Category: International Politics

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in a Tuesday meeting with Israeli reporters in Ramallah, stated that Israel has once again failed to give him a chance, as it did while he…

Approximately seventy days after the cease fire agreement declared at the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit in Egypt, between the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and the Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, the Israeli…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday that the PA has collected weapons from all wanted men in the West Bank towns of Jericho and Tulkarem, which Israel transferred to Palestinian…

Israeli Prime Minister Advisor Dov Weissglas is scheduled Sunday to meet Palestinian Authority official Saeb Erikat, marking a resumption of security talks. Two months ago, at the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit,…

Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas media spokesperson, warned that the truce is about to collapse as a result of the Israeli rejection to respond to the Palestinian demands, especially concerning the…

A Palestinian official  source said on Friday that an Israeli soldier who entered Jenin was captured and handed over to the Israeli army. Israel Radio reported that the soldier entered…

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered at the Church of the Nativity square when the start of the Marathon for peace was announced on Thursday Morning. The Marathon ended at the Franciscan…

The National Information Center released a report of Thursday about the Israeli violations in the occupied territories; the report revealed that soldiers killed four residents and injured 29 during the…

The Islamic Resistance movement warned Monday that the “calm” period could collapse due to Israeli violations and PA lack of seriousness in implementing internal reforms approved in the factions’ talks…

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told Monday Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee members that Israel, at this stage, will not respond militarily to Palestinian resistance shillings of Israeli Gaza…

The Egyptians security forces have arrested a Palestinian who admitted that he smuggled Soviet-made surface-to-air missiles into Gaza through Sinai. Israel is worried that the smuggling of such missiles would…

The U.S. administration is planning to broaden the mandate of its special security envoy Lt. Gen. William Ward, to allow him to deal with Israeli complains and become more involved…

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday night to request an immediate move to crack down on the armed groups in Gaza. According to Mofaza,…

Israeli soldiers fired on Saturday afternoon at a group of children playing at a playground near Salah Ed-Deen Crossing “Philadiphi Route” in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli…

A home made Qassam shell, apparently fired from Beit Hanun area of the northern Gaza Strip, landed in a cemetery in the Israeli Negev town of Sderot Thursday evening, causing…

A report prepared and published by the Palestinian National Information Center revealed that the Israeli army violated the truce, arrived at the Sharm Al-Sheikh summit in Egypt, 345 times, including…

Chair of the Palestinian National Council Salim Al-Zanoun met with the Secretary General of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Ahmed Sa’adat in his confinement in PA…

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that Israel is holding talks with the Palestinian Authority on the release of 400 more Palestinian Prisoners, and 21 Jordanian detainees in Israeli prisons.…

The Israeli defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told senior US government officials on Wednesday that the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ‘is not doing what is expected from him’. Mofaz said that…

The Palestinians Authority security forces handed Tuesday Israel army forces an explosive belt that PA security seized in a raid in the city of Beit Sahour near the West Bank…

Prominent Hamas West Bank leader Sheikh Hassan Yousif said Monday that the existing calm period is impossible to maintain if Israel continues to imprison 8,000 Palestinians, to expand settlements and…

A Palestinian prominent source said that the Palestinian leadership has decided to reduce coordination with Israel concerning the Gaza withdrawal, and limit the meetings on withdrawal from the West Bank…

An international anti-apartheid campaign similar to the one against former apartheid South Africa is needed to create an independent Palestinian state, the Malaysian prime minister said Monday. Prime Minister Abdullah…

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Sunday that Palestinian Authority military intelligence agents were involved in recent attempts to smuggle anti-aircraft missiles into Gaza.  Mofaz told Israeli cabinet members at…

High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy at the EU, Javier Solana, accused Israel of breaching the Road Map Plan, which is backed up by the international community,…

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas remarked that all Palestinian factions are still committed to the agreements they reached in Cairo last week of maintaining calm until the end of the…

According to Israel radio, U.S. Ambassador in Tel Aviv Dan Kurtzer accused that the report published by Israeli newspaper Youdot Ahranot, in which he was quoted as saying there were…

Israel is considering delaying the handover of the West Bank city of Qalqilyah to the Palestinian Authority, claiming that the PA did not fulfill the terms of the last week…

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei said that there can be no solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict without Jerusalem, and added that settlements and the separation Wall and buying lands which…

Head of the Israeli army intelligence stated that the Palestinian Authority security forces are actually foiling attacks against Israel. Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security…

Israeli official source predicted Sunday that U.S. President George W. Bush will reiterate his commitment to the staged Israeli-Palestinian peace process laid out in the road map peace plan. Bush…

