulted in the killing of nine Turkish activists.

  • Monday June 7, 2010 8:13 AM (EST+7)
    Israel rejects international probe into lethal raid
    Israel rejected on Sunday a proposal by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for an international investigation into its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship and said it had the right to launch its own inquiry.

  • Monday June 7, 2010 8:07 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli patrol kills four Palestinians in diving gear

    An Israeli naval patrol killed at least four Palestinian militants in diving gear off the Gaza coast on Monday, Hamas security officials and the Israeli army said.



  • Sunday June 6, 2010 5:25 PM (EST+7)
    Iran Revolutionary Guards ready to escort Gaza ships
    Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to provide a military escort to cargo ships trying to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday.

  • Sunday June 6, 2010 4:55 PM (EST+7)
    Moroccans march against Israel's Turkish ship raid
    Thousands of Moroccans marched through Rabat on Sunday to protest against an Israeli raid on aid ship bound for Gaza, waving Turkish flags and chanting "Death to Israel, enemy of the peoples and warmonger".

  • Sunday June 6, 2010 11:24 AM (EST+7)
    VIEW: Turkish daily publishes photos of injured Israeli soldiers
    The Turkish daily Hurriyet has published photos purporting to be of injured Israeli commandos aboard the Mavi Marmara.

  • Sunday June 6, 2010 10:46 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian government condemns student shootings
    The Palestinian government condemned Thursday's settler shooting of two Palestinian students in the Arrub refugee camp near Hebron.

  • Sunday June 6, 2010 10:32 AM (EST+7)
    Israel will reject UN offer on flotilla raid panel
    Israel's ambassador to the United States Michael Oren said on Sunday that Jerusalem will reject the idea of an international commission to study its commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship in which nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed.

  • Sunday June 6, 2010 8:41 AM (EST+7)
    Thousands demonstrate in Istanbul against Israeli ship raid
    Thousands of people angered by an Israeli raid on an aid ship that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists marched through Istanbul on Saturday, demanding Turkey cut economic ties with the Jewish state.

  • Sunday June 6, 2010 8:23 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt may cut citizenship on those married to Israelis

    An Egyptian court ordered the government on Saturday to consider revoking the citizenship of Egyptians married to Israelis if the marriage posed a threat to Egypt's national security.


  • Saturday June 5, 2010 1:56 PM (EST+7)
    Gazans take advantage of open border
    Gazans have been streaming through the Rafah border with Egypt over the past two days following an order from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to open the crossing “indefinitely”.

  • Saturday June 5, 2010 11:06 AM (EST+7)
    Hundreds protest in Jerusalem against Arab government inaction
    Protesters' message was support for the Turkey’s reaction to Monday’s Gaza flotilla attacks, and with it, angry condemnation of other Arab governments’ lack of action.

  • Saturday June 5, 2010 10:32 AM (EST+7)
    Israel boards Gaza-bound Irish ship
    Israeli forces have boarded an Irish-owned ship carrying aid and activists after it refused to divert its course away from Gaza, a military spokeswoman said on Saturday.

  • Saturday June 5, 2010 9:05 AM (EST+7)
    Autopsy results show activists shot in head at close range
    Autopsy results on the bodies of the nine Turkish men killed aboard the Mavi Marmara show that they were shot 30 times, reports the Guardian. 

  • Friday June 4, 2010 6:47 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas officials citizenship rights revoked
    Jerusalem police revoked the citizenship rights of Mohammed Abu Tir and three other Hamas officials on Thursday night.

  • Friday June 4, 2010 6:02 PM (EST+7)
    Thousands of Egyptians demonstrate against Israel's blockade of Gaza
    Thousands of Egyptians demonstrated against Israel's blockade of Gaza on Friday, chanting pro-Hamas slogans in a sign of mounting rancour in the first Arab country to make peace with the Jewish state.

  • Friday June 4, 2010 5:21 PM (EST+7)
    Freedom flotilla ship MV Rachel Corrie continues to head for Gaza
    The Freedom Flotilla ship MV Rachel Corrie is continuing its journey to Gaza, despite Israel’s warning that it will not be allowed to dock.

  • Friday June 4, 2010 3:07 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS-Israel to give tactical ground to Gaza pressure
    Israel is unlikely to heed calls to lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip but its bloody seizure of a Turkish aid ship has caused international anger and American dismay that is forcing it to seek conciliatory moves.

  • Friday June 4, 2010 2:14 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey may reduce ties with Israel to a minimum
    Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said on Friday Turkey may reduce its relations with Israel to a minimum after Israeli marines stormed a Turkish aid ship bound for Gaza.

  • Friday June 4, 2010 11:59 AM (EST+7)
    Israel heightens Jerusalem security after ship raid
    Israel tightened security in Jerusalem on Friday, anticipating Palestinian violence in reaction to its sea raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship earlier this week, an Israeli police spokesman said.

  • Thursday June 3, 2010 1:37 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW: 'I felt I would not come out alive'
    In this interview with JMCC.org, the only female Arab Knesset member says she didn't expect to go home alive after Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara on which she was traveling.

  • Thursday June 3, 2010 12:57 PM (EST+7)
    Turkish charity chief tells of chaos, carnage on ship
    The head of a Turkish charity that organized the aid flotilla attacked by Israeli forces said activists had rushed some of the soldiers and snatched their weapons, but had thrown them overboard without using them.

  • Thursday June 3, 2010 12:52 PM (EST+7)
    Sheikh Salah: 'Israeli soldiers tried to kill me aboard ship'
    Sheikh Raed Salah, in a brief interview with al-Jazeera, charged Israeli soldiers with trying to kill him during the melee that ensued when the navy intercepted aid ships headed for the blockaded Gaza Strip.

  • Thursday June 3, 2010 12:09 PM (EST+7)
    Gazans say blockade-busting to continue as long as Israel closes borders
    Palestinians in Gaza say that as long as Israel seeks to control the flow of people and goods in and out of the Gaza Strip, they and their supporters will continue to find ways around the blockade.

  • Thursday June 3, 2010 10:34 AM (EST+7)
    US officials: 'Blockade of Gaza unsustainable'
    US officials are saying privately that Israel's approach to the Gaza Strip is no longer sustainable, reports the New York Times Thursday.

  • Thursday June 3, 2010 10:26 AM (EST+7)
    UN rights council votes for independent probe
    The United Nations Human Rights Council on Wednesday voted to set up an independent fact-finding mission to look into what it called violations of international law in Israel's raid on a Gaza aid flotilla.

  • Thursday June 3, 2010 8:36 AM (EST+7)
    ACCOUNTS: What happened on the Mavi Marmara?
    Lawyers have been given limited access to injured passengers from the fleet of ships intercepted by Israeli forces early Monday morning. But until their affidavits are made public, the accounts of the released passengers are now appearing in the media.

  • Thursday June 3, 2010 8:35 AM (EST+7)
    Arabs to ask Security Council to end Gaza blockade
    Arab states will ask the UN Security Council to demand an end to Israel's blockade of Gaza, the Arab League chief said on Thursday after ministers met to respond to Israel's attack on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

  • Thursday June 3, 2010 8:27 AM (EST+7)
    UN: Most Gazans too poor to buy food
    The amount and quality of food available to the estimated 1.5 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip has been severely restricted by more than 1,000 days of a near-complete blockade, states a UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report.

  • Thursday June 3, 2010 7:45 AM (EST+7)
    Activists say Israel attacked ships without warning
    Israeli naval commandos used batons, tear gas, stun grenades, rubber-coated bullets and live ammunition during the storming of aid ships bound for Gaza, activists deported by Israel to Jordan said on Wednesday.

    Read more about past aid convoys and other accounts from passengers

  • Wednesday June 2, 2010 7:28 PM (EST+7)
    Israel tension boosts Turkey popularity with Arabs
    Ankara's diplomatic confrontation with Israel over the bloody seizure of an aid ship bound for Gaza has boosted Turkey's popularity among Arabs who long to see their own governments show similar resolve.

  • Wednesday June 2, 2010 6:47 PM (EST+7)
    Aid ship says determined to continue journey to Gaza
    An aid ship carrying cargo to Gaza is determined to finish its journey despite a naval blockade and expects to reach the point where Israeli commandos raided a flotilla later this week, a crew member said.

  • Wednesday June 2, 2010 4:34 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey calls on Israel to end blockade to restore ties
    Turkey demanded Israel lift its blockade of Gaza as a condition for normalising relations but added it was time that "calm replaced anger" after Israel's deadly raid on a Turkish-backed aid flotilla.

  • Wednesday June 2, 2010 1:41 PM (EST+7)
    Israel deports flotilla activists
    Israel planned to complete on Wednesday the deportation of all of the pro-Palestinian activists seized in a lethal takeover of a Gaza aid flotilla and vowed to stop other ships from reaching the Hamas-run enclave.

  • Wednesday June 2, 2010 8:09 AM (EST+7)
    Turkish captain: 'Israelis pointed guns at our heads'
    An Israeli warship threatened to sink Captain Huseyin Tokalak's ship before young commandos boarded the Turkish-flagged Gazze and trained their guns on him and his crew.

  • Wednesday June 2, 2010 8:00 AM (EST+7)
    US supports international role in flotilla probe
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday called for "careful" responses to Israel's attack on a Gaza-bound flotilla, ignoring Turkey's demands for outright condemnation of the deadly assault.

    Read more on US foreign policy

  • Tuesday June 1, 2010 7:30 PM (EST+7)
    INTERVIEW-UN's Ban urges Israel to end Gaza blockade
     UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Israel on Tuesday to lift its Gaza blockade, saying that if Israel had heeded international calls to do so the raid on a Gaza aid ship flotilla would not have happened.

  • Tuesday June 1, 2010 5:22 PM (EST+7)
    Israel kills 5 Gaza militants
    Israel killed five Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, three in an air strike after a rocket attack on Israel and two in a separate ground confrontation, Palestinian rescue workers said.

  • Tuesday June 1, 2010 3:18 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Israel expects US to deflect criticism over flotilla incident
    Israel can probably live with the diplomatic cost of its bloody storming of Turkish-backed aid ships bound for Gaza -- unless its US ally fails to shield it.

  • Tuesday June 1, 2010 2:47 PM (EST+7)
    Fateh figure warned to stop organizing in Jerusalem
    A leader of the Palestinian faction Fateh was warned Tuesday by Israeli officials that if he continues political activism in Jerusalem, he will ultimately be expelled and prevented from entering the city.

  • Tuesday June 1, 2010 2:45 PM (EST+7)
    LIVE: Blogging the aftermath of the Freedom Flotilla incident
    As many as 19 activists were killed when Israeli commandos stormed six ships carrying aid headed to the Gaza Strip to break a sea blockade.

  • Tuesday June 1, 2010 2:09 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli army kills two Gaza gunmen
    Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinian gunmen who breached Israel's border fence with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday June 1, 2010 7:33 AM (EST+7)
    Israel navy braced to intercept next Gaza aid ship
    Israel's navy is ready to stop another aid ship headed to Gaza, a commander said on Tuesday, playing down the prospect of his men shying from confrontation after their bloody seizure of a Turkish vessel a day earlier.

  • Tuesday June 1, 2010 7:22 AM (EST+7)
    UN Security Council meets on Gaza flotilla
    The UN Security Council met in emergency session on Monday to discuss Israel's storming of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, with most members of the 15-nation body calling for a thorough investigation.

  • Tuesday June 1, 2010 7:13 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli faces questions as it grills Gaza activists
    Israeli police questioned on Tuesday hundreds of international activists arrested aboard Turkish-backed aid ships bound for Gaza in a naval operation that left nine people dead and sparked an international outcry.

  • Monday May 31, 2010 8:47 PM (EST+7)
    Obama urges Netanyahu to get facts on Gaza ship raid
    US President Barack Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he deeply regretted the loss of life in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on Monday and urged him to quickly collect all the facts about the incident.

  • Monday May 31, 2010 6:27 PM (EST+7)
    At least 10 dead after Israel forcefully boards aid ships
    UPDATE: At least 10 people were killed on Monday when the Israeli navy intercepted a convoy of aid ships that activists were trying to sail to the Gaza Strip.

    Also: Passenger manifest of the Freedom Flotilla


  • Monday May 31, 2010 2:56 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians mourn, shocked by Israeli raid
    A large crowd of Palestinians gathered in the center of Ramallah Monday afternoon to protest the Israeli military’s attack on a flotilla of aid ships bound for Gaza.

  • Monday May 31, 2010 2:25 PM (EST+7)
    EU seeks inquiry into Israeli military action
    The European Union called for an inquiry into deaths aboard Gaza aid ships seized by Israel's navy on Monday and urged Israel to allow the free flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

  • Monday May 31, 2010 1:07 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey calls for UN meeting over Israeli convoy action

    ANKARA, May 31 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Monday it had called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council after Israeli commandos stormed Gaza-bound aid ships, killing at least 10 activists on board, a Turkish foreign ministry official said.


  • Monday May 31, 2010 11:55 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey brims with anger over Israeli armed action
    Turkey told Israel that it would "suffer the consequences" after at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists were killed when Israeli commandos boarded a convoy of aid ships heading to Gaza.

  • Monday May 31, 2010 11:50 AM (EST+7)
    France condemns interception of aid ships
    French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner condemned Israel's interception of an aid flotilla bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday and demanded an immediate inquiry into the incident.

  • Monday May 31, 2010 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Haniyeh calls for international intervention to lift Gaza's blockade
    Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called for the lifting of the blockade of Gaza as the "only" response to the deaths of 15 activists after the Israeli navy forcefully boarded a fleet of boats headed for the Gaza Strip.

  • Sunday May 30, 2010 5:23 PM (EST+7)
    Settlement workers find outlet in Palestinian projects
    As the Palestinian Authority steadies itself on the goal of ending Palestinian labor in Israeli settlements, workers are searching for viable alternatives. Luckily, new projects on the Palestinian side are emerging as Palestine's economy is begging to provide outlets of its own.

  • Sunday May 30, 2010 11:50 AM (EST+7)
    Relief convoy sails from Cyprus to blockaded Gaza
    A six-ship convoy carrying 10,000 tons of aid for Palestinians set sail for Gaza on Sunday in defiance of an Israeli blockade on the impoverished territory and warnings that it would be intercepted.

  • Sunday May 30, 2010 10:07 AM (EST+7)
    Aid fleet delayed after suspected sabotage
    A fleet of ships headed to Gaza carrying 10 tons of aid was delayed Saturday when two boats faced technical malfunctions.

  • Sunday May 30, 2010 9:58 AM (EST+7)
    Deutsche Bank divests from Elbit
    Deutsche Bank announced Friday that it was divesting from Elbit Systems due to shareholder pressure against Elbit's involvement in building the Wall in the occupied West Bank.

  • Sunday May 30, 2010 9:50 AM (EST+7)
    Ten injured in Silwan clashes
    Clashes broke out in Silwan Saturday between Palestinian residents, settlers and police. 

  • Sunday May 30, 2010 8:10 AM (EST+7)
    Six Palestinians dead in tunnel explosion
    Six Palestinians were killed and 13 injured Saturday evening when a cooking gas canister exploded inside a smuggling tunnel in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

  • Saturday May 29, 2010 10:24 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza fishermen face death to catch debris, few fish
    A night voyage with Gaza's fishermen illustrates the dangers and poor harvest of their trade. 

  • Friday May 28, 2010 9:09 PM (EST+7)
    Cyprus bans activists from joining flotilla
    Cypriot authorities prevented pro-Palestinian activists from leaving the island on Friday to join a flotilla sailing to Gaza in defiance of a three-year Israeli blockade of the Hamas-controlled enclave.

  • Friday May 28, 2010 2:31 PM (EST+7)
    'Last exit' curtails Palestinian highway access
    Israel on Friday began allowing Palestinians onto a major highway in the occupied West Bank for the first time in eight years, but barred them from using it to gain easy access to their main city, Ramallah.

  • Friday May 28, 2010 10:36 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas to meet Obama at White House June 9
     Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with US President Barack Obama in Washington on June 9, the White House announced on Thursday.

  • Thursday May 27, 2010 8:19 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian PM leads boycott of Jewish settler goods
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad passed out leaflets on Thursday urging consumers to boycott products made by Jewish settlements built on occupied West Bank land.

  • Thursday May 27, 2010 1:52 PM (EST+7)
    Activists defiant in face of Israeli sea cordon
    Activists on board eight boats soon to set sail for the Gaza Strip are prepared to defy an Israeli sea cordon, says a coordinator in touch with them from Gaza.

  • Thursday May 27, 2010 1:40 PM (EST+7)
    Jihadists challenge Hamas' Western approach
    Bandleader Jamal Al-Bayouk said he and his musicians would not risk performing in the southern Gaza Strip any more after militant Islamists threatened to kill them at a wedding party.

  • Thursday May 27, 2010 12:01 PM (EST+7)
    People's Party breaks away from election coalition
    The Palestinian People's Party, a small leftist faction, has decided not to participate in a broadly-crafted list in municipal elections this summer, officials said Thursday.

  • Thursday May 27, 2010 10:02 AM (EST+7)
    TESTIMONY: Activist's family asks for help
    The family of Israeli-Arab activist Amir Makhoul says it is worried about his treatment in Israeli prison.

  • Thursday May 27, 2010 9:56 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas protests closure of charities
    Palestinian officials in the West Bank have closed over 100 Islamic charities, a Hamas legislator told The National this week.

  • Thursday May 27, 2010 9:42 AM (EST+7)
    Aid fleet bound for Gaza
    Eight cargo ships with more than 10,000 metric tons of humanitarian aid, mostly building materials, medical equipment and medicines, will set sail for the Gaza Strip on May 27.

  • Thursday May 27, 2010 8:41 AM (EST+7)
    Obama invites Abbas, Netanyahu to White House
    US President Barack Obama has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House for separate meetings, White House officials said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday May 27, 2010 8:22 AM (EST+7)
    Israel ready to stop Gaza-bound ship convoy
    An Israeli military source said on Wednesday that Israel's navy was ready to prevent a Turkish-led convoy of ships carrying humanitarian aid from entering the blockaded Gaza Strip.

    Read more about the Gaza blockade

  • Wednesday May 26, 2010 6:12 PM (EST+7)
    REVIEW: Israel's most illicit affair: the story of South Africa
    A new book released on Tuesday, The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa, reveals in unprecedented detail the level and depth of the relationship between Israel and Apartheid South Africa for over 20 years.

  • Wednesday May 26, 2010 5:20 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Boycott gives Israel a taste of its own medicine
    Rachel Shabi discusses why the Palestinian boycott of Israeli settlement products is just a reciprocation of a de facto Israeli policy which has been going on for years, despite its signed agreements to do otherwise.

  • Wednesday May 26, 2010 4:48 PM (EST+7)
    Knesset prepares to vote on draconian new laws against Arabs in Israel, Palestinian prisoners
    Israel’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved a bill Sunday to revoke citizenship of Israelis convicted of terrorist activity or of espionage for terrorist organizations.

  • Wednesday May 26, 2010 4:34 PM (EST+7)
    Arrested activist case still under partial gag order
    Israeli citizen and human rights defender Ameer Makhoul was permitted to see his lawyers after 17 May when the prohibition on meeting them was finally lifted.

  • Wednesday May 26, 2010 1:12 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to compensate settlers for slowdown
    Israel plans to spend as much as $10 million compensating settlements and regional councils for a recent slowdown in construction, reports the Associated Press.

  • Wednesday May 26, 2010 11:54 AM (EST+7)
    Sources: Netanyahu to visit White House next week
    UPDATE: US President Barack Obama has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House next week, Israeli government sources said on Wednesday, for an apparent fence-mending visit.

  • Wednesday May 26, 2010 8:25 AM (EST+7)
    Lebanon's PM calls for Mideast arbitration
    Writing on the occasion of his first visit to Washington, Lebanon's prime minister. Saad Hariri, calls in an editorial for "arbitration" of the Middle East conflict.

  • Wednesday May 26, 2010 8:17 AM (EST+7)
    Nasrallah threatens ships going to Israel in future war
    Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday the Shi'ite guerrilla group would attack all military, civilian and commercial ships heading towards Israel's Mediterranean coasts in any future war.

  • Wednesday May 26, 2010 8:12 AM (EST+7)
    Israel mounts air strikes on Gaza after rocket attacks
    Israel launched air strikes in the Gaza Strip overnight after Palestinian militants fired a rocket and mortar shells at the Jewish state, Palestinian officials and the Israeli military said on Wednesday.

  • Tuesday May 25, 2010 8:19 PM (EST+7)
    Israel ends highway segregation, pleasing no-one
    Starting Friday, Israeli troops will guard new checkpoints in the West Bank that nullify the impact of an Israeli court order allowing Palestinian drivers to use route 443.

  • Tuesday May 25, 2010 9:08 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas leader charges Washington with stymieing Palestinian reconciliation
    Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has accused the Obama administration of blocking Palestinian reconciliation talks between his faction and Fateh.

  • Tuesday May 25, 2010 9:04 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas arrests, deports Egyptian officer
    Hamas-run police arrested and deported a high-ranking Egyptian officer who had snuck into the Gaza Strip, the interior minister said Monday.

  • Tuesday May 25, 2010 8:28 AM (EST+7)
    Clashes break out in E.Jerusalem neighborhood
    Clashes broke out Monday evening in Isawiya, a neighborhood in north-eastern Jerusalem, between residents and Israeli soldiers.

  • Tuesday May 25, 2010 8:20 AM (EST+7)
    Lebanon PM to Obama: Mideast frustration high
    Lebanon's prime minister warned President Barack Obama on Monday of "pervasive" Arab frustration with Middle East peace efforts, and the two leaders discussed US concerns that Syria may be arming Hezbollah guerrillas.

  • Monday May 24, 2010 5:22 PM (EST+7)
    Australia expels Israeli diplomat over Dubai hit
    Australia's government said on Monday it had ordered the expulsion of an Israeli diplomat over the use of fake passports in the assassination of a top Hamas militant in Dubai in January.

  • Monday May 24, 2010 4:16 PM (EST+7)
    EU aid to Palestinians contingent on outcome of peace talks
    The European Union could rethink the future size of its 300 million euro ($370 million) aid budget for Palestinians if no progress is made towards peace soon, EU diplomats said on Monday.

  • Sunday May 23, 2010 7:56 PM (EST+7)
    German FM calls for direct talks
    The German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has called on the Israelis and Palestinians to enter into direct negotiations on Sunday, after a three-day tour of the Middle East.

  • Sunday May 23, 2010 6:52 PM (EST+7)
    TIBI INTERVIEW: Lieberman is a 'pure racist'
    A Los Angeles Times interview with Israeli-Arab lawmaker Ahmad Tibi on being a Palestinian citizen in Israel.

  • Sunday May 23, 2010 5:05 PM (EST+7)
    Flotilla sets sail to break the siege on Gaza
    A large flotilla bearing three cargo ships of building material, medical and school supplies set sail from Istanbul on Sunday bound for the Gaza Strip.

  • Sunday May 23, 2010 4:22 PM (EST+7)
    Gunmen attack UN Gaza summer camp
    Masked gunmen attacked a UN-run summer camp for children on Sunday after armed groups in the Gaza Strip accused the United Nations of promoting immorality in the religiously conservative enclave controlled by Hamas Islamists.

  • Sunday May 23, 2010 9:48 AM (EST+7)
    Israel prepares to open Jewish-only road
    Israeli officials are making preparations to open Route 443 to Palestinian traffic this month.

  • Sunday May 23, 2010 9:08 AM (EST+7)
    Israel begins largest civil defense drill ever
    Israel is starting its largest civil defense drill ever Sunday. The drill is planned to last five days, ending on Wednesday.

  • Saturday May 22, 2010 6:11 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians' Abbas swings behind boycott campaign
    President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday swung behind a campaign to stop Palestinians buying goods produced by Israeli settlements in the West Bank, urging all Palestinians to shun the products.

  • Saturday May 22, 2010 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    PA responds to criticism of roadworks
    The Palestinian government has denied allegations that new roads being constructed are facilitating Israeli plans to severe Palestinian areas from each other.

  • Saturday May 22, 2010 9:30 AM (EST+7)
    Hezbollah calls up guerrillas for Israeli war games
    Hizbollah mobilized thousands of militants in southern Lebanon today in response to week-long Israeli defense exercises due to kick off on Sunday, an official from the Shiite militia group told the AFP.

  • Saturday May 22, 2010 9:06 AM (EST+7)
    US has 'grave concerns' over arming of Hezbollah
    President Barack Obama is likely to raise US concerns about Syria arming Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon when he meets Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Monday, a US official said on Friday.

    Also read "OPINION: Hariri finds himself between a rock and a hard place"

  • Friday May 21, 2010 7:39 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli army kills 2 armed Palestinians from Gaza
    Israeli troops killed two armed Palestinians who crossed into Israel on Friday from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, a military spokeswoman said.

  • Thursday May 20, 2010 8:44 PM (EST+7)
    Israel weighs new steps for US-backed peace talks
    Israel said on Thursday it may take new steps to encourage progress in US-brokered indirect negotiations with the Palestinians.

  • Thursday May 20, 2010 12:26 PM (EST+7)
    Israel releases Hamas lawmaker
    Israel released Hamas lawmaker Muhammed Abu Tir from prison Thursday morning, after serving his term

  • Thursday May 20, 2010 10:43 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians step up settlement boycott
    Palestinians are planning to step up their boycott of Israeli products being sold in Palestinian areas, said an official on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday May 19, 2010 7:45 PM (EST+7)
    WITNESS: Classrooms and cakes: such is 'war' with Iran
    Reuters correspondent Dan Williams takes part in Israel's latest 'war game' simulating confrontation with Iran and Hizbullah.

  • Wednesday May 19, 2010 5:22 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians and Germans embark on landmark partnership
    Palestinian and German officials have embarked on a landmark cooperation deal that will strengthen the working ties between the two governments.

  • Wednesday May 19, 2010 4:43 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians seek NATO presence in future state
    The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will supposedly agree to a NATO troop presence on the borders of a future Palestinian state in a meeting with US Special Envoy George Mitchell in a meeting in Ramallah on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday May 19, 2010 3:04 PM (EST+7)
    US envoy and Abbas discuss final status issues
    US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed possible outlines of a future Palestinian state on Wednesday, a Palestinian official said.

  • Wednesday May 19, 2010 10:05 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza fares poorly in health, economy assessment
    With a failing economy, rising unemployment and deteriorating power, sanitation and health facilities, the health of Gaza’s population continues to worsen, according to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report.

  • Wednesday May 19, 2010 9:06 AM (EST+7)
    Jordan cabinet approves controversial electoral law
    Jordan's cabinet approved an electoral law on Tuesday preserving a voting system that reduces representation in cities which are Islamist strongholds in favor of rural and Bedouin areas.

  • Wednesday May 19, 2010 8:59 AM (EST+7)
    US envoy arrives for Israel-Palestinian talks
    US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy began mediating a new round of indirect peace talks on Tuesday as both Israel and the Palestinians appeared to be heeding Washington's calls for goodwill gestures.

  • Tuesday May 18, 2010 6:36 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas house demolitions spark criticism
    Hamas Islamists ruling the Gaza Strip have been demolishing Palestinian homes they say were built without permits, leading to unwelcome comparisons to arch-enemy Israel.

  • Tuesday May 18, 2010 12:00 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli cabinet meets over Iran nuclear deal
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened top advisers on Tuesday to assess an Iranian nuclear deal with Turkey and Brazil that may stall the new UN sanctions Israel seeks against Tehran, officials said.

  • Tuesday May 18, 2010 10:54 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Abbas rejected Olmert peace plan over refugees, safe passage
    Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas rejected a peace proposal of the Olmert administration over the issue of Palestinian refugees and a safe passageway between Gaza and the West Bank, said a former Israeli official.

  • Tuesday May 18, 2010 10:23 AM (EST+7)
    Avian flu outbreak prompts West Bank chicken cull
    Animal cases of avian flu in Bala village in the Tulkarem area of the West Bank, northeast of Tel Aviv, have been confirmed, and some 250,000 chickens culled, according to officials.

  • Tuesday May 18, 2010 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians: Two new plans presented to settle Silwan
    Palestinians say that Israeli officials have developed two new plans for the evacuation and demolition of homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan.


  • Monday May 17, 2010 2:17 PM (EST+7)
    Fayyad causes Fateh headache on West Bank
    Even some of Fayyad's rivals admit that his stock is on the rise among Palestinians tired of leaders who have failed to deliver them statehood or prosperity.

  • Monday May 17, 2010 12:29 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Palestinians feel historic loss with every new one
    The 62nd anniversary of the Palestinian Nekba, or “Catastrophe” is commemorated by Palestinians this year with the feeling that little has changed – the features of the 1948 war, in which 800,000 Palestinians lost homes and family members continue on today.

  • Monday May 17, 2010 10:52 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli left flies flag to urge end to Israeli occupation
    A weekend rally in Jerusalem by Israelis demanding an end to their country's settlement and occupation of the West Bank was hailed by its left-wing sponsors as the start of a major push that could help US peace efforts.

  • Monday May 17, 2010 8:08 AM (EST+7)
    Israel bars academic Chomsky entry to West Bank
    Noam Chomsky, a leading American intellectual highly critical of Israel's policies towards the Palestinians, was denied entry to the West Bank on Sunday by Israeli immigration officials.

  • Sunday May 16, 2010 10:10 AM (EST+7)
    Dubai seeks British man in Hamas slaying
    The United Arab Emirates has implicated a British citizen in the killing of Hamas leader Mahmoud Mabhouh earlier this year in Dubai, reports the Independent.

  • Sunday May 16, 2010 9:57 AM (EST+7)
    Settlement businesses close due to Palestinian boycott
    A Palestinian boycott of settlement products has brought bankruptcy to numerous businesses in the occupied territories in only a matter of months, reports the Washington Post.

  • Sunday May 16, 2010 9:52 AM (EST+7)
    Whistleblower Vanunu to be returned to jail
    The decision by an Israeli court to return nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu to prison has spurred calls from Amnesty International to release him.

  • Saturday May 15, 2010 4:09 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza rally raises Palestinian reconciliation hopes

  • Saturday May 15, 2010 2:17 PM (EST+7)
    Israel troops kill elderly Palestinian on Gaza border
    Israeli troops shot dead an elderly Palestinian close to the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Friday, Palestinian medical workers and the army said.

  • Saturday May 15, 2010 1:48 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian woman remembers exodus
    On Saturday, the Palestinians were in mourning to mark the "Naqba," or catastrophe, of Israel's establishment 62 years ago in British-mandated Palestine and with it the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Arab inhabitants.

  • Saturday May 15, 2010 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    Jewish settlers shoot dead Palestinian youth
    The body of a Palestinian teenager was found in the occupied West Bank on Friday, and Palestinian police and witnesses said he had been shot dead by Jewish settlers after he threw rocks at their car.

  • Thursday May 13, 2010 10:37 AM (EST+7)
    Pundits argue it’s early for regional nuclear ban
    As the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) entered its second week in New York, Jerusalem played host to its own debate, a conference entitled, “A Nuclear Free Zone in the Middle East - Realistic or Idealistic?”

  • Thursday May 13, 2010 9:08 AM (EST+7)
    Controversial pro-Israel lawyer meets PM Fayyad, praises him
    The controversial pro-Israel lawyer and activist Alan Dershowitz met Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah Wednesday, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Thursday May 13, 2010 9:02 AM (EST+7)
    Regulator: Gaza banking OK, despite closures
    The top Palestinian financial regulator sought to assure an anxious public Wednesday that the Gaza Strip is not facing a banking crisis after the Palestinian territories' largest lender closed two of its three Gaza branches last week, reports the Associated Press.

  • Thursday May 13, 2010 8:18 AM (EST+7)
    Israel slams Medvedev for meeting Hamas chief
    Israel on Wednesday strongly criticized Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for meeting with the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas a day earlier in Damascus.

  • Wednesday May 12, 2010 5:05 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas dismisses Russian pressure to free Israeli
    Hamas dismissed on Wednesday Russian pressure to release an Israeli soldier and said he will not be set free without an "honourable" prisoner exchange deal.

  • Wednesday May 12, 2010 4:40 PM (EST+7)
    Turkey, Russia see Hamas role in peace process
    Turkey and Russia said on Wednesday the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas should not be excluded from the Middle East peace process after this week's launch of indirect talks between the Palestinians and Israel.

  • Wednesday May 12, 2010 4:30 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu turns to Bible in tussle over Jerusalem
    Beset by questions about the future of Jerusalem in talks with the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin reached for the Bible on Wednesday to stake out the Jewish state's disputed claim on the city.

  • Wednesday May 12, 2010 10:30 AM (EST+7)
    Israel says seized N.Korean arms were for Hamas, Hezbollah
    The Israeli foreign minister said on Wednesday that North Korean weapons seized in Thailand last year were headed for Islamist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

  • Wednesday May 12, 2010 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    International activists feel pressure of Israeli crackdown
    Some 600 international activists are in the occupied Palestinian territories, supporting Palestinian demonstrations and learning about the cause -- and also being watched by Israel's security services. 

  • Wednesday May 12, 2010 8:20 AM (EST+7)
    Obama: Israel, Palestinians to be held accountable
    President Barack Obama warned on Tuesday that Israel and the Palestinians would be held accountable if either side takes actions that undermine US-mediated talks launched this week, the White House said.

  • Tuesday May 11, 2010 1:15 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians: Settlement commercial center to adjoin US consulate
    Israel plans to build a new settlement commercial center next to East Jerusalem's United States consulate building, just north of the Old City, Palestinians disclosed Tuesday.

  • Tuesday May 11, 2010 10:03 AM (EST+7)
    OPINION: OECD gives Israel legitimacy
    Israel’s acceptance into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is the payoff for re-engaging in the proximity talks with the Palestinians.

  • Tuesday May 11, 2010 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    Sheikh Raed Salah aqcuitted in 2007 rioting case
    The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court has acquitted the head of the Islamic Movement’s northern division Sheikh Raed Salah in 2007 rioting case in eastern Jerusalem reports Ynet.

  • Monday May 10, 2010 8:13 PM (EST+7)
    Muslim leaders warn against Jerusalem settlements
    Muslim leaders warned on Monday the establishment of new Israeli settlements in Jerusalem would push the region to "the brink of an abyss", a day after Palestinians declared the start of indirect talks with Israel.

  • Monday May 10, 2010 8:11 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli security holds Turk over Palestinian ties
    A Turkish citizen has been in Israeli custody for two weeks undergoing interrogation on suspicion of aiding Palestinian organisations banned by Israel, the Shin Bet domestic security service said on Monday.

  • Monday May 10, 2010 6:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israel hedges on time frame for Jerusalem projects
    Israel said on Monday it would build more homes for Jews in occupied territory in and near Jerusalem but hedged on any specific timeframe for construction that could jeopardise new peace talks with the Palestinians.

  • Monday May 10, 2010 4:57 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu deputy: Israel primed for war on Iran
    Israel is primed for a war on Iran, a deputy to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, in a rare break with his government's reticence as world powers try to talk Tehran into curbing its nuclear plans.

  • Monday May 10, 2010 3:16 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza tunnelers use torches to cut Egypt's steel wall
    Palestinian tunnel-diggers are using welding torches to cut through a steel wall Egypt is building to block the smuggling of goods and weapons into the Gaza Strip, a tunnel operator said on Monday.

  • Monday May 10, 2010 2:42 PM (EST+7)
    Construction for East Jerusalem's largest settlement coincides with new peace talks
    Plans to build the largest Jewish neighborhood in East Jerusalem are being put into action stated Peace Now on Sunday.

  • Monday May 10, 2010 11:46 AM (EST+7)
    OECD member states accept Israel's application
    Israel has apparently passed the final stage of selection to become a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports Ynet.

  • Sunday May 9, 2010 8:34 PM (EST+7)
    US warns against actions that might undermine talks
    The United States warned on Sunday that Israel and the Palestinians will be held accountable if they do anything that seriously undermines the peace effort.

  • Sunday May 9, 2010 8:11 PM (EST+7)
    Israel issues gag order on arrest of Arab activist
    Israeli security forces have arrested Amir Makhoul, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, and placed him in detention, incommunicado

  • Sunday May 9, 2010 4:41 PM (EST+7)
    Gazan moles continue to find ways to break the siege
    Tunnel diggers in Gaza have managed to continue their perilous and lucrative trade despite changing physical realities as Egypt builds a steel barrier deep underground along its border with the Strip.

  • Sunday May 9, 2010 4:32 PM (EST+7)
    REPORT: Mideast needs checks, to improve governance
    Ineffective checks on executive political power in Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian areas and Egypt are hindering the fight against corruption and holding back economic growth, Transparency International said on Sunday.

  • Sunday May 9, 2010 4:07 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians say indirect talks with Israel have begun
    The Palestinians declared on Sunday the start of indirect talks with Israel mediated by the United States, the first Middle East peace negotiations in 18 months.

  • Sunday May 9, 2010 10:56 AM (EST+7)
    Barak says Israel headed for apartheid
    Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak told a conference that without a change in policies, Israel would soon be accused of apartheid or ethnic cleansing, reports Haaretz.

  • Sunday May 9, 2010 8:53 AM (EST+7)
    Detainee crackdown opposed by Israeli prison officials
    Israel's prison service has said it opposes attempts by internal security minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch to pass a bill that would crack down on Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

  • Sunday May 9, 2010 8:16 AM (EST+7)
    Women race in rare track meet in Hamas-ruled Gaza
    Palestinian women participated in a rare track meet in Gaza on Saturday, in an event sponsored by the United Nations and the Palestinian Olympic Committee.

  • Sunday May 9, 2010 8:06 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey: Syria ready to resume peace talks with Israel
    Syria is ready to reopen peace talks with Israel, with Turkey serving as a mediator, but Israel has not asked Ankara to resume that role, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Saturday.

  • Sunday May 9, 2010 8:00 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian approval opens door to Mideast talks
    The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Saturday approved indirect talks with Israel, clearing the way for the first negotiations in 18 months and giving a boost to US peace diplomacy.

  • Saturday May 8, 2010 11:07 AM (EST+7)
    Five new suspects in Dubai slaying
    Dubai police have identified five new suspects in the slaying of Hamas commander Mahmoud Mabhouh.

  • Saturday May 8, 2010 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    Environmentalists issue stark warning on River Jordan
    Two recent reports by a coalition of Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian environmentalists paint a grim picture of the state of the River Jordan, and urge swift action.

  • Saturday May 8, 2010 8:36 AM (EST+7)
    Official: Israel won't move on UN call for nuclear-free zone
    Israel has no plan to review its nuclear policies, a government official said on Friday, playing down efforts by world powers at a UN non-proliferation conference to promote a Middle East free of atomic arms.

  • Friday May 7, 2010 10:45 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli-Arabs launch solidarity boycott
    In a declaration of solidarity with other Palestinians, Israel's Arab citizens launched a boycott campaign of Israeli settlement-made products on Thursday in the city of Nazareth.

  • Friday May 7, 2010 8:58 AM (EST+7)
    ACCOUNT: Tangled narratives find expression on coinciding days of remembrance
    An Israeli college holds joint memorial days for its diverse student body.

  • Friday May 7, 2010 7:45 AM (EST+7)
    US Envoy meets Netanyahu for second time before proximity talks
    US Middle East envoy George Mitchell met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday for the second time in two days before the expected start of indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

  • Thursday May 6, 2010 3:28 PM (EST+7)
    Branch closure sparks run on Gaza bank
    A major bank in the Gaza Strip closed down two branches on Thursday, sparking a stampede by depositors and a crush in which several clients fainted.

  • Wednesday May 5, 2010 9:32 PM (EST+7)
    US envoy, Netanyahu hold inconclusive talks
    US President Barack Obama's Middle East envoy held inconclusive talks on Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about efforts to resume stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in an indirect format.

  • Wednesday May 5, 2010 1:55 PM (EST+7)
    Saadat warns against new talks, calls for one state
    A jailed Palestinian leader has warned against more peace talks with Israel, saying a resumption of negotiations will not achieve Palestinian goals and deepen divisions among Palestinians.

  • Wednesday May 5, 2010 1:45 PM (EST+7)
    Syria fears summer war
    The recent renewal of US sanctions against Syria and the language used has raised fears in Syria that war is on the horizon. 

  • Wednesday May 5, 2010 1:37 PM (EST+7)
    Arabs underrepresented in Israeli civil service
    Israel's Palestinian population is deeply underrepresented in the state's public sector, despite efforts to redress the gap, finds a recent study.

  • Wednesday May 5, 2010 11:55 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Prospects for peace talks grim
    Even US diplomats who are trying to get new talks started between Israel and the Palestinians don't believe they will get very far, says the BBC's foreign news editor.

  • Tuesday May 4, 2010 7:00 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority bans work in settlements
    Palestinians must stop working in Jewish settlements by next year, a Palestinian cabinet minister said on Tuesday, as part of a campaign to halt their expansion on occupied land Palestinians want for a state.

  • Tuesday May 4, 2010 1:39 PM (EST+7)
    Israel mulls wider Palestinian control in West Bank
    Israel is considering handing over security responsibilities to Palestinians in additional West Bank towns under US-backed plans for resuming peace talks, Israeli and Palestinian security sources said.

  • Tuesday May 4, 2010 1:03 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians warn of crack-down on prisoners in Israeli jails
    Palestinians received with chagrin the news that the Israeli government may be planning a crack-down on prisoners in Israeli jails.

  • Tuesday May 4, 2010 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    Imam fights vetting by Israel secret police
    A case of an imam against the state of Israel is revealing the secret police's role in vetting religious leaders. 

  • Tuesday May 4, 2010 9:23 AM (EST+7)
    READ: Abbas interview on coming indirect talks
    Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says in an interview that he is wary about the prospects for coming indirect negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.

  • Tuesday May 4, 2010 8:46 AM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem settlement proposal raises Palestinian ire
    A Palestinian expert said Monday that a new Israeli plan to construct 200,000 new settlement units in Jerusalem will eliminate the prospects for a Palestinian state.

  • Tuesday May 4, 2010 8:30 AM (EST+7)
    Settlers torch West Bank mosque
    Fire damaged a mosque in a Palestinian West Bank village on Tuesday and a mosque official blamed Jewish settlers in the latest such attack that could hamper renewed Middle East peace efforts.

  • Tuesday May 4, 2010 8:09 AM (EST+7)
    Obama, Netanyahu discuss coming negotiations
    US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed on Monday making "full use" of indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and moving to direct negotiations as soon as possible, the White House said.

  • Monday May 3, 2010 7:00 PM (EST+7)
    US envoy arrives for Israeli-Palestinian talks
    US President Barak Obama's Middle East peace envoy arrived in Tel Aviv on Monday for expected indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks but Israel voiced doubt about any breakthrough without direct negotiations.

  • Monday May 3, 2010 5:34 PM (EST+7)
    Majority of American Jews support Obama's approach
    A majority of American Jews still support the approach of President Barack Obama towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, despite the deterioration in US-Israel relations, according to a report in the LA Times.

  • Monday May 3, 2010 4:43 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza kicks off football 'World Cup'
    The people of Gaza kicked off their own version of the Football 'World Cup' on Monday, pitting 16 teams representing different countries in a tournament similar to the one held by FIFA every four years.

  • Monday May 3, 2010 4:32 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Discontent but no real threat to Hamas rule in Gaza
    The Palestinians of the Gaza Strip may be unhappy about new taxes imposed by their Hamas rulers but they are unlikely to stage a revolt that could threaten the Islamist movement's iron grip on the enclave, analysts say.

  • Monday May 3, 2010 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    Lieberman sidelines self from Israeli-Palestinian talks
    Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has sidelined himself from participating in coming indirect talks between Palestinians and Israelis, reports the Times.

  • Monday May 3, 2010 9:13 AM (EST+7)
    Fateh members demand government program overhaul, control over official media
    Members of the Palestinian faction Fateh are demanding an overhaul in the program of the Palestinian government led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

  • Sunday May 2, 2010 6:33 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians, Israelis run side by side
    Israeli participants entered the Palestinian city of Bethlehem for the first time this year to join other runners in a mini-marathon from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.

  • Sunday May 2, 2010 6:06 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli law proposal: Outlaw organisations reporting on violations

    Foreboding in the Israeli human rights community as a new proposed law targets organizations reporting on breaches of international law


  • Sunday May 2, 2010 12:47 PM (EST+7)
    Death of one prisoner in solitary confinement raises fears for others
    Nineteen Palestinian prisoners are known to be held in solitary confinement. Raed Abu Hamad's death two weeks ago has raised concerns for their fate.

  • Sunday May 2, 2010 12:39 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas says will meet US president in Washington
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will go to Washington this month to meet US President Barack Obama in an effort to advance the Middle East peace process.

  • Sunday May 2, 2010 9:41 AM (EST+7)
    Arab League backs resumption of Middle East talks
    Arab League nations on Saturday endorsed a resumption of negotiations on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, raising hopes that indirect talks brokered by the United States could revive the stalled peace process.

  • Friday April 30, 2010 7:40 PM (EST+7)
    US sees Israel-Palestinian indirect talks next week
     US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday she expects indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians to begin next week.

  • Friday April 30, 2010 11:26 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton seeks concrete action on peace from Arabs
    WASHINGTON, April 29 (Arshad Mohammed - Reuters) - Arab states should offer more moral and financial support to Palestinians, reach out to Israelis and stop arming militants to foster Middle East peace, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.

  • Thursday April 29, 2010 7:13 PM (EST+7)
    Separate roads increasingly part of West Bank map
    Gradually, alternative roads for Palestinians -- "fabric of life" roads that circumvent major Israeli routes -- are becoming institutionalized in the West Bank. Both US government funding and Palestinian Authority planning are aiding this process.

  • Thursday April 29, 2010 11:03 AM (EST+7)
    Barkat rejects Jerusalem settlement freeze
    Despite reports that Israeli officials are quietly implementing a settlement freeze in Jerusalem, city mayor Nir Barkat insists that construction continues on.

  • Thursday April 29, 2010 10:55 AM (EST+7)
    Jordan's queen launches children's book mirroring Mideast conflict
    Queen Rania of Jordan has launched a new children's book that seeks to illustrate the wider Palestinian-Israeli conflict. 

  • Thursday April 29, 2010 9:31 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza police accuse Egypt in deaths of 4 tunnel workers
    Palestinian police accused Egyptian security forces of killing four smugglers from the Gaza Strip and injuring three others on Wednesday by blowing up their cross-border tunnel.

  • Wednesday April 28, 2010 8:26 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli intellectuals: Let Gazans study in West Bank
    Some 60 Israeli intellectuals, including 10 Israel Prize laureates wrote a letter to Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Wednesday urging him to allow Palestinian students in Gaza to attend universities in the West Bank.

  • Wednesday April 28, 2010 6:45 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian killed during border protest in Gaza
    A 20-year old Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli military gunfire while protesting near the border wall in Gaza on Wednesday, witnesses said.

  • Wednesday April 28, 2010 6:31 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority to stop use of Israeli mobiles
    The Palestinian Authority is trying to stop Palestinians using Israeli mobile phone cards sold illegally in the West Bank, a practice which it says robs domestic operators of $100 million annually.

  • Wednesday April 28, 2010 3:06 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas warned that fear may stir revolt in Gaza
    Security forces of the Islamist group Hamas detained Palestinian political activists overnight for distributing leaflets urging them to ease up on the people of Gaza or face a possibly explosive revolt.

  • Wednesday April 28, 2010 2:45 PM (EST+7)
    Second Palestinian deported to Gaza under Israeli military order
    A second Palestinian has been expelled from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip under the auspices of military order 1650, a human rights organization said Wednesday.

  • Tuesday April 27, 2010 9:00 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's Netanyahu sees new talks with Palestinians
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "intends" to renew stalled peace negotiations, suggesting a breakthrough after months of deadlock.

  • Tuesday April 27, 2010 7:26 PM (EST+7)
    Fateh demands bigger slice of Fayyad's Palestinian govt
    Leading members of the dominant Palestinian movement Fatah are demanding more power in the Palestinian Authority cabinet of US-backed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Fatah officials said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday April 27, 2010 9:41 AM (EST+7)
    Ten injured in Walaja clashes against the Wall
    Ten Palestinians were reportedly wounded in clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli military in the Palestinian village of Walaja.

    Read more on Walaja | the Wall

  • Tuesday April 27, 2010 8:58 AM (EST+7)
    Fayyad commits to building Jerusalem institutions
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Monday that the Palestinian government is committed to building Palestinian institutions in all of the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem.

  • Tuesday April 27, 2010 8:26 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas, in interview, says ready to start indirect talks
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said in a television interview Monday that he was prepared to start indirect talks with Israel.

  • Monday April 26, 2010 9:10 PM (EST+7)
    READ: Your Jerusalem v. the Real Jerusalem
    More than a hundred activists from the Sheikh Jarrah movement published an open letter to Elie Wiesel in response to the letter Wiesel published last week in US newspapers.

  • Monday April 26, 2010 8:13 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli opposition accuses PM of Jerusalem settlement freeze
    Israel's main opposition party said on Monday the government has quietly frozen approval of Jewish housing projects in East Jerusalem in a bid to heal a rift with Washington and coax the Palestinians into peace talks.

  • Monday April 26, 2010 1:03 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu moves to keep Likud far right at bay
    Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved to delay any leadership challenge from the far right in his Likud party as the United States tries to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

  • Monday April 26, 2010 11:40 AM (EST+7)
    Jewish-only road to remain blocked by checkpoints
    Despite a court ruling ordering the opening of a Jewish-only road to Palestinians, the Israeli military plans to allow only limited access, reports the Washington Post.

  • Monday April 26, 2010 11:27 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Barak balks at outpost demolitions
    Israel's defense minister has indicated that he will refuse to demolish settler homes in the occupied West Bank, reports The National.

  • Monday April 26, 2010 9:59 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Dozens injured in Silwan clashes over right-wing demonstration
    Palestinian youth clashed with Israeli police Sunday morning prior to a planned demonstration by right-wing Israeli settlers in the neighborhood of Silwan.

  • Monday April 26, 2010 8:53 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas commander killed in Hebron military operation
    Hamas commander Ali Sweiti was killed in an early morning Israeli military operation at his home in Beit Awa, southern Hebron.

  • Sunday April 25, 2010 6:56 PM (EST+7)
    Fayyad govt approves July local election in W.Bank
    The Western-backed government of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad gave the go-ahead on Sunday for local elections in the West Bank in July, despite opposition from rival Hamas Islamists who run the Gaza Strip.

  • Sunday April 25, 2010 4:58 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas hopes cartoon will press Israel on prisoners
    Wielding art instead of arms, Hamas issued an animated video on Sunday aimed at pressuring Israel into trading hundreds of jailed Palestinians for Gilad Shalit, a soldier held captive in Gaza for almost four years.

  • Sunday April 25, 2010 4:27 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas cops rap Gaza hip-hoppers
    Hamas police have broken up the Gaza Strip's first major hip-hop concert.

  • Sunday April 25, 2010 12:59 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Palestinians deny May start of indirect talks
    Palestinian officials have denied a report that indirect negotiations with Israel would commence in May.

  • Sunday April 25, 2010 12:33 PM (EST+7)
    US envoy wraps up Mideast visit, back next week
    A US Middle East envoy ended a three-day peace mission on Sunday with no sign of any breakthrough in efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, but he said he would return next week.

  • Sunday April 25, 2010 10:14 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas leader rejects recognition of Israel
    Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal denied that the movement had agreed secretly to accept the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

  • Sunday April 25, 2010 9:44 AM (EST+7)
    Analysis: Who will protect Palestinians from settler extremism?
    Incidents of settler violence against Palestinians and their property are increasing, reports the Israeli rights group Yesh Din.

  • Sunday April 25, 2010 8:48 AM (EST+7)
    BLOG: New vantage for a Palestinian photographer
    Rina Castelnuovo chronicles the struggle of Palestinian photographer Osama Silwadi, who lost the use of his legs in a Ramallah shooting incident.

  • Saturday April 24, 2010 2:19 PM (EST+7)
    Six, including international, injured in Gaza protest
    Five Palestinians and one international activist were injured Saturday in a protest against the buffer zone that Israel maintains along its border with the Gaza Strip.

  • Saturday April 24, 2010 1:35 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas warns of declining support for two-state solution
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Saturday that Palestinian support for the two-state solution is waning.

  • Saturday April 24, 2010 1:07 PM (EST+7)
    Lebanese army chief sure no scuds in country
    Lebanon's army chief said he is convinced there are no scud missiles in the country, dismissing allegations that Syria has transferred the long-range rockets to the Lebanese Shi'ite Islamist group Hezbollah.

  • Saturday April 24, 2010 11:28 AM (EST+7)
    From stickers to pollsters, Israeli intelligence penetrates Gaza
    Al-Ahram Weekly describes how officials in Gaza are fighting Israel's intelligence penetration in the Gaza Strip.  

  • Saturday April 24, 2010 10:37 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt's wall with Gaza faces court ruling
    A Cairo courtroom heard arguments last week against the construction of a wall along Egypt's border with Gaza, reports al-Ahram Weekly.

  • Saturday April 24, 2010 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    Analysis: Netanyahu abandons Jerusalem's 'Arab' neighborhoods
    In a recent interview with Israel's Channel 2, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed that daylight does exist between his own position on settlements, and that of his right-wing coalition partners, writes commentator David Horovitz.

  • Saturday April 24, 2010 10:12 AM (EST+7)
    READ: An interview with Israel's censor
    Israel requires all journalists to submit articles that could harm Israel's security to a military censor. In this article, Der Spiegel interviews Israel's top censor.

  • Saturday April 24, 2010 9:12 AM (EST+7)
    Minister says rockets not fired from Jordan
    Jordan said on Thursday a rocket that hit a warehouse in Jordan was fired from outside the country, targeting the kingdom, and said no rockets had been launched from within its territory.

  • Saturday April 24, 2010 9:00 AM (EST+7)
    Envoy Mitchell says US wants Mideast solution 'soon'
    US Middle East envoy George Mitchell told Israel and the Palestinians on Friday that President Barack Obama wants a comprehensive peace deal to be a reality "soon, not in some vague and distant future time".

  • Friday April 23, 2010 11:37 AM (EST+7)
    US envoy seeks to revive Israel-Palestinian talks
    US peace envoy George Mitchell began talks on Friday with Israel and the Palestinians in a bid to revive stalled peace negotiations amid tension in US-Israeli relations.
    .

  • Friday April 23, 2010 9:36 AM (EST+7)
    UN: Easing of Gaza blockade shows more can be done
     Israel's recent easing of its blockade of Gaza is inadequate but shows restrictions could be lifted further without compromising the Jewish state's security, the top UN official in Gaza said on Thursday.

  • Friday April 23, 2010 9:36 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Israel PM seeks new plan as US envoy visits
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has proposed Palestinian statehood with temporary borders, to sidestep a deadlock over settlements ahead of talks on Friday with a US envoy, a newspaper said.

  • Thursday April 22, 2010 1:15 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians: Prisoner's autopsy shows signs of torture
    A Palestinian prisoner who died this week in an Israeli jail was tortured to death, said the Palestinian minister of prisoner's affairs Thursday.

  • Thursday April 22, 2010 12:09 PM (EST+7)
    Katushyas fired at Israeli resort of Eilat
    Two rockets were fired from the Jordanian port of Aqaba towards Israel on Thursday but landed on an empty warehouse in Jordan, a Jordanian security source in Aqaba said.

  • Thursday April 22, 2010 8:49 AM (EST+7)
    Official: Fayyad policies are slashing Palestinian settlement labor
    The number of Palestinian laborers working in Israeli settlements has decreased by approximately 20 percent in recent months, a Palestinian cabinet minister said Wednesday.

  • Thursday April 22, 2010 7:47 AM (EST+7)
    Obama aide: Mideast peace would thwart Iran ambitions
    Drawing an explicit link between Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and Washington's drive to isolate Iran, Obama's national security adviser, Jim Jones, urged bold steps to revive long-stalled Middle East negotiations.

  • Wednesday April 21, 2010 6:52 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza traders import clothes after embargo eased
    Palestinian traders in the Gaza Strip have begun ordering clothing and shoes, traders said on Wednesday, after an easing in an Israeli embargo helped clear stocks that had been held up in transit, sometimes for years.

  • Wednesday April 21, 2010 5:55 PM (EST+7)
    International support builds at Bil'in Conference
    The Palestinians, under the leadership of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, received a major recognition of international support on Wednesday, at the 5th annual Bi'lin Conference on non-violent resistance.

  • Wednesday April 21, 2010 11:14 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Underground metro to ring Jerusalem's walled city
    Plans are underway to build an underground metro along the walls of Jerusalem's Old City, reported a Palestinian newspaper Wednesday.

  • Wednesday April 21, 2010 9:25 AM (EST+7)
    Family of 17 evicted from Jerusalem home
    Israel's high court has ordered the Salah family to evacuate the Beit Safafa home where it has lived since 1966.

  • Wednesday April 21, 2010 9:19 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas aides deny president heart trouble report
    A spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas denied a newspaper report on Tuesday that the Palestinian president was suffering from a heart complaint.

  • Wednesday April 21, 2010 8:27 AM (EST+7)
    Poll: One-state solution gains ground
    Support for a one-state solution is the highest it has ever been, finds a new poll by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre.

    Read the poll in English & Arabic

  • Tuesday April 20, 2010 7:34 PM (EST+7)
    Israel FM: 'Imposed' Mideast solution would stoke violence
    In a veiled warning to US President Barack Obama, Israel's foreign minister said on Tuesday that any move to impose a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians would lead to greater conflict.

  • Tuesday April 20, 2010 9:39 AM (EST+7)
    Israel broods over isolation on day of independence
    As Israel celebrates its 62 birthday, the New York Times notes that the mood in the Jewish state is more somber than usual.

    Read more on Israel

  • Tuesday April 20, 2010 8:42 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt seeks UN pressure on Israel over nuclear arms
    Israel may come under new pressure next month at a UN meeting on atomic weapons as the United States, Britain and France consider backing Egypt's call for a zone in the Middle East free of nuclear arms, envoys said.

  • Monday April 19, 2010 6:45 PM (EST+7)
    Jordan makes Palestinian education a priority
    Queen Rania of Jordan announced plans to renovate and develop East Jerusalem's deteriorating schools as an extension of the Jordanian 'Madrasati' initiative launched in 2008.

  • Monday April 19, 2010 5:18 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas says will not halt executions in Gaza Strip
    Hamas said on Monday it would continue to carry out executions in the Gaza Strip, rejecting criticism by human rights groups and some Western governments.

  • Monday April 19, 2010 2:01 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's Barak concerned by rift with the US
    Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak voiced concern on Monday over a deep rift with the United States over settlement policy and said Israel should do more to try to achieve peace with the Palestinians.

  • Monday April 19, 2010 9:11 AM (EST+7)
    VIEW: A struggle over a spring
    The settlers of Halamish have "confiscated" a spring from the villagers of Nabi Saleh.

  • Sunday April 18, 2010 4:55 PM (EST+7)
    Newspaper urged to publish article revealing military secrets
    Nearly a year and a half after the end of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, a member of the Israeli Knesset is urging the publication of an article by renowned investigative journalist Uri Blau, which reveals certain preparations for the military assault.

  • Sunday April 18, 2010 8:35 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Israel to attack Syria with Hezbollah strike
    Israel has warned Syria that if were Hezbollah to carry out a missile strike, Israel will retaliate against Damascus.

  • Sunday April 18, 2010 8:23 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza tax crackdown drives dissent
    Faced with empty coffers, the Hamas government in Gaza is being forced to tax shopkeepers and business owners. But the added economic pressure on small businesses is creating a ripple of discontent.

  • Saturday April 17, 2010 2:21 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians call on Israel to probe prison death
    The Palestinian Authority on Saturday called on Israel to investigate the death of a Palestinian prisoner in a jail in southern Israel.

  • Saturday April 17, 2010 1:13 PM (EST+7)
    Concern persists over new military orders
    Israeli officials are attempting to downplay the magnitude of military orders that went into force last week.

  • Saturday April 17, 2010 12:56 PM (EST+7)
    Thousands of Palestinian prisoners wait, hope for release
    Some 7,000 Palestinian prisoners languish in Israeli jails waiting either to finish their sentences or for the faint hope of a prisoner exchange deal.

  • Friday April 16, 2010 1:57 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian killed near Israel-Gaza border
    A Palestinian man was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli soldiers near the Gaza Strip's border with the Jewish state, the Israeli army and Palestinian medical workers said on Friday.

  • Friday April 16, 2010 10:58 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton: 'Israel must do more for peace'
     Israel must do more to pursue peace with the Palestinians and to strengthen their institutions or risk empowering militant groups such as Hamas, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.

  • Thursday April 15, 2010 7:29 PM (EST+7)
    Remembering cameraman, media seek Israel cooperation
    International media organisations urged the Israeli army on Thursday to do more to help improve safety for journalists, two years after its troops killed a Reuters cameraman in the Gaza Strip.

  • Thursday April 15, 2010 2:01 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas executes two Palestinians in Gaza
    Hamas said on Thursday it executed by firing squad two Palestinians convicted by a Gaza military court of collaborating with Israel.

  • Thursday April 15, 2010 12:36 PM (EST+7)
    READ: My mother, the infiltrator

  • Thursday April 15, 2010 10:54 AM (EST+7)
    Coordinated military operation destroys homes across West Bank
    In what appears to be a coordinated campaign, the Israeli military carried out the demolition of Palestinian homes and businesses in the three separate towns of the West Bank, on Wednesday

  • Thursday April 15, 2010 7:39 AM (EST+7)
    UK watchdog bans Israel Western Wall tourism advert
    An advertisement for tourism to Israel that depicts the Western Wall, Judaisms holiest site, has been banned in the UK by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)

  • Thursday April 15, 2010 7:39 AM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: Light at the end of Gaza tunnel could be a new car
    Israel wants to close down the smuggling tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, but the tunnelers have become so good it's now possible to drive a car through them, literally.

  • Thursday April 15, 2010 7:39 AM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem 'No Man's Land' traps Palestinian couples
    NPR reports on the common Palestinian tragedy of families divided between Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank.

  • Wednesday April 14, 2010 4:52 PM (EST+7)
    Jewish settlers accused of vandalizing mosque
    Jewish settlers vandalized a mosque in the West Bank on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said, the latest in a series of attacks blamed on settlers that have fueled tension in the occupied territory.

  • Wednesday April 14, 2010 1:00 PM (EST+7)
    Incitement or independence? The NYT on Yahiya Ayyash street
    A city project marking every street name and house number in this temporary Palestinian capital has stirred an international dispute and exposed yet again how the Israelis and Palestinians live in sealed narrative bubbles and seem almost incapable of hearing one another.

  • Wednesday April 14, 2010 12:19 PM (EST+7)
    READ: Israeli officials explain new orders
    Israel officials say that new military regulations are aimed at providing a legal venue for dealing with Palestinians and internationals who have overstayed their visas in the West Bank.

  • Wednesday April 14, 2010 9:48 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinian gunmen in Gaza
    Two Palestinian gunmen were killed and three wounded in Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian medics and the Israeli army said.

  • Wednesday April 14, 2010 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    Obama downplays power of US pressure in Mideast peace process
    President Barack Obama voiced frustration on Tuesday over stalled Middle East peace efforts, saying Israelis and Palestinians may not be ready to resolve their conflict no matter how much pressure Washington exerts.

  • Wednesday April 14, 2010 9:23 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians warned home demolitions imminent
    High-level sources in the Jerusalem municipality have warned Palestinians in Silwan to expect the imminent resumption of home demolitions.

    Read more about  home demolitions  |  Silwan neighborhood

  • Monday April 12, 2010 9:03 PM (EST+7)
    Obama presses for Mideast talks, Iran sanctions
    US President Barack Obama and Jordan's King Abdullah on Monday urged Israel and the Palestinians to launch indirect peace talks soon, and Obama called for further pressure on Iran, including sanctions, over its nuclear program.

  • Monday April 12, 2010 8:40 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: US aid, Israel and wishful thinking
    A dispute with Israel over settlements will not disrupt the relationship with Israel and the US Congress and the hefty financial aid Israel receives annually, according to Reuters columnist Bernd Debusmann.

  • Monday April 12, 2010 6:13 PM (EST+7)
    PM Fayyad condemns Israeli military order, calls for international assistance
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad released a statement condemning an order by the Israeli military that could lead to the expulsion of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, set to take effect Tuesday.

  • Monday April 12, 2010 6:13 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Israel impasse gives US much to ponder
    In light of a Middle East peace process that appears to be going nowhere, the Obama administration may be gearing up to propose a fully-integrated peace plan of its own.

  • Monday April 12, 2010 5:49 PM (EST+7)
    Israel called on to honor the 'Arab Schindler'
    A filmmaker makes the case for a man who should be remembered for his role in saving Jews from internment and extermination during the Holocaust. 

  • Monday April 12, 2010 4:32 PM (EST+7)
    New taxes in Gaza maybe sign of Hamas' financial woes
    Hamas has begun taxing Gaza street vendors and shopkeepers, raising speculation the ruling Islamist group is in a financial crisis fuelled partly by Egypt's building of a border wall to stop smuggling tunnels.

  • Monday April 12, 2010 7:43 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas endorses budget planning for state in two years
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas approved Sunday the Palestinian budget law, estimated at $3.8 billion.

    Read more on economy | closure

  • Monday April 12, 2010 7:40 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton downplays Israeli PM's absence at nuclear summit
    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied the United States had been blindsided by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to pull out of President Obama's nuclear security summit.

  • Sunday April 11, 2010 6:38 PM (EST+7)
    IMF: breakthrough in peace process 'essential' for durable growth
    A breakthrough in the peace process and the lifting of Israeli restrictions on the Palestinian territories are vital for durable Palestinian economic growth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Sunday

  • Sunday April 11, 2010 6:26 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli groups decry army West Bank deportation rules
    The Israeli military is introducing orders that human rights activists said on Sunday could make almost any Palestinian liable for expulsion from the occupied West Bank.

  • Sunday April 11, 2010 6:26 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Palestinian officials reject new regulations allowing mass deportation
    A new military order will come into force this week that will allow the Israeli military to deport any individual found in the West Bank without a "permit."

    Read the order | Hamoked's response

  • Sunday April 11, 2010 4:28 PM (EST+7)
    PA-Israel security cooperation 'secures a higher level of calm'
    Palestinian security forces handed over 17 explosive devices to the Israeli military after uncovering them in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, on Sunday.

  • Sunday April 11, 2010 12:09 PM (EST+7)
    READ: ‘My children fear me’
    Thirty-year-old Rami Gharib was one of two Palestinians shot in the face with a rubber-boated bullet during the "Day of Rage" protests in March.

  • Sunday April 11, 2010 10:38 AM (EST+7)
    Israel: Settlers fencing off Palestinian land
    Israeli settlers in the West Bank are fencing off areas of Palestinian land, said the state attorney in response to a petition by the residents of Silwad village in Ramallah.

  • Sunday April 11, 2010 7:41 AM (EST+7)
    Official: Reduced Hamas demands could aid reconciliation
    A senior Palestinian official said Saturday that efforts to achieve reconciliation between Palestinian factions Hamas and Fateh could see a breakthrough after Hamas reduced its demands.

  • Saturday April 10, 2010 12:48 PM (EST+7)
    Rights group: Plans to use dogs on Palestinian demonstrators a crime
    A Palestinian human rights group said Thursday that the Israeli decision to use dogs to chase down Palestinian demonstrators is a crime in international humanitarian law.

  • Friday April 9, 2010 8:20 PM (EST+7)
    White House: 'No decision' on new Mideast peace plan
    The White House promised on Friday not to "surprise anybody at any time" with a dramatic shift in Middle East peace strategy and said no decision had been made for President Barack Obama to offer his own solution to the conflict.

  • Friday April 9, 2010 4:26 PM (EST+7)
    US says relationship with Israel 'fine'
    US President Barack Obama's administration believes the Israeli delegation to next week's nuclear security summit in Washington will be "robust," despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decision not to attend, a top official said on Friday.

  • Thursday April 8, 2010 10:48 AM (EST+7)
    Abu Rahme from prison: ‘Popular resistance is the way’
    From his prison cell, with no more than five minutes to speak, Abu Rahme tries to convey to JMCC.org the suffering of Palestinian prisoners.

    Read more on Bilin | the Wall | prisoners

  • Thursday April 8, 2010 8:19 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians name Sheikh Jarrah playground for US heroine
    Residents of Sheikh Jarrah inaugurated a playground Wednesday, naming it after an American killed in Gaza while blocking the path of an Israeli bulldozer.

  • Wednesday April 7, 2010 6:04 PM (EST+7)
    Obama 'seriously considering' revealing new peace plan
    Two senior White House officials have told The Washington Post that US President Barack Obama is 'seriously considering' delivering a new US peace plan sometime in the Fall.

  • Wednesday April 7, 2010 6:04 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian president fires aide over sex scandal
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dismissed a top aide, Rafiq Husseini, on Wednesday over his involvement in a sex scandal caught on videotape.

  • Wednesday April 7, 2010 5:43 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu: US-Israeli dispute still unresolved
    Israel and the United States remain divided on Jewish settlement construction although the gap has narrowed in some areas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday after consulting senior cabinet members.

  • Wednesday April 7, 2010 4:38 PM (EST+7)
    Israel seizing hundreds of millions of shekels meant for Palestinian services
    Israel has been appropriating funds derived from occupied territory in contradiction to international law for over 15 years, according to a report published in Haaretz.

  • Wednesday April 7, 2010 11:37 AM (EST+7)
    NYT: 'Something stirring in W. Bank'
    Palestinian leaders are trying to guide Palestinians away from violence, while giving outlet to their anger and fears, writes the New York Times.

  • Wednesday April 7, 2010 11:19 AM (EST+7)
    Two more Sheikh Jarrah families handed eviction orders
    Two more Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah were handed eviction notices by settlers, reports the Arab News website.

  • Wednesday April 7, 2010 11:04 AM (EST+7)
    Israel faults troops in two fatal W.Bank incidents
    Unnecessary intervention by Israeli troops in a West Bank protest last month resulted in the deaths of two Palestinian youths, according to an internal investigation by the Israeli military.

  • Wednesday April 7, 2010 10:48 AM (EST+7)
    Israel says Palestinian statehood declaration would end peace pacts
    Israel would respond to a Palestinian statehood declaration by ending its compliance with peace agreements, foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a radio interview.


  • Wednesday April 7, 2010 10:22 AM (EST+7)
    Dozens, including minors, sentenced to stay away from Jerusalem
    The practice of ordering Palestinians to stay away from Jerusalem is increasingly being used by Israeli officials as they seek to contain Palestinian anger in the city.

  • Tuesday April 6, 2010 2:06 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians see US Mideast push at 'dead end'
    The United States has reached a dead end in its attempts to revive Middle East peace talks, a senior Palestinian official said on Tuesday, citing Israeli building on occupied land.

  • Tuesday April 6, 2010 12:57 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians expect economic growth in 2010
    After a sharp rise in growth in 2009, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics has released its economic forecast for 2010. 

  • Tuesday April 6, 2010 11:22 AM (EST+7)
    Ending reliance on all settlement products not so simple
    The Palestinian Authority initiative to purge its markets of Israeli settlement products is well underway.

    Yet, a recent report by renowned journalist Amira Hass shows how such a goal may face severe obstacles, not only in Israel but also among Palestinian consumers, when finding alternatives of equal quality is not always so simple.

  • Tuesday April 6, 2010 8:46 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis fight to be recognized as a nation, not 'Arabs' or 'Jews'
    A group of Jews and Arabs are fighting in the Israeli courts to be recognized as “Israelis”, a nationality currently denied them.

  • Monday April 5, 2010 6:07 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Are Israeli-Arabs the new African-Americans?
    Renowned Israeli historian Tom Segev compares the realities of African-Americans in the 1960s to the Israeli-Arabs of today, living in a world of discrimination and oppression.

  • Monday April 5, 2010 6:07 PM (EST+7)
    WATCH: Rhythms of resistance
    Awareness among Palestinians that they are not only losing their land but also their identity is on the rise, especially among Palestinian artists and musicians living in Israel and the occupied territories.

  • Monday April 5, 2010 10:59 AM (EST+7)
    Local touch absent from Easter celebrations
    As pilgrims and tourists flooded the Old City of Jerusalem over Easter weekend, the local Palestinian Christians who have carried on the tradition for millennia were conspicuously missing from the festivities

  • Sunday April 4, 2010 4:58 PM (EST+7)
    Discrimination at Ben-Gurion airport
    Ben-Gurion airport, outside of Tel Aviv, has seen a rise in discrimination against people espousing beliefs or affiliations perceived as anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian, according to an editorial in the Israeli daily Haaretz.

  • Sunday April 4, 2010 8:41 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian dies waiting at military checkpoint
    A 63-year-old Palestinian man with French citizenship died Saturday night of dehydration and cardiac arrest after being delayed for several hours at an Israeli military checkpoint in the northern West Bank, reports Ynet.

  • Sunday April 4, 2010 8:03 AM (EST+7)
    Holy Fire brings Jerusalem Easter to joyful climax
    Bells, drums, ecstatic chants and flaming candles lit from the tomb of Jesus brought Easter to a joyful climax in Jerusalem on Saturday for Palestinians and thousands of Orthodox Christian pilgrims from around the world.

  • Saturday April 3, 2010 11:15 AM (EST+7)
    READ: 'A state in 2011' says PM Fayyad
    Palestinian Prime Minister tells the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that Palestinians plan to declare their state in 2011.

  • Saturday April 3, 2010 11:05 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Israeli journalist to be tried for treason
    Anat Kam, 23, an Israeli journalist, goes on trial this month on charges of treason and espionage for leaking classified military documents to another Israeli journalist, says The National.

  • Saturday April 3, 2010 10:26 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas bids for calm
    Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip are seeking to instill calm amidst rising violence this week, reports the Washington Post.

  • Saturday April 3, 2010 9:52 AM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem tense for Saturday of Light festivities
    Palestinians prepared Saturday morning for the traditional Easter processional into the Church of the Holy Sepulcher amidst fears of clashes with Israeli police.

  • Friday April 2, 2010 9:38 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli planes and helicopters mount Gaza attacks
    Israeli planes and helicopters mounted at least seven missile attacks on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Friday, destroying what a military spokesman described as Palestinian munitions sites. Four air strikes blew up two caravans near the town of Khan Younis, witnesses and Hamas officials said. There were no casualties.

  • Thursday April 1, 2010 6:23 PM (EST+7)
    In holy land, Palestinians say Easter not what it was
    As a boy growing up in Jerusalem, Yacoub Dahdal saw Christians from all over the Middle East converge on the city at Easter time to walk in the footsteps of Jesus.

  • Thursday April 1, 2010 11:12 AM (EST+7)
    VIEW: Palestinian children document life in Lebanese camps
    Palestinian children have been given digital cameras and asked to document their lives in the refugee camps of Lebanon.

  • Thursday April 1, 2010 11:03 AM (EST+7)
    Settlement freeze proposal 'a joke,' say Palestinians
    Palestinians received word that the US was pressuring Israel to stop settlement construction in Jerusalem for four months with incredulity. 

  • Thursday April 1, 2010 10:24 AM (EST+7)
    Statistics illustrate shrinking statehood possibilities
    According to statistics released by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel today controls 85 percent of the 27,000 square kilometers of historic Palestine.

  • Wednesday March 31, 2010 4:35 PM (EST+7)
    Settlers try to stop new Palestinian city
    A large group of Jewish settlers entered an area near the Palestinian town of Bir Zeit on Wednesday in an attempt to establish a new settlement

  • Wednesday March 31, 2010 1:15 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: US demands Israel freeze Jerusalem settlement for four months
    US President Barack Obama wants Israel to freeze construction in East Jerusalem for four months in exchange for an attempt to renew stalled Israeli peace talks with Palestinians, an Israeli newspaper said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday March 31, 2010 12:18 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces violently break up protest at military court
    Israeli forces violently broke up a peaceful protest in front of the Ofer military court in Ramallah Wednesday.

  • Wednesday March 31, 2010 10:32 AM (EST+7)
    Study: Boycott of Israeli diamonds would damage Israeli economy
    Israel is the world's leading exporter of diamonds, reports the Electronic Intifada, and a boycott of the Israeli jewels would deeply impact the Israeli economy.

  • Wednesday March 31, 2010 9:20 AM (EST+7)
    2,000 trees planted in Jerusalem on Land Day
    Palestinians planted 2,000 trees in areas threatened with Israeli settlement in the city of Jerusalem on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday March 30, 2010 5:34 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian PM ploughs ahead with future state
    Prime Minister Salam Fayyad got behind a horse-drawn plough in the West Bank on Tuesday and drilled a furrow in protest against Israeli control of Palestinian land.

  • Tuesday March 30, 2010 11:58 AM (EST+7)
    British MPs call for review on arms sales to Israel
    A review has been called by members of the British Parliament to assess the continuation of arms sales to Israel

  • Tuesday March 30, 2010 10:50 AM (EST+7)
    Tensions flare in Lebanon's refugee camps
    Tensions have risen dramatically in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon over power struggles in the security service.

  • Tuesday March 30, 2010 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Do Palestinians still need the United States?
    As US led-efforts under the Obama administration have stagnated, and other initiatives have gained traction, the dynamic of the United States’ position relative to the ‘peace process’ may be changing.

  • Tuesday March 30, 2010 8:46 AM (EST+7)
    Post-trauma rehab program marks first year
    The Post-trauma Rehabilitation of Palestinian Ex-detainee Children, which was launched last year in Ramallah by Save the Children Sweden, is attempting to mitigate the harmful effects wraught on the youth of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

  • Tuesday March 30, 2010 8:04 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt neglect of Sinai Bedouins spurs smuggling
    Egypt fought a war with Israel to regain control of Sinai, but nearly 40 years later Cairo has an uneasy relationship with the people of the region it suspects is a haven for smuggling and militancy.

  • Monday March 29, 2010 9:18 PM (EST+7)
    East Jerusalem house is a home divided
    The story of one house in East Jerusalem which has become a microcosm for the battle for East Jerusalem, as Palestinian residents are forced to share it with Jewish settlers.

  • Monday March 29, 2010 8:19 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas security men seize money from Gaza bank
    Hamas security forces took $400,000 from a bank in the Gaza Strip on Monday, in a direct challenge to Palestinian authorities in the West Bank who had frozen the money to comply with money laundering regulations.

  • Monday March 29, 2010 5:16 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to allow clothes, shoes into blockaded Gaza for first time
    Israel will allow a shipment of clothes and shoes to be delivered to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for the first time in its almost three-year-old tight blockade of the enclave, Palestinian officials said on Monday.

  • Monday March 29, 2010 11:47 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli minister says US boosts Arab hardliners
    The Obama administration's pressure on Israel to curb settlement activity will bolster Palestinian hardliners and hinder peace efforts, a senior Israeli cabinet minister said on Monday.

  • Monday March 29, 2010 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    Passover messages portray grim Israeli outlook
    Passover messages published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz conveyed an air of despair Monday.

  • Monday March 29, 2010 10:07 AM (EST+7)
    Israel hopes Egypt wall completed by year's end
    Israel hopes an underground wall that Egypt is building along its border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip to stop smuggling will be completed by the end of the year, a senior Israeli official said on Sunday.

  • Monday March 29, 2010 9:47 AM (EST+7)
    Rightists call for removal of Jerusalem mosques
    Our Land of Israel, a right-wing Israeli group, is calling for the removal of Jerusalem's mosques and replacing them with a rebuilt Jewish temple.

  • Sunday March 28, 2010 6:32 PM (EST+7)
    Arab League fails to reach consensus on Mideast peace talks
    Arab leaders did not reach a consensus on whether the Palestinians should resume stalled talks with Israel at the Arab League summit on Sunday. The decision was deferred to an extraordinary meeting scheduled later in the year.



  • Sunday March 28, 2010 5:47 PM (EST+7)
    With hope and a telescope
    After a very successful career in space science research abroad, Suleiman Baraka, a Palestinian astrophysicist has returned to his hometown in the Gaza Strip with a mission, teaching Gaza's youth about the vast frontier in the sky.

  • Sunday March 28, 2010 8:36 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu continues deliberations over US demands
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to meet with his ministers to find a way to meet Washington's demands, reports the Jerusalem Post. 

  • Sunday March 28, 2010 8:05 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas reiterates rejection of talks alongside Israeli settlement
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, speaking at the Arab League summit in Sirte, Libya, reiterated his rejection of negotiations with Israel as long as it continues its settlement policy.

  • Sunday March 28, 2010 7:53 AM (EST+7)
    Arab League eyes alternatives to peace process
    Arab states should prepare for the possibility that the Palestinian-Israeli peace process may be a total failure and come up with alternatives, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Saturday.

  • Saturday March 27, 2010 4:43 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli military withdraws after fierce fighting in Gaza
    Israeli troops withdrew from the Gaza Strip Saturday after the fiercest round of fighting since Israel's assault on the territory fourteen months ago.

  • Saturday March 27, 2010 12:57 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza's male hairdressers still in business
    Despite a ban on men doing women's hair, Gaza's hairdressers continue to style their female customers, reports The National.

  • Saturday March 27, 2010 12:28 PM (EST+7)
    Egyptian steel barrier tests Gazan mettle
    Egypt’s imminent completion of an above-and-below-ground steel barrier along its border with the Gaza Strip is putting Gazans on edge: How will they survive without the huge trade conducted via underground tunnels?

  • Saturday March 27, 2010 12:18 PM (EST+7)
    COMMENT: Israel's mission to lose friends and alienate people
    Israel's intransigence in its position against the United States should not come as a surprise, even though it means open season in the diplomatic arena, writes CNN's Richarde Allen Green.

  • Saturday March 27, 2010 12:04 PM (EST+7)
    READ: Boycott committee slams Said-Barenboim orchestra
    A Palestinian boycott committee has responded to charges that it mistakenly called for a ban on the orchestra founded by the conductor Daniel Barenboim and the late Edward Said.

  • Saturday March 27, 2010 11:20 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Despite demands for a new Arab position, observers expect little change
    Expectations are low that Arab leaders will come to a major political consensus as they meet in Libya Saturday and Sunday.

  • Saturday March 27, 2010 8:43 AM (EST+7)
    Bloodshed shrouds vision of Middle East peace talks
    Israelis and Palestinians fought their worst clash in a year and Israel said it would not stop the building in occupied East Jerusalem that is blocking a relaunch of talks.

  • Friday March 26, 2010 8:42 PM (EST+7)
    Two Israelis dead in worst Gaza clash in year
    Two Israeli soldiers were killed and at least two Palestinians wounded on Friday in what may be the most deadly clash on the Gaza Strip border since Israel ended its offensive there 14 months ago.

  • Friday March 26, 2010 5:47 PM (EST+7)
    Israelis not welcome to derelict Jerusalem hotel
    It's a toxic piece of real estate with a chequered history, in a flashpoint district of a turbulent city -- hardly a realtor's dream.

  • Friday March 26, 2010 5:09 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas says 'defensively' attacked Israeli troops entering Gaza
    Palestinian gunmen attacked an Israeli military patrol on the border of the Gaza Strip on Friday, causing at least one casualty, witnesses said.

  • Friday March 26, 2010 1:25 PM (EST+7)
    Iran says Muslims must act over Jerusalem
    Iran attacked Israel's settlement plans in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday, saying Muslims around the world needed to take action.

  • Friday March 26, 2010 10:30 AM (EST+7)
    Israel says disagreements remain with United States
    Israel and the United States failed to resolve the issue of expanding Israeli settlements in occupied Jerusalem during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, a spokesman said on Friday.

  • Thursday March 25, 2010 11:49 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: US still not satisfied with Israeli proposals
    US officials told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they will be waiting to see how he implements proposed confidence-building measures, reports Haaretz.

  • Thursday March 25, 2010 11:30 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey takes delivery of Israeli-made drones
    Turkey has taken delivery of six Heron drone aircraft from Israel and expects the remaining four to arrive by the end of April, Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul said on Thursday.

  • Thursday March 25, 2010 7:34 AM (EST+7)
    UN rights council condemns Israel despite US opposition
    The United Nations Human Rights Council passed three resolutions on Wednesday condemning Israel over its policies in occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories, but the United States voted against them all.

  • Wednesday March 24, 2010 8:29 PM (EST+7)
    Malsin: Israel undermining Palestinian civil society
    Jared Malsin, former English Editor for Maan News Agency was denied entry to Israel and the Palestinian territories by Israel Authorities. The American journalist is now on a speaking tour to educate people about Israel's policies of silencing media and undermining Palestinian civil society.

  • Wednesday March 24, 2010 5:17 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Israeli settlements: what are they, really?
    Award-winning essayist Richard Greener examines the issue of settlements in this clear, factual article.

  • Wednesday March 24, 2010 4:54 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian development project awaits Israeli nod
    The Palestinian Authority has asked Israel for jurisdiction over West Bank land in the Jordan Valley for a development project valued at $2.1 billion, the head of Palestine Investment Fund said.

  • Wednesday March 24, 2010 4:32 PM (EST+7)
    Israel, undeterred, to build in East Jerusalem
    Undeterred by turbulence in its ties with the United States and Britain, Israel on Wednesday confirmed further plans to expand the Jewish presence in occupied East Jerusalem, with more building freshly approved.

  • Wednesday March 24, 2010 4:32 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE: Researchers dig up controversy in Jerusalem
    Archaeologists in Jerusalem are competing to unearth artifacts pointing to the ancient city's Jewish past, which are used to justify Israel's claim to all of it as the indivisible capital of the modern Jewish state. But critics say some of "finds" are really just bending science to prove a "Biblical heritage" that is open to dispute.

  • Wednesday March 24, 2010 10:51 AM (EST+7)
    Israel approves 100 new settlement homes
    Israel plans to build more Jewish homes in occupied East Jerusalem, an Israeli official said on Wednesday, a day after talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama.

  • Wednesday March 24, 2010 9:52 AM (EST+7)
    Israel could replace expelled diplomat
    Israel may soon replace a diplomat Britain has said it will expel over the use of forged British passports by suspected killers of a Hamas commander in Dubai, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 7:35 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu fears peace talks delay in settlement feud
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he feared Middle East peace talks could be delayed for another year unless Palestinians dropped their demand for a full settlement freeze.

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 7:16 PM (EST+7)
    Expert: Israeli settlements 'buried' two-state solution
    A dovish Israeli expert who predicted Israel's settlement campaign would perpetuate its control of the occupied West Bank said pursuing a two-state solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a "waste of time."

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 6:36 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian official: 'US peace push at risk'
    A senior Palestinian official said on Tuesday US efforts to bring about indirect peace talks with Israel may fail unless Washington can guarantee a complete halt to Israeli settlement building.

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 3:23 PM (EST+7)
    Settler leader: Jewish population in W.Bank could triple
    Jewish settlement of the West Bank could triple to one million people despite Western pressure to curb the growth of enclaves in occupied land, says a leader of the Israeli settlers' council.

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 12:42 PM (EST+7)
    Fateh leader says Palestinians worried
    A leader of the Palestinian faction Fateh said Tuesday that Palestinians are worried about the crafting of a new understanding between Israel and the United States.

    Read more on the peace process...

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 10:44 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to be formally accused over Hamas killing
    Israel is to be formally accused in the cloning of 15 passports used by the assassins of a major Hamas political figure in February, the Daily Telegraph reports.

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 10:00 AM (EST+7)
    VIEW: Photos from Iraq Burin
    Palestinians demonstrate and two are killed in Iraq Burin in this photo story by the Palestine Monitor.

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 9:56 AM (EST+7)
    Study: $17 million spent on settlement infrastructure
    Israel has spent $17 billion on constructing settlement infrastructure, a new study has found.

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 8:58 AM (EST+7)
    Shabaneh continues corruption fight
    After getting a top Palestinian official suspended over an embarrassing sex tape, self-styled anti-corruption campaigner Fahmi Shabaneh feels unstoppable.

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 8:49 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton received coolly by old friend, AIPAC
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, once a close friend of the dominant Israel lobby in Washington, earned a cold reception at the American-Israel Political Action Committee's annual conference on Tuesday, reports the Washington Post. 

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 8:31 AM (EST+7)
    In Gaza, theater gives critics a rare voice
    Live theatre is rare in the Gaza Strip; public criticism of its Islamist rulers is rare too. So perhaps it was no surprise that a play which gives vent to Palestinian's frustrations with their leaders should be a hit.

  • Tuesday March 23, 2010 7:25 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu in US: Jerusalem not a settlement
    Declaring "Jerusalem is not a settlement," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a defiant note on Monday after new US criticism of Jewish home construction in disputed territory in and around the city.

  • Monday March 22, 2010 9:14 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli soldier killed by 'friendly fire' near Gaza
    Israeli forces opened fire on each other along the Gaza border killing one of their own soldiers on Monday, Israeli media reports said.

  • Monday March 22, 2010 6:56 PM (EST+7)
    Middle East envoy urges calm after settlement row
    US envoy George Mitchell on Monday urged Israel and the Palestinians to observe a period of calm and quiet to rescue talks thrown into jeopardy by a dispute over new settlement plans in East Jerusalem.

  • Monday March 22, 2010 12:35 PM (EST+7)
    WATCH: Clinton says Israel faces choices on path to peace
    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday that Israel  faces "difficult but necessary choices" on the road to Mideast peace because the status quo with the Palestinians is unsustainable.

  • Monday March 22, 2010 10:32 AM (EST+7)
    Rights group: 'Most racist Knesset ever'
    According to Mossawa Center's new report, there was a 75 percent increase in racist legislation proposed by the Israeli parliament in 2009.

  • Monday March 22, 2010 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    Haifa divides over restaurant's ban on army garb
    An Arab-owned restaurant in the Israeli city of Haifa has been caught in a whirlwind of legal action and threats of violence after staff refused to serve a soldier in military uniform.

  • Monday March 22, 2010 9:42 AM (EST+7)
    PM Netanyahu's AIPAC speech to be 'important'
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will touch upon the commitments he made to the United States in a Monday speech to the main US-Israel lobby group, sources in his office told the Jerusalem Post.

  • Monday March 22, 2010 9:06 AM (EST+7)
    READ: Lieberman on settlements and Palestinian incitement
    Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman calls for pressure on Palestinians in an interview with Der Spiegel. 

  • Monday March 22, 2010 8:54 AM (EST+7)
    Iraq Burin mourns youths killed by Israel
    Mourners grieving the loss of two Palestinian teenagers killed by Israeli forces this weekend directed their anger on Sunday at Jewish settlers living on occupied land next to their village in the West Bank.

    Also read "Death toll rises in West Bank, Israel kills 4 in 24 hours"

  • Sunday March 21, 2010 7:29 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu firm on settlements before US visit
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had told Washington in writing, just before heading for talks with US President Barack Obama, that Israel would not stop Jewish settlement around Jerusalem.

  • Sunday March 21, 2010 7:20 PM (EST+7)
    Death toll rises in West Bank, Israel kills 4 in 24 hours
    Four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank were buried on Sunday following violence that has exacerbated growing tensions.

  • Sunday March 21, 2010 6:49 PM (EST+7)
    UN's Ban in Gaza, calls on Israel to end blockade
    United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday urged Israel to end a three year-long blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip and called on Palestinians to heal their political rifts.

  • Sunday March 21, 2010 5:53 PM (EST+7)
    Mauritania says cuts diplomatic ties with Israel
    Mauritania has fully severed diplomatic ties with Israel, the northwest African country's foreign minister said late on Saturday, completing a process that began last year.

  • Sunday March 21, 2010 12:00 PM (EST+7)
    UN Chief Ban delivers positive message to Palestinians
    UPDATE: United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon visits the Gaza Strip emphasizing Palestinian suffering and both sides' obligations to international law.

  • Sunday March 21, 2010 11:44 AM (EST+7)
    What is Israel afraid of?
    Ali Jarbawi, the Palestinian Authority minister of planning, argues that the current Palestinian government's program is an historic opportunity to resolve the conflict that must not be missed.

  • Sunday March 21, 2010 11:13 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to seize more Palestinian land for Route 443
    Israel intends to confiscate 50 dunams of Palestinian land from the village of Beituna in the West Bank to "prevent terror attacks" on Route 443

  • Sunday March 21, 2010 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    American university votes for divestment against Israel
    A student government body at the The University of California - Berkeley, a prominent American university located in northern California, voted last Thursday to divest any University money from companies doing business with Israel.

  • Sunday March 21, 2010 7:29 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill Palestinian youths in West Bank
    A Palestinian youth shot by Israeli forces died from his wounds on Sunday, Palestinian medics said, the second death from the same incident on Saturday that may fuel tensions in the occupied West Bank.

  • Sunday March 21, 2010 7:29 AM (EST+7)
    Ban Ki-Moon meets with evicted families in Sheikh Jarrah
    UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon met with Palestinian families evicted from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem, at the Notre Dame Hotel on Saturday.

  • Saturday March 20, 2010 11:46 AM (EST+7)
    Shufat refugee camp sees worst of Jerusalem violence
    One of two entrances to Shufat refugee camp was closed to vehicular traffic by Israeli soldiers Saturday, after heavy clashes one day earlier at the checkpoint that blocks the camp entrance.

  • Saturday March 20, 2010 11:14 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Israel strikes in Gaza after deadly rocket
    Israeli aircraft struck at least seven targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said.

  • Saturday March 20, 2010 8:34 AM (EST+7)
    Quartet hopes package will unlock Middle East talks
    Two members of the international quartet of Middle East mediators suggested on Friday that stalled indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians may be unblocked in coming days.

  • Friday March 19, 2010 11:54 AM (EST+7)
    Mideast mediators condemn Israeli settlements again
    Middle East mediators condemned for the second time in a week on Friday Israeli plans to build new settlements in disputed East Jerusalem, but the United States suggested Israel was moving to address the issue.

  • Friday March 19, 2010 10:13 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli settlement crisis clouds Mideast talks
    Middle East mediators from Europe, the United States, Russia and the UN met on Friday seeking to defuse the latest crisis in peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.

  • Thursday March 18, 2010 6:53 PM (EST+7)
    Carter: Mideast peace needs 'dramatic shift' by Israel
    Former US President Jimmy Carter called on Thursday for direct talks between Israel and Palestinians toward a two-state Middle East solution, but said it would take a dramatic shift in Israeli policy.

  • Thursday March 18, 2010 4:59 PM (EST+7)
    US treasury sanctions Hamas bank, TV station
    The US Treasury said on Thursday it imposed sanctions against two firms in Gaza -- Islamic National Bank and Al-Aqsa Television -- for their ties to the ruling Hamas movement.

  • Thursday March 18, 2010 1:42 PM (EST+7)
    Ban: No alternative to direct negotiations
    The Israeli and Palestinian leaderships have no alternative to eventual direct negotiations, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday, repeating criticism of plans for more Jewish homes near East Jerusalem.

  • Thursday March 18, 2010 1:05 PM (EST+7)
    Boy says struck by police vehicle, told to remain silent
    A 14-year old boy run over by an Israeli police car says he was subsequently beaten and intimidated by the police.

  • Thursday March 18, 2010 12:09 PM (EST+7)
    Rocket kills one as Ashton enters Gaza
    Palestinian militants fired a rocket into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing one person, while the European Union's foreign affairs chief was visiting the Hamas-controlled enclave.

  • Thursday March 18, 2010 11:49 AM (EST+7)
    US-Israel rift opens path for moderate pro-Israel groups
    The United States' use of strong language to rebuke its ally Israel has energized moderate pro-Israel groups in Washington, reports The National.

  • Thursday March 18, 2010 9:43 AM (EST+7)
    READ: Edward Said's widow defends husband's legacy
    Miriam Said, the widow of the late Palestinian intellectual Edward Said, has fired back at a Palestinian group seeking a boycott against her husband's foundation.

  • Thursday March 18, 2010 9:31 AM (EST+7)
    Envoy Mitchell may return to region Sunday

    US President Barack Obama's Middle East peace envoy may return to the region on Sunday, having postponed his trip over an Israeli settlement plan, an Israeli official said on Thursday.


  • Thursday March 18, 2010 7:49 AM (EST+7)
    Obama says Israel settlement plans not helpful for peace
    President Barack Obama said on Wednesday Israeli plans to build more homes near East Jerusalem were not helpful for the Middle East peace process, but he said the issue had not led to a crisis with one of the United States' closest allies.

  • Wednesday March 17, 2010 5:33 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian government denies preventing demonstrations
    A government spokesperson rejected accusations Wednesday that Palestinian Authority security forces had banned Palestinians from demonstrating in areas of the occupied West Bank under its control.

  • Wednesday March 17, 2010 5:05 PM (EST+7)
    Children describe abuse in Israeli jails
    Affidavits collected by a human rights group show that Palestinian children face abuse and even torture in Israeli detention.

    Read more on children | prisoners

  • Wednesday March 17, 2010 4:35 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Negotiations void to be filled with confrontation
    A surge in Palestinian-Israeli violence on the streets of Jerusalem and the West Bank is a sign of broader instability ahead unless the United States can quickly restore faith in the peace process.

  • Wednesday March 17, 2010 11:48 AM (EST+7)
    Sporadic clashes in West Bank
    Sporadic clashes have broken out in the occupied West Bank, one day after heavy confrontations in Jerusalem.

  • Wednesday March 17, 2010 8:55 AM (EST+7)
    Violence against women on rise, say advocates
    Nahla, aged 30, from Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, said she was physically and mentally abused for more than ten years by her husband before being granted a divorce three months ago.

  • Wednesday March 17, 2010 8:39 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Dozens of Palestinians injured in Jerusalem clashes
    Clashes broke out in Shufat refugee camp in northern Jerusalem Tuesday as Palestinian leaders called for protests against the dedication of a Jewish synagogue in the tense Jerusalem Old City.


  • Wednesday March 17, 2010 8:11 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli military: No intifada until Palestinian security joins in
    Until the Palestinian Authority orders its security forces to join in protests against Israel there will be no third Palestinian uprising, the Israeli military believes, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Wednesday March 17, 2010 7:48 AM (EST+7)
    UN chief chides Israel for confidentiality breach
    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday criticized Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for releasing information about what Ban said was a confidential telephone call between the two men.

  • Wednesday March 17, 2010 7:28 AM (EST+7)
    Petraeus denies seeking command over occupied territories
    Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have an "enormous" effect where US military forces operate in the Muslim world and are closely monitored, the US general who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday March 16, 2010 7:26 PM (EST+7)
    Clinton pledges 'unshakeable' bond with Israel
    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday hailed the 'unshakeable bond' between the United States and Israel in an effort to quell the diplomatic spat that has rocked ties between Washington and its closest Middle East ally.

  • Tuesday March 16, 2010 3:13 PM (EST+7)
    Voices warning of 'third intifada' gain ground
    Conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories are ripe for a new Palestinian uprising, warn a growing number of voices.

  • Tuesday March 16, 2010 12:42 PM (EST+7)
    Hundreds attend Hurva rededication
    Hundreds attended a joyful celebration dedicating the Hurva synagogue in Jerusalem's Old City on Monday evening, reported the Jerusalem Post.

  • Tuesday March 16, 2010 12:19 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza's Islamists turn away from elections
    If Hamas has learned anything from its experience over the last five years, it is that political participation has not paid off, writes The National.

  • Tuesday March 16, 2010 12:09 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to respond Tuesday to three US demands
    Washington has made three demands of the Israeli government in order to try to get the peace process back on track, writes the Washington Post. 

  • Tuesday March 16, 2010 7:34 AM (EST+7)
    Mitchell Mideast travel in flux over US-Israel row
    A US envoy's plans to visit the Middle East were up in the air on Monday, the State Department said, as it waited for Israel to respond to US demands it show that it is serious about peace talks with the Palestinians.

  • Monday March 15, 2010 7:58 PM (EST+7)
    Ashton: 'Settlements are illegal' and 'undermine' peace efforts
    The European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton stated that Israel's settlement enterprise 'undermined' the tentative proximity talks that were about to take place, while delivering a speech to the Arab League in Cairo, on Monday.

  • Monday March 15, 2010 7:13 PM (EST+7)
    Gen. Petraeus: Israeli policies undermine security of US troops
    A concern in the top echelons of the American military was revealed by Foreign Policy magazine that the stagnating Israeli-Palestinian conflict--and perceived overwhelming US bias towards Israel--is eroding the military's standing in the region.

  • Monday March 15, 2010 6:50 PM (EST+7)
    COMMENTARY: US-Israel rift undermining some long-standing taboos
    Columnist Glenn Greenwald examines the relationship between the US and Israel in the context of the current row over the Israeli announcement of 1600 housing units to be built on occupied Palestinian territory in East Jerusalem. Greenwald points out that proponents of Israeli inside the US are shaping US foreign policy around Israel's interests, possibly to the detriment of the United States.

  • Monday March 15, 2010 4:32 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu defies US over Jerusalem settlement
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected on Monday any curbs on Jewish settlement in and around Jerusalem, defying Washington in Israel's deepening crisis with US President Barack Obama's administration.

  • Monday March 15, 2010 4:15 PM (EST+7)
    In escalations, seven Palestinians injured by Israeli troops
    Israeli troops injured at least seven Palestinians during a confrontation in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian medical sources said.

  • Monday March 15, 2010 11:51 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli military levels new restrictions against Wall protesters
    Israeli soldiers distributed leaflets Monday in the Palestinian villages of Bilin and Nilin ordering the areas near the Wall a closed military area every Friday.

  • Monday March 15, 2010 11:30 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to replace US-made flechette shells
    Israel is phasing out a US-made tank shell that sprays thousands of deadly darts over a wide area, in favor of a more precise round produced locally, the commander of the Armoured Corps said on Sunday.

  • Monday March 15, 2010 11:21 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli envoy sees 'historic crisis' with US
    Israeli-US relations have hit a 35-year low over a West Bank settlement plan that threatens to derail peacemaking efforts with the Palestinians, Israel's envoy to Washington was quoted as saying on Monday.

  • Saturday March 13, 2010 3:17 PM (EST+7)
    Ashton: EU has leverage over Israel
    The European Union could use closer trade ties as leverage to urge Israel to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, the EU's top diplomat said on Saturday ahead of a trip to the region.

  • Saturday March 13, 2010 12:48 PM (EST+7)
    Quiet tax war wages in Jerusalem
    Disparities in Israeli tax collection are weighing down local businesses, say Palestinians.

    Read more about Jerusalem

  • Saturday March 13, 2010 12:02 PM (EST+7)
    Synagogue dedication raises Jerusalem fears
    Palestinians warned this week of tensions in Jerusalem as a new synagogue is dedicated near the Old City's sensitive holy sites.

  • Saturday March 13, 2010 10:49 AM (EST+7)
    Crossing Qalandiya checkpoint
    Qalandiya checkpoint south of Ramallah is manned by a friendly policeman who has no authority, and surly Israeli military and security guards who have all the power in the world, writes Ami Issacharoff and Amos Harel for Haaretz.

  • Saturday March 13, 2010 10:49 AM (EST+7)
    READ: 'Digging your own tomb' - an interview with a tunnel worker
    From camels to cars, Palestinians in Gaza can bring in just about anything through the network of tunnels leading into the Strip from Egypt.

  • Saturday March 13, 2010 9:53 AM (EST+7)
    Ramallah's new governor a trailblazer
    At 35, Leila Ghanem is the first woman to become a Palestinian governor, the latest in a group of trailblazing women leaders who are slowly winning acceptance in this traditional society.

  • Saturday March 13, 2010 9:11 AM (EST+7)
    Uphill battle to supply prosthetics to Gaza war injured
    A half-finished two-story building in central Gaza City is one of the few places providing support to amputees, most of them civilian victims of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, as they try and come to terms with their injuries.

  • Saturday March 13, 2010 9:03 AM (EST+7)
    READ: Rachel Corrie's parents speak out
    Seven years ago, Cindy and Craig Corrie lost their daughter, Rachel, when an Israeli bulldozer flattened her into the ground as she tried to guard the home of a Palestinian family she had lived with for two months in the Gaza Strip. The National interviews the couple. 

  • Saturday March 13, 2010 8:48 AM (EST+7)
    UN humanitarian chief: Gaza blockade serves 'no purpose'
    The United Nations humanitarian chief John Holmes said Friday that an ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip has not succeeded in preventing the flow of weapons or lowering the stature of Gaza's Hamas-led government.

  • Saturday March 13, 2010 7:49 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton warns Israel over settlements
    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday that his government was putting US ties at risk by failing to take real steps toward renewed Mideast peace talks.

    Read more about  peace process  |  settlements

  • Saturday March 13, 2010 7:49 AM (EST+7)
    UN worried by war of words between Israel, Lebanon
    A recent wave of bellicose rhetoric between Israel and Lebanon has fueled fears the two hostile neighbors could be headed for another conflict, the UN special coordinator for Lebanon said on Friday.

  • Friday March 12, 2010 4:51 PM (EST+7)
    Confrontations, anger in Jerusalem over building
    Israeli forces sealed off the West Bank and massed riot squads around Jerusalem's Old City and Arab neighbourhoods during Muslim weekly prayers on Friday, facing down Palestinian anger over Jewish settlement expansion.

  • Thursday March 11, 2010 12:26 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas says releasing British journalist in Gaza
    A British journalist arrested by Hamas in the Gaza Strip last month and held for nearly four weeks on suspicion of spying for Israel, was being released on Thursday, his lawyer and Palestinian officials said.

  • Thursday March 11, 2010 11:33 AM (EST+7)
    Poll shows half of Israeli high schoolers oppose equal rights for Arab citizens
    A poll released in Israel on Thursday shows that nearly 50 percent of Israeli high school students believe that Arab citizens of Israel do not deserve equal rights.

  • Thursday March 11, 2010 10:38 AM (EST+7)
    Witness testifies to killing of US activist Corrie
    A witness to the killing of American peace activist Rachel Corrie testified in an Israeli court on Wednesday.

  • Thursday March 11, 2010 9:53 AM (EST+7)
    Israel plans 50,000 new homes slated for East Jerusalem
    Israel is in the various stages of implementing plans to build 50,000 new residential units in occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli daily, Haaretz.

  • Thursday March 11, 2010 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    Amr Moussa: Abbas says talks with Israel are off
    Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Wednesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had told him he would not enter indirect talks with Israel, only days after the Palestinian side had agreed to the contacts.

  • Thursday March 11, 2010 8:50 AM (EST+7)
    Israel apologizes, but no reversal on settlements
    An Israeli cabinet minister apologized on Wednesday after Israel embarrassed visiting US Vice President Joe Biden by announcing plans to build 1,600 more homes for Jewish settlers.

  • Wednesday March 10, 2010 8:03 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli court hears suit over US activist's death
    An Israeli court on Wednesday began hearing a civil damages lawsuit filed by the parents of an American woman who was killed by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip seven years ago.

  • Wednesday March 10, 2010 6:52 PM (EST+7)
    An eviction stirs old ghosts in a contested city
    Sheikh Jarrah has become both the rallying point for a recovering Israeli peace movement, and a possible pandoras box for ghosts at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

  • Wednesday March 10, 2010 5:00 PM (EST+7)
    Wave of condemnation against Israel over latest settlement plan
    Several European countries have added their voices to the chorus of condemnation aimed at Israel, after its Ministry of Interior announced a plan to build 1,600 more housing units in occupied East Jerusalem.

  • Wednesday March 10, 2010 2:44 PM (EST+7)
    Israel allows UN bomb squad into Gaza
    Israel has allowed a U.N. bomb disposal unit into the Gaza Strip to defuse unexploded munitions left over from last year's fighting.

  • Wednesday March 10, 2010 7:32 AM (EST+7)
    Biden condemns new settlement plan
    US Vice President Joe Biden publicly condemned on Wednesday Israel's new plan to build 1,600 homes for Jewish settlers, saying on a West Bank visit the project undermined Washington's peace efforts.

  • Tuesday March 9, 2010 9:20 PM (EST+7)
    Family of slain US activist sues Israel
    The family of an American killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza will launch a damages case on Wednesday, stoking controversy over the treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters and angering Israelis frustrated by international criticism.

  • Tuesday March 9, 2010 7:20 PM (EST+7)
    Israel plans 1,600 new Jewish homes in Jerusalem
    Israel announced plans on Tuesday to build 1,600 new Jewish homes in an area of the occupied West Bank it has annexed to Jerusalem, a move likely to draw Palestinian anger during a high-level US visit.

  • Tuesday March 9, 2010 2:50 PM (EST+7)
    Actor Harrelson breaks silence on settlements, Gaza war
    Actor Woody Harrelson called Israeli settlements a "land grab" and spoke candidly about his opposition to Israeli policies in an interview with the satellite channel al-Jazeera International.

  • Tuesday March 9, 2010 1:53 PM (EST+7)
    Israel weighing construction of nuclear power plant
    Israel will this week unveil plans to produce nuclear-generated electricity, officials said on Monday, a move that could draw fresh international attention towards its assumed atomic arsenal.

  • Tuesday March 9, 2010 12:45 PM (EST+7)
    Biden reassures Israel of US security commitment
    US Vice President Joe Biden assured Israel on Tuesday of Washington's commitment to its security and said the agreed resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks provided a "moment of real opportunity" for peace.

  • Tuesday March 9, 2010 11:40 AM (EST+7)
    City official tours site of future office in Sheikh Jarrah
    Scuffles broke out and tensions were high in Sheikh Jarrah Tuesday morning as Jerusalem's deputy mayor toured the site of a new municipal complaints office to be opened here.

  • Tuesday March 9, 2010 8:58 AM (EST+7)
    READ: Interview with Nazareth councilwoman
    An Arab councilwoman in the city of Nazareth explains why Israel does not represent its 20 percent Arab minority.

  • Tuesday March 9, 2010 7:52 AM (EST+7)
    US urges Israel to be cautious on building
    The United States said on Monday that Israel's approval of building 112 new Jewish homes in the occupied West Bank did not violate a limited Israeli settlement freeze but was the kind of act both sides should be cautious about as they embark on indirect peace talks.

  • Tuesday March 9, 2010 7:47 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to allow Ashton, Ban into Gaza Strip
    Israel will allow two senior international visitors to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip, in a rare departure from policy, during their upcoming visits to the region, the foreign ministry said on Monday.

  • Monday March 8, 2010 8:10 PM (EST+7)
    US envoy says still debating Mideast talks format
    US envoy George Mitchell welcomed undertakings by Palestinian and Israeli leaders to begin indirect peace negotiations but said on Monday that the scope and structure of those talks required further discussion.

  • Monday March 8, 2010 1:36 PM (EST+7)
    PM: government revenues to increase
    The Palestinian Authority expects its revenues this year to increase by 20 percent over 2009, exceeding two billion dollars for the first time.

  • Monday March 8, 2010 12:29 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Israeli defense minister approves W.Bank housing units
    Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak has approved 112 new housing units in the occupied West Bank settlement of Betar Illit, reports Isreal HaYom.

  • Monday March 8, 2010 11:59 AM (EST+7)
    Women's labor low for region, say experts
    Palestinian women's labor force participation is the lowest in the region, says the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

  • Monday March 8, 2010 11:56 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians: indirect talks last chance for peace
    US-mediated indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians will be a last chance to keep the Middle East peace process alive, the Palestinian chief negotiator said on Monday.

  • Monday March 8, 2010 11:24 AM (EST+7)
    Hebron's governor says Israel keeps changing the maps
    According to Hebron's governor, Israeli maps repeatedly alter the area that falls under Palestinian control, wavering between 20 and 30 kilometers of land.

  • Sunday March 7, 2010 7:11 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Quiet revolution freezing Palestinians out of Jerusalem
    Evictions and planning decisions on the ground are jeopardizing prospects for a two-state Middle East peace deal

  • Sunday March 7, 2010 7:07 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt arrests two Palestinians in its waters
    Egypt's coastguard arrested two Palestinians who sailed into Egyptian waters on Sunday and said they were fishing and had strayed into Egyptian waters by mistake, security sources in North Sinai said.

  • Sunday March 7, 2010 4:17 PM (EST+7)
    PLO Executive Committee approves indirect talks with Israel
    The Palestinian Liberation Organization's Executive Committee gave Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas approval to conduct indirect negotiations with Israel via US interlocutors, on Sunday.

  • Sunday March 7, 2010 3:27 PM (EST+7)
    Ramallah's Quakers honor 100-year-old building
    Palestinians and internationals held a special worship service Sunday morning celebrating the centennial of a central Ramallah historic site.

  • Sunday March 7, 2010 3:18 PM (EST+7)
    Israelis targeting security, Palestinians say
    Israeli arrests of Palestinian security members were up last year, despite a decrease in the numbers of Palestinians detained overall, says a new government report.

  • Sunday March 7, 2010 9:53 AM (EST+7)
    Biden to speak to Israeli public
    US President Barack Obama dispatches his vice president to the Middle East on Sunday to try to build support for reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks despite deep skepticism on both sides.

  • Sunday March 7, 2010 9:42 AM (EST+7)
    Erekat: 'No viability with Ariel'
    Palestinians are keeping an eye on the growing settlement of Ariel, which juts into the West Bank and makes a contiguous state increasingly difficult to conceive.

  • Sunday March 7, 2010 8:41 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Protest in Sheikh Jarrah draws thousands
    Thousands of  left-wing protesters marched in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, on Saturday.

  • Saturday March 6, 2010 4:06 PM (EST+7)
    EU's Ashton seeks Gaza visit during Middle East tour
    UPDATE: European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton aims to visit Gaza during a trip to the Middle East this month as she strives to better engage the EU in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

  • Saturday March 6, 2010 2:12 PM (EST+7)
    Two parents share loss
    Palestinian Mazen Faraj and Israeli Rami Elhanan are both parents that have lost children in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

  • Saturday March 6, 2010 9:53 AM (EST+7)
    Author: Rabin saw Arafat as 'last vestige of Palestinian nationalism'
    A new book by Yitzhak Rabin's confidante and speechwriter relates his thoughts on the peace process just two days before his assassination.

  • Saturday March 6, 2010 8:58 AM (EST+7)
    US repudiates UN council remarks on Mideast clash
    A US official denied on Friday that Washington had consented to a UN Security Council statement to reporters voicing concern about the fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinians.

  • Friday March 5, 2010 3:45 PM (EST+7)
    Ireland urges for more pressure to end Gaza blockade
    Ireland's foreign minister on Friday called the Israeli blockade of Palestinian-ruled Gaza inhumane and unacceptable and he urged the European Union and other countries to increase pressure on Israel to end it.

  • Friday March 5, 2010 3:00 PM (EST+7)
    Clashes erupt at Jerusalem holy site
     Israeli police and Palestinians clashed near Jerusalem's flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque on Friday and about 30 people were injured, Israeli police and Palestinian medical workers said.

  • Thursday March 4, 2010 1:28 PM (EST+7)
    Israel, Palestinians set for indirect talks
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel hoped to begin indirect negotiations with the Palestinians next week during a visit by Washington's Middle East envoy.

  • Thursday March 4, 2010 11:42 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: One Jewish structure in Silwan worth 48 Arab
    In order to retroactively license one Jewish structure, Israel's leaders are willing to remake long-standing plans to destroy the homes of its Arab neighbors, also said to be constructed without building permits.

  • Thursday March 4, 2010 8:18 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians gain votes in UN
    Two unrelated diplomatic upsets have underlined growing impatience with the behavior of the Israeli government among western countries that are traditionally supportive.

  • Thursday March 4, 2010 7:53 AM (EST+7)
    Livni attacks Netanyahu's leadership in special Knesset session
    Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni attacked the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as news reached Israel that Palestinians and Israelis were likely to embark on a program of indirect talks.

  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 8:42 PM (EST+7)
    Mitchell seen headed to Mideast in very near future
    US special envoy for Middle East peace George Mitchell is expected to return to the region soon and is closer to launching indirect peace talks although nothing is yet set, a US official said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 7:39 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian village known for protests sees cultural rebirth
    On Fridays they chant slogans and hurl stones at Israeli soldiers, but on Saturdays the youth of this small Palestinian village head into a newly-restored citadel for music practice.

  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 6:20 PM (EST+7)
    Growing apartheid week links Palestine supporters

    The 6th annual Israeli Apartheid Week, which began on Monday, takes place in 40 cities around the world. The campaign aims to educate people about Israel's system of 'apartheid.'


  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 4:43 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli army nixes raid after Facebook leak
    The Israeli military called off a raid in Palestinian territory after a soldier posted details, including the time and place, on social networking website Facebook, Israel's Army Radio reported on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 1:58 PM (EST+7)
    Arab league approves proximity talks, offers 4 month window
    The Arab League on Wednesday agreed to a U.S. proposal for indirect Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, giving a boost to Washington's efforts to revive the moribund peace process, although skepticism over Israeli sincerity abound.

    Read more about peace process

  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 12:25 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli military wounds two in Jenin
    Israeli forces raided a village in the northern West Bank on Wednesday and wounded two members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, one seriously, a senior Palestinian security officer said.

  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 11:50 AM (EST+7)
    WATCH: Israeli military harasses human rights cameramen
    Israeli soldiers have repeatedly harassed Palestinians carrying video cameras supplied by an Israeli human rights organization.

  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 11:29 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Israel used remote weapons against Palestinians
    In December, the Israeli military used a remote weapons system to kill two Palestinians along the Gaza-Israel border, reports the Jerusalem Post. 

  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 11:28 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Court hears petition on family reunification law
    The High Court of Justice held Tuesday a crucial hearing on challenges to a law barring many Palestinians married to Israelis from obtaining permanent residency.

  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 10:23 AM (EST+7)
    UNRWA building clay brick homes
    A new project by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) aims to build around 120 mud brick houses for dozens of homeless families in the next few months.

  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 8:03 AM (EST+7)
    UN rights boss urges Egypt to stop shooting migrants
    The United Nations' human rights chief accused Egypt on Tuesday of shooting unarmed African migrants trying to enter Israel via the Sinai Desert and said 60 of them had been killed since July 2007.

  • Wednesday March 3, 2010 7:56 AM (EST+7)
    Dubai police chief says to seek Netanyahu arrest
    Dubai's police chief plans to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of Israel's spy agency over the killing of a Hamas leader in the emirate, Al-Jazeera television reported.

  • Tuesday March 2, 2010 4:43 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu intervenes in sensitive Jerusalem project
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, citing concern over Israel's international image, persuaded Jerusalem's mayor on Tuesday to put on hold any demolition of Palestinian homes in a municipal tourism project.

  • Tuesday March 2, 2010 11:51 AM (EST+7)
    New ground collapse in Silwan as mayor readies plan
    A wide swath of earth caved in Monday in Silwan, as residents brace for municipal plans to strategically alter their neighborhood.

  • Tuesday March 2, 2010 9:52 AM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Islamist split in Gaza poses new security dilemmas
    Hamas Islamists ruling the Gaza Strip face a growing security challenge from al Qaeda-inspired Palestinian groups in the religiously conservative enclave.

  • Tuesday March 2, 2010 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis to be banned from UAE
    Officials in the United Arab Emirates will no longer allow Israelis traveling on a second passport to enter the country, they said on Monday.

  • Tuesday March 2, 2010 8:28 AM (EST+7)
    Zahar: 'Everything was ready to sign'
    Hamas' lead negotiator in talks over a prisoner's exchange tells Der Spiegel he has had enough.

  • Tuesday March 2, 2010 7:58 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli fire kills Gaza gunman
    Israeli tanks shelled a group of Palestinian gunmen in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, killing one and wounding another, their group and the Israeli army said.

  • Monday March 1, 2010 8:17 PM (EST+7)
    Palestine, Cyprus united for tourism
    The Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Kholoud Diabes, signed a memorandum of cooperation with her Cypriot couterpart, Antonis Paschalides, signaling a new era in cooperation between the two countries.

  • Monday March 1, 2010 8:17 PM (EST+7)
    Dahlan: US answers not yet enough for Mideast talks
    A Palestinian official said on Monday the United States had yet to give adequate answers to Palestinian queries on a proposal for indirect negotiations with Israel.

  • Monday March 1, 2010 6:22 PM (EST+7)
    Egyptian court frees gas exports to Israel
    Egypt's Supreme Administrative Court overruled a lower court decision to prevent the export of gas to Israel.

  • Monday March 1, 2010 4:10 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza court extends detention of British journalist
    A Palestinian court on Monday extended by 15 days the detention of a British journalist arrested by Hamas police in the Gaza Strip last month on suspicion of collaborating with Israel's security services.

  • Monday March 1, 2010 4:10 PM (EST+7)
    Israel high court criticizes government over settlement construction
    Israel's Supreme Court criticized the State for failing to prevent continued construction in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Netafim, despite previous court orders. Israel has done little to prevent continued settlement construction despite a 10-month moratorium still in effect.

  • Monday March 1, 2010 2:52 PM (EST+7)
    EC calls Israeli heritage plan 'detrimental' to talks
    A representative of the European Commission issued a statement Monday condemning Israel's plan to add to sites in the occupied West Bank to a list of heritage sites.

  • Monday March 1, 2010 2:48 PM (EST+7)
    Dubai says hit team had 27th member, slams 'insult'
    Israel's intelligence agency Mossad has insulted Dubai and countries whose forged passports were used by its agents in the assassination of a Hamas military commander last month, Dubai's police chief said on Monday.

  • Monday March 1, 2010 11:44 AM (EST+7)
    Parliament fails, again, to meet
    A call to hold an emergency parliamentary session went unheeded Monday as Palestinian factions remained entrenched in a long-standing political confrontation.

    Background: Palestinian Legislative Council

  • Monday March 1, 2010 10:42 AM (EST+7)
    'Dignity' campaign launches website
    The official Palestinian campaign against settlement products has launched a new website, karama.ps, in both English and Arabic.

  • Monday March 1, 2010 10:06 AM (EST+7)
    Hass: The innumerable acts of occupation
    On any given day, the number of Israeli impositions on Palestinian life - whether by settlers or the military - pass largely unobserved by the Israeli public.

  • Monday March 1, 2010 9:46 AM (EST+7)
    Israel: 'Fayyad inciting violence'
    Israeli officials are charging the Palestinian prime minister with inciting Palestinians to violence, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Monday March 1, 2010 9:42 AM (EST+7)
    US envoy bridge between two worlds
    Rashad Hussain, US president Barack Obama's new envoy to the Muslim world, has his work cut out for him. 

  • Monday March 1, 2010 9:15 AM (EST+7)
    Security guard injured in Silwan shooting
    Unknown assailants shot at and injured a security guard at the settler outpost Beit Yonatan in Silwan Monday morning.

    Silwan | Jerusalem | settlements

  • Sunday Feb. 28, 2010 4:31 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: With talks stalled, Mideast "alternatives" aired
    As Mid-East peace talks continue to stall, and the overall landscape for the establishment of a two-state solution inches ever closer to impossible, alternative solutions are starting to find stronger voices amongst Israelis, Palestinians and the international community.

  • Sunday Feb. 28, 2010 2:55 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Jerusalem calm after Sunday clashes
    Sixteen Palestinians and four policemen were injured as clashes that started Sunday at Jerusalem's holy mosques spread to other areas of the Old City.

  • Sunday Feb. 28, 2010 1:22 PM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem Old City to get facelift
    Details of plans to renovate Jerusalem’s Old City are gradually surfacing, showing extensive works slated to take place in the crowded municipal center.

  • Sunday Feb. 28, 2010 10:54 AM (EST+7)
    ROUND-UP: Egypt's Baradei promises change
    Egypt's once-rote politics have been disrupted by the return of former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed Baradei.

  • Sunday Feb. 28, 2010 10:31 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas leader calls on Europe to act in Mabhouh killing
    Hamas' leader called on European states Saturday to act in the killing of a top Hamas commander.

  • Sunday Feb. 28, 2010 10:18 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas rejects Erekat paper
    Hamas on Saturday slammed a document prepared by a senior Palestinian negotiator which outlines a grim situation due to the suspension of peace talks with Israel.

  • Sunday Feb. 28, 2010 9:41 AM (EST+7)
    Western Wall slated for more changes
    Israeli officials may ratify a plan to beam commercial messages on to the Western Wall where Jews pray, reports Haaretz.

  • Saturday Feb. 27, 2010 8:04 PM (EST+7)
    Britain to investigate passport ordeal in Israel

    The British embassy in Israel said an investigator was flown in this week to interview 10 dual Israeli-British citizens whose British passports may have been used in the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai.


  • Saturday Feb. 27, 2010 12:58 PM (EST+7)
    Israel's PR ministry takes swipe at foreign media
    European correspondents reporting from Israel are depicted as stupid and condescending in video spoofs on a new government website created to help improve Israel's image abroad.

  • Saturday Feb. 27, 2010 11:08 AM (EST+7)
    Light rail launched on occupied lands
    Jerusalem's light rail had its maiden voyage Wednesday evening, one car making the trip from the French Hill neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem to a nearby 1967 war memorial.

  • Saturday Feb. 27, 2010 11:08 AM (EST+7)
    Minor customs case boosts Palestinian war on settlements
    The Palestinian Authority, under the leadership of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, has taken the initiative to free the markets under its control of all goods produced in Israeli settlements.

  • Saturday Feb. 27, 2010 10:30 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis rush to join the Mossad
    Israelis are applying to join the Mossad at record rates reports the London Times.

  • Saturday Feb. 27, 2010 10:30 AM (EST+7)
    Family mourns 'lost' son
    The family of Hamas figure Hasan Yusef says it was surprised by revelations that Mosab Yusef, 32, was spying for Israeli intelligence.

  • Saturday Feb. 27, 2010 10:06 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Israel plans more homes for East Jerusalem
    UPDATE: Israel has plans to build another 600 homes in occupied land it considers part of East Jerusalem, the Haaretz daily newspaper reported on Friday.

  • Saturday Feb. 27, 2010 8:37 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton presses Barak on blockade of Gaza Strip
    The United States pressed Israel on Friday to ease its blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, an issue Arab officials have urged Washington to address at it tries to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

    Read more about  closure  |  peace talks

  • Friday Feb. 26, 2010 9:35 PM (EST+7)
    Irish FM calls Gaza situation 'extremely depressing' during visit
    On Thursday, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin became the first foreign minister of any European Union country to be allowed into Gaza.

  • Friday Feb. 26, 2010 8:38 PM (EST+7)
    UN assembly urges further Gaza war investigations
    The General Assembly on Friday demanded credible Israeli and Palestinian investigations into UN allegations of war crimes in last year's Gaza war, reflecting concerns that the probes so far have fallen short.

  • Friday Feb. 26, 2010 6:09 PM (EST+7)
    Lebanon arrests six suspected of spying for Israel
    The Lebanese army has arrested six more people on suspicion of spying for Israel, a security source said on Friday.

  • Friday Feb. 26, 2010 5:31 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Renewal in the West Bank, a little noticed success
    Time Magazine writer Joe Klein takes a look at the process of quiet state-building taking place in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Authority, under the initiative of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, hopes to develop the political, social and economic institutions of a de-facto Palestinian State.

  • Friday Feb. 26, 2010 3:41 PM (EST+7)
    Fayyad, 'Israel won't drag Palestinians to violence'
    Israel's plan to include West Bank religious sites in a Jewish heritage plan is a clear provocation but the Palestinians will not be dragged into violence, the Palestinian prime minister said on Friday.

  • Friday Feb. 26, 2010 3:41 PM (EST+7)
    UNESCO worried about Israel heritage plan in West Bank
    The United Nations' culture and education body said on Friday it was concerned about Israel's plan to rehabilitate Jewish religious shrines in the occupied West Bank in a heritage program.

  • Thursday Feb. 25, 2010 6:37 PM (EST+7)
    EU court: West Bank settlement goods are subject to import duties

  • Thursday Feb. 25, 2010 11:02 AM (EST+7)
    Clashes continue after US criticism
    Palestinians and Israeli soldiers clashed in Hebron Thursday afternoon at the site of the Ibrahimi mosque where both Jews and Muslims pray.

  • Thursday Feb. 25, 2010 9:39 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Mahbouh confidante denies arrest
    A confidante of slain Hamas commander Mahmoud Mahbouh has denied being arrested or detained by Syrian authorities.

  • Thursday Feb. 25, 2010 9:02 AM (EST+7)
    Injuries, arrests in Sheikh Jarrah clash
    Ten Palestinians were injured in clashes that broke out Wednesday night in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem.

  • Thursday Feb. 25, 2010 8:24 AM (EST+7)
    Islamic leader's lawyers appeal his sentencing
    Lawyers representing the leader of the Islamic movement in Israel have filed an appeal of his nine-month sentence, slated to begin on Sunday.

  • Thursday Feb. 25, 2010 7:32 AM (EST+7)
    Growing fury at Dubai killing reaches Australia
    Mounting diplomatic fury over the killing of a top Hamas commander in a Dubai hotel reached Australia on Thursday, with Israel's ambassador summoned over the use of Australian passports by a suspected assassination squad.

  • Wednesday Feb. 24, 2010 8:17 PM (EST+7)
    UN rights chief defends Goldstone Gaza findings
    United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay defended on Wednesday the controversial Goldstone investigation into Israel's 2008-2009 military assault in Gaza, saying both its methods and conclusions were sound.

  • Wednesday Feb. 24, 2010 7:02 PM (EST+7)
    Clinton hopes Mideast peace talks will resume soon
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday she hoped Israeli-Palestinian peace talks will resume soon, taking a more upbeat tone about efforts to end the conflict than typical for US officials.

  • Wednesday Feb. 24, 2010 10:23 AM (EST+7)
    EU, UN to debate Goldstone report
    The UN report on Israel's war in Gaza last winter will be on the agenda of both the European Union and United Nations this week.

  • Wednesday Feb. 24, 2010 9:45 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas warns of 'religious war'
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas warned that Israel's recent move to rehabilitate two West Bank shrines could spark a "religious war."

  • Wednesday Feb. 24, 2010 7:36 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Details of Sarkozy initiative emerge
    A plan for ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict initiated by the French president includes an European Union force on the ground, compensation for both Israeli settlers and the Palestinian refugees, and a possible land exchange, reports Lebanon's al-Akhbar.

    Also read: Peace process | Annapolis

  • Tuesday Feb. 23, 2010 8:21 PM (EST+7)
    REPORT: Palestinian women bearing economic burden of occupation
    Palestinian women in the occupied territories are increasingly facing the burden of balancing traditional gender roles with the harsh economic realities of living under occupation. This is the conclusion of a new study published by CARE International, along with the World Bank and the Women’s Study Institute at (WSI) Bir Zeit University.

  • Tuesday Feb. 23, 2010 7:13 PM (EST+7)
    Livelihood cut down by Israeli settlers
    In the West Bank village of Burin, near Nablus, 40 olive trees were reported to have been cut down by Israeli settlers from the nearby settlement of Yitzhar, on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Feb. 23, 2010 5:19 PM (EST+7)
    Three-day strike takes effect in Bethlehem
    Palestinians in the city of Bethlehem went on strike Tuesday in response to Israel’s decision to include two West Bank shrines as national ‘heritage’ sites.

  • Tuesday Feb. 23, 2010 4:17 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE-War of Words: Israel accuses Palestinians of incitement
    Concerned that its image abroad is suffering, Israel is going on the offensive to show that Palestinians, not Israelis, are responsible for perpetuating the region's cycle of violence.

  • Tuesday Feb. 23, 2010 12:15 PM (EST+7)
    More British, Irish passports used in Dubai killing
    The United Arab Emirates has identified four more suspects who carried British and Irish passports in the Dubai killing of a Hamas commander, a source familiar with the investigation said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Feb. 23, 2010 10:23 AM (EST+7)
    National politics overrun journalist union elections
    Twenty years after the last elections in the journalist’s association, political division and rivalry rendered this month’s vote a competition over national politics.

  • Tuesday Feb. 23, 2010 10:07 AM (EST+7)
    Isolated, Shabaneh presses on with corruption charges
    Embittered by what he says are attempts to isolate him, whistleblower Fahmi Shabaneh says he will continue with his efforts to bring to justice allegedly corrupt officials in the top ranks of the Palestinian Authority.

  • Tuesday Feb. 23, 2010 8:53 AM (EST+7)
    Ancient Arabic inscription found in Jerusalem
    A home renovation in Jerusalem's Old City has yielded a rare Arabic inscription offering insight into the city's history under Muslim rule, Israeli archaeologists said Wednesday.

  • Monday Feb. 22, 2010 8:48 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian children chased by settlers on way home from school
    Palestinian schoolchildren were harassed and chased by Israeli settlers on Monday, after their Israeli soldier escort assigned to them failed to show up for the third straight day.

  • Monday Feb. 22, 2010 7:53 PM (EST+7)
    Protests in Hebron over Israeli 'heritage' plans
    Israel's plan to include the biblical Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank in a project for rehabilitating Jewish and Zionist heritage sites touched off violent Palestinian protests on Monday.

  • Monday Feb. 22, 2010 7:14 PM (EST+7)
    Sarkozy: Palestinian state 'not just an idea'
    French President Nicolas Sarkozy muted earlier comments made by his Prime Minister and Foreign minister but affirmed support for a 'viable' Palestinian state along the 1967 borders. Sarkozy met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris on Monday.

  • Monday Feb. 22, 2010 4:55 PM (EST+7)
    Fairtrade Fortnight: Palestinian olive oil going global
    Oxfam's Willow Heske reports on how Fairtrade is helping Palestinian olive growers to tap the potential of global markets.

  • Monday Feb. 22, 2010 10:03 AM (EST+7)
    EU expresses anger in Dubai killing
    European Union foreign ministers agree to a statement condemning assassinations and the use of fake passports at a meeting on Monday. No direct connection was made with Israel because of lack of proof, say EU ministers.  

  • Monday Feb. 22, 2010 9:56 AM (EST+7)
    READ: Bilin organizer writes from jail
    The leader of Bilin's protests against the Wall writes of the hardships in Israeli prison, two months after Abdullah Abu Rahma was arrested in his home.

  • Monday Feb. 22, 2010 7:42 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to include W. Bank shrines in heritage plan
    Israel said on Sunday it wanted to include two shrines in the occupied West Bank in a national plan to rehabilitate some 150 Jewish and Zionist heritage sites, drawing condemnation from Palestinians.

    Read more: Archeology | Hebron | Bethlehem

  • Sunday Feb. 21, 2010 9:45 PM (EST+7)
    French PM considering Palestinian state recognition to jumpstart talks
    France is considering recognizing a Palestinian state before its borders have been negotiated in an effort to kick-start Middle East peace talks, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Sunday.

  • Sunday Feb. 21, 2010 5:44 PM (EST+7)
    UAE summons EU envoys, vows justice in Dubai killing
    The foreign minister of the UAE called summoned European Union ambassadors to discuss the 'global threat' posed by the abuse of passports in the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. 

  • Sunday Feb. 21, 2010 4:47 PM (EST+7)
    American Congressman Baird calls on US to help Gazans
    US Congressman Brian Baird returns from his third trip to Gaza and says the US government is not doing enough to help the people who are suffering. 

  • Sunday Feb. 21, 2010 2:03 PM (EST+7)
    Britain, Ireland to press Israel over passports
    UPDATE: Israel's foreign minister will face sharp questions from his British and Irish counterparts in Brussels on Monday over Israel's alleged use of forged European passports by a team of assassins in Dubai.

  • Sunday Feb. 21, 2010 1:27 PM (EST+7)
    Officials: Dubai assassins used diplomatic passports, a Hamas mole
    Dubai's police chief told an Emirati paper Sunday that members of a hit squad entered Dubai using diplomatic passports.

  • Sunday Feb. 21, 2010 12:51 PM (EST+7)
    Five Palestinians injured in Beit Lahiya
    Five Palestinians were injured in Israeli tank shelling in north Beit Lahia Sunday.

  • Sunday Feb. 21, 2010 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Netanyahu authorized Mabhouh hit in early January
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in early January with members of a hit squad to authorize the Mossad's assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud Mabhouh, reports the Sunday Times.

  • Sunday Feb. 21, 2010 9:19 AM (EST+7)
    Recriminations continue in Palestinian corruption scandal
    Angered by statements coming from Palestinian officials, former intelligence officer Fahmi Shabaneh says he will continue revelations that he says prove corruption in the Palestinian government.

  • Sunday Feb. 21, 2010 8:53 AM (EST+7)
    Checkpoint diaries: Five days at Qalandiya checkpoint
    The journey to Jerusalem, for tens of thousands of Palestinians, begins in a dank, trash-strewn hangar.

  • Sunday Feb. 21, 2010 7:41 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas sounds conciliatory note towards Fateh on Mabhouh killing
    A Hamas official sounded a conciliatory note towards rival faction Fatah Saturday, despite Hamas charges of Fatah members' involvement of the killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud Mabhouh in Dubai.

  • Saturday Feb. 20, 2010 8:09 PM (EST+7)
    Blair hopes Middle East talks resume within weeks
    Middle East envoy Tony Blair said on Saturday he hoped Israelis and Palestinians would resume peace negotiations within weeks, after a break of more than a year.

  • Saturday Feb. 20, 2010 12:23 PM (EST+7)
    Three Gazans injured by Israeli tank fire
    Three Palestinian civilians were injured Saturday morning by Israeli tank fire near Kissufim military base in the Gaza Strip.

  • Saturday Feb. 20, 2010 11:56 AM (EST+7)
    Two Palestinians wounded in Yatta
    Israeli troops shot and wounded two Palestinians, one of them seriously, in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, a Palestinian doctor and a local official said.

  • Saturday Feb. 20, 2010 10:55 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Credit cards implicate Mossad in Dubai hit
    New evidence incriminating Israel's spy agency in the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai includes credit card payments and phone calls made by suspects, an Arabic-language daily reported on Saturday.

  • Saturday Feb. 20, 2010 9:36 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli left funder answers accusations over role in UN report
    An Israeli funding agency responded Thursday to accusations that it had a disproportionate role in the drafting of a United Nations report on last year's war in Gaza.

    Read about Im Tirtzu from the Jerusalem Post | New Israel Fund's rebuttal

  • Saturday Feb. 20, 2010 9:15 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian Authority pays out to victim for first time
    The Palestinian Authority has paid a secret settlement to the family of the victim of a 2002 attack, reports Politico.

  • Saturday Feb. 20, 2010 8:56 AM (EST+7)
    Protesters commemorate five years struggle against the Wall
    Palestinian, international and Israeli left-wing protesters demonstrated Friday, marking five years since they began their protests against the Wall Israel is constructing through the West Bank.

  • Saturday Feb. 20, 2010 8:27 AM (EST+7)
    Former strongman Dahlan responds: 'Only Hamas knew Mabhouh was in Dubai'
    Former Palestinian security official Muhammed Dahlan responded Friday to Hamas charges that two former Gaza security officers arrested in the slaying of a Hamas commander were working for him.

  • Saturday Feb. 20, 2010 8:10 AM (EST+7)
    Mabhouh's family tells of shadowy life
    The killing of Mahmoud Mabhouh was the fourth attempt on his life, his brother told The Independent Friday.

  • Friday Feb. 19, 2010 4:39 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas considers options on peace talks restart
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is considering his options on resuming indirect peace talks with Israel after meeting US and European diplomats this week, a senior aide said on Friday.

  • Friday Feb. 19, 2010 11:46 AM (EST+7)
    Leaving the ultra-orthodox
    Only a few dare to abandon the life of the ultra-orthodox Jew -- and the price for doing so is high.

  • Friday Feb. 19, 2010 11:33 AM (EST+7)
    READ: J-Street defends position on Goldstone report
    The US lobby group J-Street visited Israel recently with a congressional delegation, sparking a row with the Israeli foreign ministry.

  • Friday Feb. 19, 2010 11:16 AM (EST+7)
    Shabaneh to halt media campaign, turn over documents
    A Palestinian whistle blower said Friday he would stop a campaign waged in the media against alleged corruption in the top levels of the Palestinian government and wait for the results of an internal investigation.

  • Thursday Feb. 18, 2010 12:34 PM (EST+7)
    REVIEW: A (happily) partial memoir of the second intifada
    Happily, it must be reported that this account is by no means impartial, and that Emma Williams, in her It's easier to reach heaven than the end of the street - a Jerusalem memoir, is outraged by the injustices meted out to the Palestinians by Israel and its Western backers.

  • Thursday Feb. 18, 2010 11:54 AM (EST+7)
    Dubai police confirm Mossad involvement in Hamas man's killing
    Dubai's police have confirmed Mossad involvement in the killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud Mamdouh, reports The National Thursday.

  • Thursday Feb. 18, 2010 10:44 AM (EST+7)
    Confidant: Mossad chief won't quit
    Mossad chief Meir Dagan sees no reason to resign over a scandal-fraught assassination in Dubai, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to ask him to, a confidant of the Israeli spymaster said on Thursday.

  • Thursday Feb. 18, 2010 9:11 AM (EST+7)
    New land confiscations likely in Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah
    Palestinian residents expect two plots of land will be confiscated for parking lots serving nearby Israeli settlements. 

  • Thursday Feb. 18, 2010 8:13 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu: Jerusalem site of 'some coexistence'
    Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded the "coexistence" that exists in Jerusalem, but told a conference held in the city that conditions are not yet ideal.

    Read more about  Jerusalem  |  settlements

  • Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010 9:36 PM (EST+7)
    Serious crime squad heads UK inquiry into Dubai killing
    The United Kingdom announced Wednesday evening that the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) has taken the mantle for the investigation of the use of British passports in the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.

  • Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010 6:32 PM (EST+7)
    Pink taxis may be in store for Hebron
    Pink women-only taxis maybe cruising the streets of Hebron in the near future. A Palestinian company is planning on bringing the business model--already seen in the Middle East metropolises of Beirut, Cairo, Dubai and Tehran--to conservative cities in the West Bank.

  • Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010 4:16 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt intercepts explosives bound for Gaza
    Egyptian police seized 3.5 tons of explosives destined for the Gaza Strip on Wednesday

  • Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010 2:17 PM (EST+7)
    ANALYSIS: Israelis question Mossad methods
    UPDATE: Israel's official silence on the Jan. 20 killing has been outpaced, in the popular imagination, by UAE police footage of the suspected assassins and revelations some of them had copied the European passports of actual immigrants to the Jewish state.

  • Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010 1:03 PM (EST+7)
    ICRC calls on Israel to lift restrictions
    The International Committee of the Red Cross called on Israel Wednesday to lift numerous restrictions it says are stifling Palestinian life in the West Bank.

  • Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010 12:34 PM (EST+7)
    Israel: 'No reason' to think Mossad killed Hamas commander
    UPDATE: Israel's foreign minister said on Wednesday the use of the identities of foreign-born Israelis by a hit squad suspected of killing a Hamas militant in Dubai did not prove the Mossad spy agency assassinated him.

  • Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010 11:09 AM (EST+7)
    ROUND-UP: World reports on PA sex scandal
    As the Palestinian Authority is roiled by allegations of financial impropriety and trading influence for sexual favors, world newspapers are reporting the scandal.

  • Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010 11:00 AM (EST+7)
    UK cabinet split over universal jurisdiction law
    If Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni travels to the UK to invite arrest for war crimes, it is unclear how the government will respond.

  • Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010 9:37 AM (EST+7)
    Israel's high court ahead of country
    Israel's high court has come out against public opinion on several major issues, reports Der Spiegel.

  • Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010 7:38 AM (EST+7)
    Government denies reports of cabinet reshuffle
    The Palestinian government spokesperson denied reports Tuesday that the Palestinian cabinet is on the verge of a major reshuffle.

    Background: Palestinian cabinet

  • Wednesday Feb. 17, 2010 7:34 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis listed as suspects in Mabhouh slaying

    Foreign-born Israelis named as part of an Israeli hit squad denied on Tuesday any involvement in the assassination of a top Hamas militant in Dubai and said their identities had been hijacked.


  • Tuesday Feb. 16, 2010 2:06 PM (EST+7)
    City to rebuild Damascus Gate infrastructure
    Worry has set in for merchants at one of Jerusalem’s main thoroughfares as word spreads of major new Israeli excavations in the area.

  • Tuesday Feb. 16, 2010 10:09 AM (EST+7)
    Silwan residents see demolition no matter what
    Residents of Silwan believe that the demolition of their homes is inevitable, even as city mayor Nir Barakat fights for a gentrification plan to rehouse residents in new apartment buildings.

  • Tuesday Feb. 16, 2010 10:03 AM (EST+7)
    British reporter held in Gaza on 15-day arrest order
    Hamas police have arrested a British journalist in the Gaza Strip, an official in the ruling Palestinian Islamist movement said on Sunday, accusing him of unspecified security offenses.

    Also read the story on Ynet...

  • Tuesday Feb. 16, 2010 9:56 AM (EST+7)
    VIEW: Scenes from al-Tuwani village
    The agricultural village of Tuwani exists with the barest resources and in fear of nearby Israeli settlers.

  • Tuesday Feb. 16, 2010 9:38 AM (EST+7)
    Jaffa sees rise in Arab-Jewish tension
    Palestinians in Jaffa find themselves the target of nationalist Jews more familiar to settlements in the occupied West Bank, reports Jonathon Cook.

  • Tuesday Feb. 16, 2010 9:13 AM (EST+7)
    READ: 'Soldiers come in the night' - an interview on child arrests
    Electronic Intifada interviews the director of Defense for Children International in the occupied Palestinian territories.

  • Tuesday Feb. 16, 2010 8:20 AM (EST+7)
    Dubai to issue warrants for 11 in Hamas killing
    Dubai will issue arrest warrants soon for 11 Europeans suspected of the killing of a senior Hamas official in the Gulf Arab emirate, and does not rule out Israeli involvement, the police chief said on Monday.

  • Tuesday Feb. 16, 2010 8:16 AM (EST+7)
    Education - Israel's homegrown danger
    Threats to Israel typically come in the form of rockets. But economists also see a profound risk to the state that is entirely within its control: its education system.

    Related: Israeli & Palestinian education

  • Monday Feb. 15, 2010 7:48 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas seeks US answers before talking to Israel
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday he was still waiting for the United States to explain how it might help restart peace talks before he will consider reopening those negotiations.

  • Monday Feb. 15, 2010 11:55 AM (EST+7)
    High court asks for clarification in death of Palestinian girl
    Three years after the shooting death of 10-year-old Abir Aramin, the Israeli high court has asked prosecutors to explain their closing of the case.

  • Monday Feb. 15, 2010 8:48 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza Salafi movements reject elections
    New Salafi movements that are growing in Gaza reject the Hamas movement's participation in the electoral process, reports AP.

  • Monday Feb. 15, 2010 8:10 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli planes forced out of Lebanese airspace
    Lebanese anti-aircraft fire forced four Israeli jets to leave Lebanese airspace Sunday, said the Lebanese military in a statement.

  • Monday Feb. 15, 2010 7:41 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton tackles Mideast peace, Muslim ties in Gulf
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Sunday for more pressure on Iran to curb its nuclear program on a Gulf visit aimed at promoting Arab-Israeli peace and improving U.S. ties with the Islamic world.

  • Sunday Feb. 14, 2010 7:56 PM (EST+7)
    Husseini to cooperate with vice investigation
    The Palestinian president suspended his chief of staff on Sunday, the official news agency said, after allegations by an ex-security officer that he tried to exploit his influence for sexual favours.

  • Sunday Feb. 14, 2010 1:55 PM (EST+7)
    Bilin test case for Israeli crackdown, protesters say
    A crackdown against Palestinian grassroots leaders is raising speculation that the Israeli military wants to finish off demonstrations against the Wall it is building in the occupied West Bank.

  • Sunday Feb. 14, 2010 9:01 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian family allowed to leave Jerusalem hospital after four years
    A Palestinian family should be allowed to leave the Jerusalem hospital where their daughter is receiving treatment, ordered an Israeli judge last week.

  • Sunday Feb. 14, 2010 8:49 AM (EST+7)
    Plans for Silwan demolition underway
    West Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat is readying plans to demolish homes in Silwan that Israeli officials say were built without permission, reports the Jerusalem Post.

  • Sunday Feb. 14, 2010 7:59 AM (EST+7)
    Tibi to Ayalon: 'Who arrived last will leave first'
    Israeli-Arab politicians had sharp words Saturday for Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who proposed that Israel's Arab minority be transferred to a future Palestinian state in a possible land swap.

  • Sunday Feb. 14, 2010 7:53 AM (EST+7)
    Israel general doubts power to hit Iran atom sites
    Israel may lack the military means for successful preemptive strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, its former top general said on Saturday.

  • Sunday Feb. 14, 2010 7:37 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton heads to region to garner support for talks
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seeks to win greater Arab support for reviving Israel-Palestinian peace negotiations, which have been frozen for more than a year, during a visit to the Gulf this week.

  • Saturday Feb. 13, 2010 11:55 AM (EST+7)
    Source: Abbas asks for top aide's resignation
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has asked his top aide to submit his resignation after he became embroiled in a corruption scandal, a source told JMCC.

    Read: Lahham editorial | Shabaneh response | AFP background

  • Saturday Feb. 13, 2010 9:05 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza war fallout sharpens Israeli political divide
    The damage done to Israel's image by allegations of Gaza war crimes in a United Nations report has ignited a battle between right and left-wing advocacy groups over freedom of expression in the Jewish state.

  • Saturday Feb. 13, 2010 8:39 AM (EST+7)
    A day in the life of Fayyad
    Haaretz' Akiva Eldar spends a day with the Palestinian prime minister, meeting his constituency and viewing the world through his eyes.

  • Saturday Feb. 13, 2010 8:20 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton says Blair to 'intensify' work on Mideast peace
    Middle East envoy Tony Blair will 'intensify' his work with US negotiator George Mitchell to broker peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.

  • Saturday Feb. 13, 2010 8:19 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli troops kill Palestinian in Hebron
    Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Friday as he tried to stab them, an army spokeswoman said.

  • Friday Feb. 12, 2010 5:54 PM (EST+7)
    Israel moves W.Bank barrier at flashpoint village
    Israel is rerouting part of its West Bank barrier near a flashpoint Palestinian village, Israeli officials said on Friday, after a court heard residents' complaints over land seizures for the controversial project.

  • Thursday Feb. 11, 2010 1:00 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Stabbing suspect had psychological problems, says Israel
    Israeli military bulldozers raided the home of a Palestinian believed to have killed an Israeli soldier Wednesday.

  • Thursday Feb. 11, 2010 12:07 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli airstrike kills Islamic Jihad activist, wounds two
    An Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip on Thursday killed a militant and wounded two others, Palestinian medical workers.

  • Thursday Feb. 11, 2010 9:11 AM (EST+7)
    Iran's Ahmadinejad warns Israel against military move
    Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Syrian counterpart that Israel should be resisted and finished off if it launched military action in the region, state broadcaster IRIB reported on Thursday.

  • Thursday Feb. 11, 2010 7:58 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians ask UN intervention on Mamilla cemetery
    Representatives of long-established Palestinian families petitioned the United Nations on Wednesday for help in trying to stop Israel and the Simon Wiesenthal Center from constructing a museum on part of a centuries-old Muslim cemetery.

  • Thursday Feb. 11, 2010 7:28 AM (EST+7)
    UN closes Palestinian camp on Syria-Iraq border
    The United Nations has closed one of two Palestinian refugee camps on the border between Iraq and Syria after finding shelter elsewhere for its 1,300 residents, a UN report said on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Feb. 10, 2010 9:12 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian kills Israeli soldier in West Bank
    A Palestinian stabbed and killed an Israeli soldier whose jeep had stopped at an intersection in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, the military said.

  • Wednesday Feb. 10, 2010 5:55 PM (EST+7)
    Questions arise over nature of Palestinian security apparatus
    As the Israeli military steps up its incursions into Palestinian Authority governed territory, serious questions are raised over who is really in control, whose interests are being protected, and how can a Palestinian security force operate independent of a sovereign state.

  • Wednesday Feb. 10, 2010 4:59 PM (EST+7)
    Goldstone coauthor: Does not believe Israeli war justification
    Desmond Travers, the retired Irish army colonel who was one of four coauthors of the Goldstone Report, says he rejects Israel's justification for its assault on the Gaza Strip last year.

  • Wednesday Feb. 10, 2010 12:04 PM (EST+7)
    Lebanon warns of 'dangerous' situation with Israel
    Israeli aircraft are making daily incursions into Lebanese air space, creating a very dangerous situation, Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.

    Watch the BBC interview

  • Wednesday Feb. 10, 2010 8:38 AM (EST+7)
    Clinton to visit Qatar, Saudi Arabia
    US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Qatar and Saudi Arabia next week for talks that a US official said on Tuesday would likely focus on Iran, Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

  • Wednesday Feb. 10, 2010 8:11 AM (EST+7)
    NY Times fields criticism for keeping on Jerusalem bureau chief
    New York Times executive editor Bill Keller has rejected a call by the newspaper's ombudsman for the Jerusalem bureau chief of the Times to be reassigned because his son is serving in the Israeli army.

  • Wednesday Feb. 10, 2010 7:42 AM (EST+7)
    PA official says Israel used intel to kill Nablus suspects
    As Palestinian security forces develop their capabilities, they come face to face with a political conundrum.

  • Tuesday Feb. 9, 2010 6:34 PM (EST+7)
    Shufat camp sees day two of clashes
    Two young Palestinians, three journalists and an Israeli border policeman was injured in the second day of clashes in the Shufat refugee camp in Jerusalem Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Feb. 9, 2010 6:28 PM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Hamas to block local elections in Gaza Strip
    The West Bank-based Palestinian government on Monday called local elections for July in a move the Hamas Islamist group said was illegitimate.

  • Tuesday Feb. 9, 2010 3:06 PM (EST+7)
    Landowners targeted in Jerusalem struggle
    Pressure from Israeli settlement groups to buy and build in Jerusalem has driven up real estate prices in East Jerusalem.

    Read more Jerusalem | Settlements | Sheikh Jarrah

  • Tuesday Feb. 9, 2010 10:57 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians press companies to abandon light rail
    Israel is building a $1 billion light rail through Jerusalem, connecting its settlements with each other and the city center. Palestinians, protesting the project, have taken two French companies involved in the project to court. 

  • Tuesday Feb. 9, 2010 9:19 AM (EST+7)
    Voting bill causes stir in Israel
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman are proposing separate pieces of legislation that would allow Israeli citizens outside the country to participate in elections.


  • Tuesday Feb. 9, 2010 8:24 AM (EST+7)
    Meshaal: Hamas wants reconciliation 'as fast as possible'
    Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal on Monday accused the United States of undermining Palestinian unity efforts and said he saw no chance for peace in the Middle East under Israel's current leadership.

    Read more about  Hamas-Fateh conflict

  • Tuesday Feb. 9, 2010 8:07 AM (EST+7)
    Prosecutor: Palestinians to urge again for Gaza inquiry
    Palestinian Authority officials will present more arguments in March urging the International Criminal Court to investigate possible war crimes during the Israeli offensive in Palestinian-ruled Gaze, the court's chief prosecutor said.

  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 9:01 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians say 'proximity talks' should focus on borders
    Palestinian officials demanded on Monday that any US-backed peace talks with Israel focus on border issues and be given a deadline of up to four months.

  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 6:15 PM (EST+7)
    Saudi urges world to take firm stance on Israel

  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 4:22 PM (EST+7)
    Gaza's Hamas rulers fail to make salary payments

  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 4:22 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli court releases pro-Palestinian foreigners
    Israel's Supreme Court ordered two pro-Palestinian foreign activists released on bail on Monday, saying Israeli immigration officers overstepped their bounds by detaining them in the West Bank.

  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 9:54 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Abbas agrees to indrect talks with Israel
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to indirect talks with Israel through US envoy George Mitchell, reports Haaretz Monday.

  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 9:38 AM (EST+7)
    Dozens arrested in Shufat refugee camp

    Hundreds of Israeli soldiers, accompanied by bulldozers, made arrests in Shufat refugee camp in Jerusalem Monday.


  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 9:34 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt arrests senior Muslim Brotherhood members
    Egyptian security forces detained senior members of the Muslim Brotherhood on Monday, sources close to the group said, calling it a crackdown on Egypt's biggest opposition group before elections this year.

  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 9:09 AM (EST+7)
    Slain Mabhouh admitted to killing Israeli soldiers
    In a video aired on the satellite channel al-Jazeera, slain Hamas commander Mahmoud Mabhouh details his involvement in killing two Israeli soldiers over twenty years ago.

  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 8:58 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli forces arrest two foreigners in West Bank
    Israeli security forces made an incursion into a Palestinian city on Sunday to arrest two foreign women belonging to an organisation involved in protests against Israel's West Bank barrier.

  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 8:38 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza's hungry zoo animals for sale
    Gaza's zookeepers can no longer afford the costs of supporting their dying managerie and have put the stock - including a donkey painted to look like a zebra - up for sale.

  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 8:11 AM (EST+7)
    READ: Der Spiegel interview with President Abbas
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will not back down on demands that Israel impose a complete moratorium on settlement construction before a return to talks.

  • Monday Feb. 8, 2010 7:44 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza schoolchildren struggling to learn
    Nearly half a million children in Gaza returned to overcrowded and dilapidated schools at the sart of February, many attending in a shift system, with missing textbooks, stationery or uniforms.

  • Saturday Feb. 6, 2010 5:59 PM (EST+7)
    Abbas awaits US clarification over peace talks offer
    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he had asked the United States to clarify its offer to mediate indirect peace talks with Israel before he would announce any decision to resume the negotiations.

  • Saturday Feb. 6, 2010 5:26 PM (EST+7)
    Rivals slam Hamas for 'apology' to Israelis
    Hamas's Palestinian rivals denounced the Islamist movement on Saturday for expressing regret over the deaths of Israeli civilians during the Gaza war a year ago.

  • Saturday Feb. 6, 2010 12:39 PM (EST+7)
    READ: An interview with Syria's Bashar al-Assad
    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad thinks the US administration and a new generation of Israeli politicians don't really know what they want in the region.

  • Saturday Feb. 6, 2010 11:16 AM (EST+7)
    Funding for Israeli left, Palestinian organizations under fire
    Palestinian and Israeli leftist organizations are facing attacks on their funding sources, as the right-wing organization Im Tirtzu condemns the New Israel Fund.

  • Saturday Feb. 6, 2010 10:11 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas 'regrets' civilian deaths, Israel unmoved
    Hamas, in an unusual move that seems unlikely to herald a change in tactics by the Islamist group, has expressed regret for the deaths of Israeli civilians in Palestinian rocket attacks during fighting in Gaza a year ago.

  • Thursday Feb. 4, 2010 12:44 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas hosts Fateh leader for unity talks
    A leader of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fateh group traveled to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Wednesday for rare talks with the Islamist rival faction on an Egyptian-proposed reconciliation deal.

  • Thursday Feb. 4, 2010 12:13 PM (EST+7)
    Berlusconi in Bethlehem: Wall? What wall?

    BETHLEHEM, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi traveled along the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Wednesday but failed to notice its most talked-about landmark -- an eight-meter (25-foot) high Israeli security wall.


  • Thursday Feb. 4, 2010 11:36 AM (EST+7)
    'No travel' order issued to Palestinian settlement expert
    Palestinian settlement expert Khalil Tufakji has been barred from traveling outside the country for six months for security reasons.

  • Wednesday Feb. 3, 2010 8:57 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu hopes for talks with Palestinians in weeks
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he had reason to hope stalled peace talks with the Palestinians could resume within weeks.

  • Wednesday Feb. 3, 2010 4:09 PM (EST+7)
    Psychological trauma, nightmares stalk Gaza children
    Israel's 23-day assault on Gaza last year has left deeply lasting psychological scars on children in the Gaza Strip. A lack of resources and help is insuring a large portion of them never recover.

    Read more about  Gaza war  |  Palestinian health

  • Wednesday Feb. 3, 2010 4:09 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas gives U.N. response to Gaza war crimes report
    The Islamist group Hamas on Wednesday formally rejected allegations it had committed war crimes during last year's fighting in Gaza, charges made in a United Nations report.

  • Wednesday Feb. 3, 2010 10:29 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli Arab who crossed into Gaza handed back
    An Arab citizen of Israel who crossed illegally into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, raising concern he might be held hostage by militants, was returned to Israel on Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Feb. 3, 2010 10:15 AM (EST+7)
    Wall to be completed in 2020
    Israeli officials report that the wall being built through the occupied West Bank will not be completed until 2020.

  • Wednesday Feb. 3, 2010 10:04 AM (EST+7)
    Fayyad: Israel must 'roll back' and end occupation
    Israel must begin to "roll back" its occupation of the Palestinian territories to convince Palestinians it wants a peace deal that would give them statehood, the Palestinian prime minister said on Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Feb. 3, 2010 9:04 AM (EST+7)
    Israel launches air strikes in Gaza
    Israel launched air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday hitting tunnels along the border with Egypt and an abandoned airport, officials on both sides said.

  • Tuesday Feb. 2, 2010 1:32 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas officials indicate prisoner talks on hold
    Hamas officials indicate that talks over a prisoner swap for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit are on hold due to a hardening of Israeli positions, and the killing of a major Hamas player.

  • Tuesday Feb. 2, 2010 1:16 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas says vendetta stifles Islamists in West Bank
    Hamas says some 600 members are in Palestinian prisons in the West Bank, indicating the depth of the divide that many Palestinians believe has badly damaged their cause in pursuit of a state of their own.

  • Tuesday Feb. 2, 2010 12:47 PM (EST+7)
    Explosive devices float onto Israeli beaches
    At least three explosive devices have washed up on Israeli beaches in what security officials described on Tuesday as an attempt by Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip to attack Israel.

  • Tuesday Feb. 2, 2010 8:05 AM (EST+7)
    Arab pols face wave of criminal charges
    Legal proceedings against numerous Arab politicians in Israel is raising concerns of persecution, reports The National.

  • Monday Feb. 1, 2010 8:26 PM (EST+7)
    HRW urges Jordan to stop revoking citizenships

  • Monday Feb. 1, 2010 4:57 PM (EST+7)
    Former militant seeks sanctuary in Palestinian jail

  • Monday Feb. 1, 2010 4:57 PM (EST+7)
    In Brief: Floods force hundreds from their homes in Gaza

  • Monday Feb. 1, 2010 4:46 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli general reprimanded over Gaza war shelling

  • Monday Feb. 1, 2010 9:36 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas: Settlement freeze, acceptance of 1967 borders are prerequisite to new talks
    Israel must accept the precepts of the peace process before Palestinians will return to direct talks, said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday.

    Read more on  peace process  |  Jerusalem  | settlements

  • Sunday Jan. 31, 2010 9:18 PM (EST+7)
    Female Israeli soldiers 'break the silence' on abuse
    On Friday, the Israeli organization Breaking the Silence released a booklet containing the testimonies of female Israeli soldiers serving in the occupied Palestinian territories. The stories, which have been collected for six years, include the systematic humiliation of Palestinians, reckless and cruel violence, theft, killing of innocent people and cover-ups.

  • Sunday Jan. 31, 2010 9:11 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians get first private equity fund
    Two Arab investment companies have announced the launch of the first private equity fund designed to boost the Palestinian economy.

  • Sunday Jan. 31, 2010 8:13 PM (EST+7)
    Film about Israeli-Arabs makes Oscar short-list

    An Israeli film focusing on the lives of Israeli-Arabs living in Jaffa has been short listed for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Film category.

  • Sunday Jan. 31, 2010 6:32 PM (EST+7)
    Israeli soldiers open fire at Qalandiya Checkpoint
    Israeli soldiers have reportedly opened fire on an Israeli fuel truck that drives into Qalandiya checkpoint, causing damage to the vehicle.

  • Sunday Jan. 31, 2010 4:10 PM (EST+7)
    Soccer gains ground on politics in Gaza Strip

  • Sunday Jan. 31, 2010 12:10 PM (EST+7)
    Israel says slain Hamas man was Iran-Gaza arms link
    A Hamas commander killed in Dubai played a key role in smuggling Iranian-funded arms to Gaza, Israeli security sources said on Sunday, while refusing to comment on accusations that Israel was behind his death.

  • Sunday Jan. 31, 2010 10:24 AM (EST+7)
    Conflicting details emerge of Hamas commander's death
    One day after the Islamic movement Hamas announced it would open an investigation into security breaches leading to the death of a top commander, details began to emerge about his last hours.

  • Saturday Jan. 30, 2010 11:57 AM (EST+7)
    Settlers gain access to Palestinian home in Jerusalem
    On Friday morning, 80-year-old Fatima Abed al-Dhoudi awoke to find Israeli settlers at her door.

  • Friday Jan. 29, 2010 9:22 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas says top commander killed by Israel in Dubai
    The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas accused Israel on Friday of assassinating one of its top military commanders in a Dubai hotel, and the Dubai police chief said he could not rule out the involvement of Mossad.

  • Thursday Jan. 28, 2010 9:17 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas signals new readiness for Palestinian unity
    The Islamist Hamas group in control of the Gaza Strip signalled a new readiness on Wednesday to resume Egyptian-sponsored reconciliation talks with the rival Fatah movement headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

  • Tuesday Jan. 26, 2010 6:43 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas stature in question four years after parliament win
    Four years after Hamas won an upset victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, prompting swift international sanctions and a Western-led diplomatic boycott, the mandate for the parliament it dominated officially expired on Monday.

  • Tuesday Jan. 26, 2010 6:43 PM (EST+7)
    Funds scrapped for pro-Palestinian film

  • Tuesday Jan. 26, 2010 9:38 AM (EST+7)
    Arab Knesset member to make controversial visit to Holocaust site
    An Arab member of the Israeli parliament has sparked controversy among Jews and Arabs in Israel over his decision to join an official Israeli delegation commemorating International Holocaust Day Tuesday at a Nazi death camp in Poland.

  • Tuesday Jan. 26, 2010 8:27 AM (EST+7)
    Abbas appoints committee to investigate war crimes
    Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has appointed a committee to follow up on the Palestinian Authority's obligations according to the United Nations' report on the war in Gaza last year.

    Read more about  Gaza war  |  Goldstone report  |  Palestinian security

  • Monday Jan. 25, 2010 6:28 PM (EST+7)
    A Jewish American’s evolving view of Israel
    Steve Feldman describes the evolution in his perspective of Israel, from a narrative instilled in his youth to the enlightenment of deep study into the history of the conflict with the Palestinians.

  • Monday Jan. 25, 2010 6:03 PM (EST+7)
    Israel denies Belgian access to Gaza
    Belgian International Development Minister Charles Michel won't be allowed by Israel into Gaza for a visit, local media reported.

  • Monday Jan. 25, 2010 5:16 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians study US idea for Mideast talks
    President Mahmoud Abbas is studying a US proposal for talks between the Palestinians and Israel at a level below full-scale negotiations between their leaders, a Palestinian official said on Monday. The US Special Envoy George Mitchell is in the region trying to jump-start the stalled peace process. 

  • Monday Jan. 25, 2010 9:51 AM (EST+7)
    With peace talks frozen, Palestinians back protests
    Some observers are concerned that unrest risks flaring up into new conflict, even if few see a "Third Intifada" mimicking the street-fighting uprising of the 1980s or the suicide bombings of the second Intifada a decade ago.

  • Monday Jan. 25, 2010 8:49 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu promises settlements 'inseparable' from Israel
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Sunday that Israel would keep parts of the West Bank forever, planting trees in a settlement bloc to reaffirm a land claim long rooted in Israeli government policy.

  • Monday Jan. 25, 2010 8:10 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian parliament's term expires

    The expiration of the term of the Palestinian parliament Sunday aggravated tensions between Fateh and Hamas in the West Bank.

    Read more about  Hamas-Fateh conflict  |  Palestinian political system


  • Saturday Jan. 23, 2010 10:12 AM (EST+7)
    Tens arrested in Sheikh Jarrah protest
    Tens of protesters were arrested in Sheikh Jarrah Friday, protesting against the growing Jewish settlement in the East Jerusalem neighborhood.

  • Saturday Jan. 23, 2010 9:48 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Aid agencies face new Israeli restrictions
    International organizations working with Palestinians are facing new Israeli measures that will restrict their work.

  • Saturday Jan. 23, 2010 9:04 AM (EST+7)
    READ: Cancer strikes in Gaza
    The family of Fidaa Heiji, 17, watched her slowly waste away from cancer because she wasn't able to leave the Gaza Strip and receive the treatment she needed.

  • Saturday Jan. 23, 2010 8:38 AM (EST+7)
    Meshaal: Hamas won't recognize Israel
    Hamas will not recognise Israel despite new pressures on the group and will give priority to building resistance to the Jewish state, the Islamist group's leader Khaled Meshaal said on Friday.

  • Saturday Jan. 23, 2010 8:13 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza calling: ringtone exports evade blockade
    A year after a war between Israel and Gaza's Hamas Islamist rulers that left over 1,400 dead and the 4-year-old blockade firmly in place, some Palestinian entrepreneurs are turning to the Internet to gain access to new foreign markets.

  • Saturday Jan. 23, 2010 8:03 AM (EST+7)
    US puts pressure on Palestinians to restart talks
    The United States told Palestinian leaders on Friday they must resume talks with Israel if they want US help to achieve a peace treaty that ends Israeli occupation and creates a Palestinian state.

  • Friday Jan. 22, 2010 10:09 AM (EST+7)
    READ: Maan's editor describes his deportation
    US journalist Jared Malsin describes being held by Israeli airport authorities before agreeing to leave the country this week.

  • Thursday Jan. 21, 2010 8:32 PM (EST+7)
    Israel moves to launch university in West Bank settlement
    Israel has agreed to upgrade to university status a college built in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, a move critics see as placing another obstacle in the path of US-backed efforts to resume stalled peace talks.

  • Thursday Jan. 21, 2010 8:15 PM (EST+7)
    Obama says too optimistic on "intractable" Mideast
    US President Barack Obama said in an interview published on Thursday he had underestimated the difficulty of resolving the Middle East conflict and had set his expectations too high in his first year.

  • Thursday Jan. 21, 2010 7:08 PM (EST+7)
    Accusations mark start of new Mideast peace round

    Israel and the Palestinians belittled each other's commitment to peace as US envoy George Mitchell began a fresh attempt on Thursday to break the deadlock and get them talking to each other again.

    Also: Netanyahu calls for long-term Israeli presence in West Bank


  • Thursday Jan. 21, 2010 4:51 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian graves found damaged after settlers visit

    RAMALLAH, Jan. 21 (JMCC) - Damaged graves and racist graffiti have been found in the Palestinian village of Awarta in the northern West Bank after a Jewish group visited the area.

    Palestinians told an Israeli rights group they saw Jewish pilgrims and Israeli soldiers in the area which is also a Jewish burial site, on Tuesday.


  • Thursday Jan. 21, 2010 12:12 PM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu demands long-term Israeli presence in West Bank
    Israel will need to maintain a presence in the West Bank after Palestinian statehood, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the press on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Jan. 21, 2010 7:31 AM (EST+7)
    Journalist denied Israel entry flies home to US
    A US journalist working for a Palestinian news agency who was refused entry to Israel on his return from a holiday, was flown to New York on Wednesday, colleagues and Israeli officials said.

  • Wednesday Jan. 20, 2010 10:44 AM (EST+7)
    World aid agencies appeal to Israel to unlock Gaza
    One year after Israel's offensive on Hamas-ruled Gaza, UN agencies and the Association for International Development Agencies (AIDA), representing over 80 NGOs, on Wednesday highlighted the health impact of the continuing blockade there.

  • Wednesday Jan. 20, 2010 8:21 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas officials, PA offer vague promises to investigate war crimes
    A Hamas official said Tuesday that officials have plans to investigate possible war crimes committed by Palestinians during the 23-day war on Gaza last year.

  • Wednesday Jan. 20, 2010 7:36 AM (EST+7)
    US envoy returns to Mideast
    US envoy George Mitchell meets officials in Lebanon, Syria, Israel and the Palestinian territories this week to try to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, the State Department said on Tuesday.

  • Tuesday Jan. 19, 2010 12:55 PM (EST+7)
    Israel, Vatican in talks over disputed holy sites
    Israel and the Vatican are in talks to end a long-running dispute over the ownership and tax status of religious sites in the Holy Land, including a place revered as the location of Jesus' last supper.

  • Tuesday Jan. 19, 2010 8:37 AM (EST+7)
    READ: Livni willing to be test case in British war crimes trial
    Former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni says she is willing to face charges of war crimes in a British court.

  • Tuesday Jan. 19, 2010 7:48 AM (EST+7)
    Flooding hits vulnerable in Jerusalem, Gaza
    Flooding damaged homes and closed roads throughout Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories Monday.

  • Monday Jan. 18, 2010 7:53 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey says Israel an ally while interests align
    Turkey and Israel will remain allies as long as their interests align, Turkey's Defense Minister said after talks with Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak on Sunday aimed at mending frayed relations.

  • Monday Jan. 18, 2010 7:40 AM (EST+7)
    Israelis, Palestinians seen as nearing talks
    The Israeli government responded on Sunday to indications that the Palestinians may be willing to resume peace negotiations by saying it was ready to discuss all key issues, including the status of Jerusalem.

  • Saturday Jan. 16, 2010 9:03 AM (EST+7)
    Meshaal calls for Palestinian meet, end to Egypt wall
    Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal called on Egypt on Friday to stop building an underground wall along its border with Gaza, which the Islamist group says would put further strain on the isolated enclave.

  • Thursday Jan. 14, 2010 12:50 PM (EST+7)
    Group calls on Sting's Bono to cancel Israel concert
    A Palestinian group advocating international boycott of Israel is calling on singer Bono to cancel a concert scheduled for later this year.

  • Thursday Jan. 14, 2010 8:25 AM (EST+7)
    Maan English news editor threatened with deportation
    The English-language editor for Maan news agency is threatened with deportation after being detained at Ben Gurion airport upon entry to Israel.

  • Thursday Jan. 14, 2010 8:22 AM (EST+7)
    Israel apologizes to Turkey in diplomatic spat
    Israel apologised to Turkey on Wednesday for publicly dressing down Ankara's ambassador in a dispute that has strained the once good ties between the Jewish state and the Muslim regional power.

  • Thursday Jan. 14, 2010 7:48 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli court jails Islamic leader Raed Salah
    An Israeli court jailed an Islamist leader on Wednesday for his part in Palestinian protests in 2007 near Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, police said.

    Read more about  Palestinian prisoners  |  Jerusalem

  • Wednesday Jan. 13, 2010 11:15 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians to coordinate with Arab neighbors approach to US ideas
    Palestinians will soon meet with their Egyptian and Jordanian counterparts to coordinate positions on the new US ideas, reports al-Quds al-Arabi Wednesday.

  • Wednesday Jan. 13, 2010 10:20 AM (EST+7)
    PM Fayyad dismisses charges of Palestinian incitement
    Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad rejected Israeli accusations that he had "incited" hostility to the Jewish state, saying on Tuesday that Israel had made the claims to dodge its own obligations under a peace plan.

  • Wednesday Jan. 13, 2010 8:13 AM (EST+7)
    Donors to fill budget commitments to Palestinian Authority
    Donors to the Palestinian Authority will make their annual donation to the Palestinian Authority in coming weeks, European foreign ministers said at a technical meeting of the Quartet Tuesday.

  • Wednesday Jan. 13, 2010 7:45 AM (EST+7)
    Turkey demands apology from Israel, repeats criticism of Gaza war
    Turkey demanded an apology from Israel on Tuesday over what it called the discourteous treatment of its ambassador, further souring ties between the two regional powers on the eve of a visit by Israel's defence minister.

  • Tuesday Jan. 12, 2010 8:33 AM (EST+7)
    Two Palestinians killed in Gaza Strip
    An Israeli missile strike killed two Hamas gunmen in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, Palestinian hospital officials said, but Israel denied mounting any military action in the area.

  • Tuesday Jan. 12, 2010 8:14 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza hopes clay homes are temporary
    Palestinians in Gaza suspect that temporary clay houses they are being given to replace homes destroyed a year ago in the Israeli offensive are a sign that the United Nations is giving up on reconstruction.

  • Tuesday Jan. 12, 2010 8:06 AM (EST+7)
    Report: Palestinians to drop settlement freeze demand
    Palestinian negotiators informed Arab leaders last week that they would be willing to abandon their demand for a complete settlement freeze in exchange for other Israeli steps, reports Haaretz website.

  • Monday Jan. 11, 2010 12:35 PM (EST+7)
    Play tells the story of Palestinian Nakba
    "I Am Yusuf and This is my Brother" is the first play from ShiberHur, a new touring theatre company based in Haifa, whose name means Within a Few Inches of Freedom.

  • Monday Jan. 11, 2010 8:32 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas to take position on prisoner's swap in days
    Hamas will deliver its position to Israel concerning a possible prisoner's swap in a matter of days, leader Khaled Mashaal told reporters in Doha Sunday.

  • Monday Jan. 11, 2010 8:17 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to build barrier along Egypt frontier
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved plans on Sunday to erect a barrier along part of Israel's border with Egypt and install advanced surveillance equipment to keep out illegal migrants and militants.

  • Monday Jan. 11, 2010 8:04 AM (EST+7)
    Three Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
    Three Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a "powerful response" to any attacks from the territory.

  • Monday Jan. 11, 2010 7:53 AM (EST+7)
    US suggestion of sanctions causes stir in Israel
    A US peace envoy's suggestion that Washington could penalise Israel financially to force it to make concessions to the Palestinians drew Israeli ire on Sunday.

  • Monday Jan. 11, 2010 7:32 AM (EST+7)
    Israel razes Palestinian structures in West Bank
    The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a December report that Israel's restrictive planning regime in Area C meant tens of thousands of Palestinians were left with no choice other than to build without authorisation, risking the demolition of their homes.

  • Sunday Jan. 10, 2010 1:29 PM (EST+7)
    Two Palestinians killed on Gaza border
    Two Palestinians were killed Sunday morning by Israel forces along the northern Gaza-Israel border.

  • Sunday Jan. 10, 2010 1:27 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian uprisings 'like waves in the sea'
    Are Palestinians set for another uprising against Israel's occupation?

  • Sunday Jan. 10, 2010 8:01 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian negotiator insists on full settlement freeze

    Palestinians appear to be standing by their demand that Israel stop constructing settlements before a return to negotiations.


  • Saturday Jan. 9, 2010 8:20 AM (EST+7)
    READ: US envoy George Mitchell dodges international law question
    When asked about Jerusalem's status in international law, US Middle East envoy and lawyer George Mitchell says negotiations are more important.

  • Saturday Jan. 9, 2010 7:56 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinians seek to shut down settler trade
    Palestinian officials estimate that Israel-run companies in the settlements sell goods worth $500 million per year into the West Bank market, from construction materials to nuts.

  • Saturday Jan. 9, 2010 7:52 AM (EST+7)
    US urges new Mideast peace talks, focus on borders
    The United States urged Israel and the Palestinians on Friday to resume peace talks and to focus immediately on borders and Jerusalem, suggesting this could break their deadlock over Jewish settlement building.

  • Thursday Jan. 7, 2010 8:38 AM (EST+7)
    No more convoys, says Egyptian official
    Egypt has banned future convoys from using its territory as a crossing point into the beseiged Gaza Strip.

  • Thursday Jan. 7, 2010 8:24 AM (EST+7)
    Israel to deploy Gaza rocket interceptor by June
    An Israeli interceptor system developed to shoot down the short-range rockets and mortar bombs used by Palestinian guerrillas will be deployed outside the Gaza Strip by June, a defense official said on Wednesday.

  • Thursday Jan. 7, 2010 8:13 AM (EST+7)
    US envoy: Peace deal in two years or less
    George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, said on Wednesday that Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations should take no longer than two years and could be finished sooner than that.

  • Thursday Jan. 7, 2010 7:25 AM (EST+7)
    Protests mark start of Orthodox Christmas
    Orthodox Christmas celebrations kicked off in the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Wednesday to the sound of bagpipes and protests by Palestinians accusing church leaders of selling land to Israelis.

  • Wednesday Jan. 6, 2010 1:38 PM (EST+7)
    Turkish compromise brings calm after Egypt clashes
    Cairo has imposed strict regulations and restrictions on pro-Palestinian foreign activists who have held protests in Egypt since late December to mark the first anniversary of Israel's three-week offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

  • Wednesday Jan. 6, 2010 7:44 AM (EST+7)
    First fatality of 2010 in Gaza airstrike
    Gaza's Popular Resistance Committees charge Israel with assassinating one of its members.

  • Tuesday Jan. 5, 2010 9:26 PM (EST+7)
    BLOG: Anti-wall protester's wife asks for compassion
    Majida Abu Rahma writes about her husband's arrest for protesting Israel's wall.

  • Tuesday Jan. 5, 2010 9:03 PM (EST+7)
    Fayyad burns settlement products
    PM Fayyad burns settlement products.

  • Tuesday Jan. 5, 2010 7:43 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to build more homes in East Jerusalem
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu excluded Jerusalem from the 10-month moratorium he announced in November on housing starts in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

  • Tuesday Jan. 5, 2010 7:06 PM (EST+7)
    Egypt-Gaza wall invites new breach attempts
    Egypt's new wall has inspired demostrations, and may cause new breach attempts.

  • Tuesday Jan. 5, 2010 6:35 PM (EST+7)
    Saudi Arabia meets Egyptians on Palestinian talks
    Saudi's Prince Faisal says Palestinian reconciliation is "totally" in the hands of Egypt after reports that Hamas was seeking to sign a reconciliation pact in Damascus, rather than Cairo.

  • Tuesday Dec. 29, 2009 12:09 PM (EST+7)
    Generations meet in Israeli jails
    A Palestinian gets himself arrested in order to see his father, who is serving several life sentences in an Israeli jail. 

  • Wednesday Dec. 23, 2009 2:13 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians say Bethlehem wall spoils Christmas
    Christian visitors coming to Bethlehem this week to celebrate the birth of Christ will encounter a concrete wall with watchtowers, built by Israel between nearby Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity.

  • Wednesday Dec. 9, 2009 2:34 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinians struggle to build in West Bank
    In the occupied West Bank, a Bedouin community whose school is made out of car tires and mud faces the same problem as a developer planning a whole new Palestinian town: building controls imposed by Israel.

  • Monday July 20, 2009 3:08 PM (EST+7)
    The Palestinian class of 2009, in their own words
    High school students throughout West Bank and Gaza Strip give their opinions of what the future for Israel will be like.  Students ideas range from a major war to the hopes of peace.  Others hoped for the chance for a Palestinian State.

  • Tuesday June 30, 2009 4:03 PM (EST+7)
    US re-approves Israeli loan guarantee program
    The United States just recently re-approved its loan guarantee program with Israel.  Israel still has $3.8 billion dollars left over to spend by the year 2011 from its last loan during their recession.

  • Monday June 29, 2009 4:23 PM (EST+7)
    Hamas popularity falls among Palestinians -poll
    Recent poll by JMCC showed there was a decline in Hamas' popularity due to discontent with Hamas over slow-moving Palestinian unity talks and Israel's ban on Gaza reconstruction aid.

  • Sunday June 21, 2009 5:12 PM (EST+7)
    Ancient Holy Land quarry uncovered, team says
    A group of Israeli archeologists just discovered the largest underground quarry in the Holy Land near the city of Jericho.  The cavern is 4,000 square meters and buried 10 meters beneath the desert.

  • Thursday June 18, 2009 4:01 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE-Israeli army tells Bedouin to fold their tents
    The Israeli army has began breaking up Bedouin camps in the West Bank area and ordering them to move elsewhere.   The Israeli army says the families are being moved for their own protection because they are in military fire zones, however the Bedouin families do not see it this way.

  • Tuesday June 16, 2009 4:13 PM (EST+7)
    US Mideast envoy optimistic over talks soon
    George Mitchell stated he hopes that the U.S. negotiations with all sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be complete within weeks and movement can be made shortly towards achieving peace. 

  • Monday June 8, 2009 4:26 PM (EST+7)
    Blair sewage project in Gaza may collapse-W Bank
    Israeli restrictions to bringing in supplies such as pipes and cement, could lead to a collapse of a sewage treatment project in the Gaza Strip.  The Israeli blockade into the Gaza Strip has tightened since Hamas's takeover and it's made it even more difficult to get certain equipment and supplies for projects.

  • Friday June 5, 2009 5:09 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian tensions on the rise in West Bank town
    There were two raids led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abass's Western-backed security forces against Hamas Islamists in Qalqilya which led to the the killing of nine men.  These raids have spread fear and a greater division among the Palestinians.

  • Friday June 5, 2009 4:17 PM (EST+7)
    As U.S. presses Israel, EU may join fray
    The European Union considered using its trade with Israel to bolster U.S. pressure after President Barack Obama told Israel its key ally wouldn't tolerate the building of settlements in West Bank any longer.

  • Friday June 5, 2009 4:05 PM (EST+7)
    Western-backed Palestinian phone deal in peril
    If Israel does not release its promised radio frequencies then the company awarded the license by the Palestinian Authority to build a new mobile phone network will demand its investment back.

  • Sunday May 24, 2009 5:23 PM (EST+7)
    Vandals desecrate Christian graves in West Bank
    Recently vandals destroyed around 70 graves throughout two different Palestinian Christian cemeteries.  Out of West Bank's 2.5 million Arabs only about 50,000 are Christians.  Police officials say the destruction was directed towards Chrstian symbols but have no other leads to who is responsible.

  • Monday May 18, 2009 4:00 PM (EST+7)
    FEATURE-Israeli barrier bites into Palestinian village
    Israel's barrier and walls is slowly begining to divide the village of Muslims and Christians. The Jewish settlements are leaving Christian and Muslim families alike without a home.

  • Saturday April 25, 2009 10:32 AM (EST+7)
    Hope for Gaza convoy to arrive this month
    International groups are getting together to bring medical aid and personnel to the Gaza Strip, where residents are unable to leave to get the treatment they need.

    WEBSITES: European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza and Viva Palestina
    BACKGROUND: Israelzzz*zs closure policy

  • Friday April 24, 2009 1:17 PM (EST+7)
    EXCLUSIVE-US aid goes to Abbas-backed Palestinian phone venture
    US aid in the form of loan guarantees meant for Palestinian farmers and other small to mid-sized businesses has been given to a mobile phone firm backed by President Mahmoud Abbas and Gulf investors.

  • Thursday April 23, 2009 12:39 PM (EST+7)
    Jerusalem mayor denies demolitions used as population measure
    West Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkan says he aims to maintain a Jewish majority in Jerusalem, but denies that Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes are a means of driving Palestinian out of the city. 

  • Thursday April 23, 2009 11:41 AM (EST+7)
    Erekat: Question of Jewish statehood settled long ago
    Palestinians reject the Netanyahu administration's demand that they recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

  • Thursday April 23, 2009 8:50 AM (EST+7)
    Prisoners threaten protest over orange uniforms
    Prisoners at the Gilboa prison in northern Israel are threatening a hunger strike if they are forced to wear orange uniforms.

  • Thursday April 23, 2009 8:08 AM (EST+7)
    Israel admits to white phosphorus use, says practice stopped
    Israel acknowledges use of white phosphorus, but insists it was used in accordance with international law.

  • Thursday April 23, 2009 7:59 AM (EST+7)
    Israeli city council member calls for 'disappearing' Arabs
    Charges of racism and incitement are filed against Israeli council member.

  • Wednesday April 22, 2009 1:56 PM (EST+7)
    Palestinian government faces serious budgetary crisis
    Donor countries have failed to fulfill a single pledge made at the Sharm el-Sheikh conference, and Palestinian coffers are completely empty, say Palestinian officials.

    RELATED: Palestinian development plan

  • Wednesday April 22, 2009 11:13 AM (EST+7)
    Norwegian lawyers to accuse Israeli leaders of war crimes
    Palestinians living in Norway plan to take to court Israeli leaders, among them Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak.

  • Wednesday April 22, 2009 7:36 AM (EST+7)
    UK reviews arms export licenses to Israel after Gaza
    After questions about illegal use of weaponry in Israel's war on Gaza, Britain is reviewing arms export licenses to Israel. 

  • Wednesday April 22, 2009 7:09 AM (EST+7)
    Washington sketches new policy of 'gestures'
    After meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah at the White House, US President Barack Obama provided a brief view of the administration's policies for the region.

    BACKGROUND: Text of Washington press conference

  • Tuesday Feb. 24, 2009 11:08 AM (EST+7)
    Gaza children 'afraid to return to school'
    Gaza's students live in fear and study in damaged schools.

  • Tuesday Feb. 24, 2009 9:03 AM (EST+7)
    UPDATE: Olmert names new team to head Cairo Hamas talks
    Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has removed negotiator Amos Gilad from his role as intermediary in the Egyptian-sponsored talks with Hamas.

  • Tuesday Feb. 24, 2009 8:50 AM (EST+7)
    US Consulate holding Hamas letter to Obama
    Hamas' letter to the Washington waits in Jerusalem.

  • Tuesday Feb. 24, 2009 7:59 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu headed for right-wing coalition; EU presidency sees 'rough start'

    Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu met with his Labor party counterpart Ehud Barak Monday, but failed to come to an agreement for a government coalition. European politicians are worried that a far-right government with Netanyahu's natural partners will stall Palestinian-Israeli talks.

    MORE NEWS: Who is the new Netanyahu?


  • Tuesday Feb. 24, 2009 7:46 AM (EST+7)
    Netanyahu headed for right-wing government; EU sees 'rough start'
    Likud head Benjamin Netanyahu met with his Labor counterpart Ehud Barak Monday to discuss a coalition. The failure of their talks indicate that Netanyahu is slated to form a right-wing government, and the EU presidency is worried.

  • Tuesday Feb. 24, 2009 7:37 AM (EST+7)
    Palestinian factional talks scheduled for Thursday, but doubts remain
    If factional talks are held in Cairo, they will seek to address five issues of dispute.

    RELATED DOCUMENTS: Al-Haq human rights organization's report on political detainees (PDF) in Palestinian prisons

  • Monday Feb. 23, 2009 8:57 PM (EST+7)
    US to pledge $900 million at Gaza donor conference
    US officials carry to Egypt's March 2 donor's meeting for Gaza a pledge of hundreds of millions of dollars.

  • Monday Feb. 23, 2009 8:05 PM (EST+7)
    Israel to displace more than 1,500 Palestinians from Jerusalem neighborhood
    Israeli authorities appear set to make good on threats to demolish 80-odd homes in al-Bustan, Silwan.

  • Monday Feb. 23, 2009 11:05 AM (EST+7)
    Meet between Netanyahu and Livni fails to produce coalition agreement
    Likud leader and likely prime-minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Kadima head Tzipi Livni on Sunday.

  • Monday Feb. 23, 2009 9:40 AM (EST+7)
    Amnesty Int: US should stop selling arms to Israel
    Amnesty International calls for "immediate" arms embargo against Israel and Palestinian armed groups.

  • Monday Feb. 23, 2009 9:19 AM (EST+7)
    Less food in Gaza after war
    UN agencies report that farming and livestock were hit hard by Israel's war in Gaza.

  • Sunday Feb. 22, 2009 10:41 AM (EST+7)
    Elderly Palestinian bitten by Israeli military dog
    Elderly Palestinian bitten by Israeli military dog in West Bank.

  • Sunday Feb. 22, 2009 10:29 AM (EST+7)
    Egypt to host Palestinian factional talks Wednesday
    Factional talks are on again for Wednesday, after being postponed due to demands by Hamas that the PA in the West Bank release Hamas prisoners.

  • Sunday Feb. 22, 2009 8:20 AM (EST+7)
    US Senator Kerry says Syria willing to 'help' with Palestinian unity

    As the US tries to restart dialogue withe Syria, one of the issues on the agenda is how to solve the internal Palestinian rift.


  • Tuesday Jan. 27, 2009 1:04 PM (EST+7)
    Report: French seeking to allow Palestinian unity government

    French diplomats were trying to achieve European acceptance for a Palestinian unity government, Haaretz reports.

    RELATED: Other news and documents from the Quartet


  • Saturday Jan. 24, 2009 12:58 PM (EST+7)
    Aid agencies accuse Israel of breaking humanitarian law
    Aid agencies found a loud angry voice as reports from the battlefield came in yesterday.

  • Saturday Jan. 24, 2009 11:58 AM (EST+7)
    Hamas leaders remain underground in Gaza
    Hamas leaders remain underground in the Gaza Strip.

  • Saturday Jan. 10, 2009 5:05 PM (EST+7)
    Medics: Israeli tank shell kills family of eight
    Israeli tank shell wipes out Gaza family.

  • Friday Jan. 9, 2009 5:36 PM (EST+7)
    Fatah decries UN council resolution
    Fateh leaders denounce UN resolution on Gaza war.

  • Friday Jan. 9, 2009 5:25 PM (EST+7)
    Report: Israel using white phosphorus in Gaza
    The Times provides evidence of white phosphorus in Gaza.

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