Israel handed over the West Bank city of Tul-Karim to Palestinian Authority security control on Monday night, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.  Under the terms of the agreement, the Israeli…

The European Union intends to offer Israel economic benefits in exchange for easing Palestinian living conditions, EU sources said.  An EU delegation is due to arrive in Israel in about…

The Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Political factions signed Thursday in Cairo a document that calls for extending the ‘calm’ period until the end of the year, calling Israel to halt…

Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon said on Friday that the Israelis should not be fooled by what he described as the ‘pause of terror attacks’, adding that attacks can…

The Gaza based Popular Resistance Committees said on Friday that I will not abide by the term of truce agreement. Mohammad Abdul-Al, known as Abu Abeer, spokesman of the committees,…

Palestinian vice Prime Minister Nabil Sha’ath said on Thursday that talk with the Israeli side will resume in order to solve the problematic issues, and that the negotiations will depend…

U.S. President George W. Bush has invited Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to his ranch in Texas for talks on April 11 on boosting the Middle East peace process, U.S.…

The United States cautiously welcomed the conditional calm declared in Cairo by the Palestinian factions and the reformation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization , (PLO). A state department spokesman described…

As the Palestinian political factions concluded their meetings in Cairo they agreed to extend the calm that has been put in place since Sharm A-Sheikh summit in February, in exchange…

Israel delayed signing the agreement on the handover of security responsibilities in Jericho to the Palestinian Authority over ‘technical reasons’, said a Palestinian commander on Wednesday afternoon. Security transfer was…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking an agreement with Palestinian political factions that allows him to pursue his diplomatic offense, offering opposition groups political partnership in exchange to a year-long…

Palestinian and Israeli officials said that the Israeli army has officially handed the security control over Jericho area to the Palestinian Authority. General Ahmad Eid said that the two parties…

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei slammed Tuesday Israel for continuing to dictate “facts on ground”, saying that Israel is endangering the entire peace process. Qurei described the current times as…

As leaders of various Palestinian factions entered the meeting room, sources close to the Cairo meeting reported that Egypt has proposed a year long truce, but Hamas is only welling…

During a meeting on Monday with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Sharon reiterated that Israel was demanding the PA to dismantle the resistance groups, not to make agreements with…

Israeli official source said Tuesday that the conflict with the Palestinian Authority over its intentions to release PFLP leader Ahmed Sa’adat will not delay the handover of Jericho. The official…

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the United Nation’s Secretary General Kufi Annan on Sunday night there will be no progress on the peace talks if Palestinian resistance groups were…

Several hundred took the streets of Ramallah calling UN General Secretary Coffi Annan, who arrived in the Palestinian city on Monday morning, to pressure Israel to stop the construction of…

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday, the Palestinian Factions will announce a cease-fire this week after the meeting to be held in Cairo. Speaking to the Israeli TV…

The Palestinian-Israeli committee discussing the issue of Palestinian detainees is slated to meet on Monday evening to discuss the release of Palestinian detainees held before 1994 “regardless of Israeli categories…

The Palestinian Minister of Interior Nasser Yousef is to meet with the Israeli Minister of defense Shaul Mofaz on Monday in an effort to advance negotiations over the handover of…

The joint Palestinian-Israeli committee on prisoners’ issues is slated to meet on Monday at the Tel Aviv office of the Israeli Minister of Justice, Tzipi Livni. Dani Naveh, Gideon Ezra and…

PFLP Gaza leader Jamil Majdalawi said Saturday that Israel agreed to allow him and DFLP delegates to leave to Cairo to join the Palestinian factions’ truce talks. the Israeli decision…

Abdul-Fattah Hamayel head of the deportees and wanted fighters committee said that the Palestinian-Israeli meeting on Wednesday evening arrived to an agreement ensuring the safety of the wanted resistance fighters…

Sami Abu Zuhri, the media spokesperson of Hamas, denied that all Palestinian factions agreed on cease fire. Abu Zuhri told the Qatar based Al-Jazeera TV that “Hamas did not reach…

PA general security head Haj Ismael told reporters as he angrily left the second meeting with Israeli army officers that “apparently Israel is not willing to handover Auja village or…

The Palestinian Information Center released a report on Israeli violations of the truce agreement between February 28 and March 7, 2005, 452 violations were reported, including 68 shooting incidents, causing the death of…

Israeli Foreign Minister, Sylvan Shalom told the US secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, during a meeting held on Tuesday, that “Israeli will not be able to progress in the political…

Israeli Radio reported on Wednesday that the Palestinian National security advisor, Jibreel Rajoub, said that the Palestinian armed group decided to cease “all attacks within the Israeli pre-1967 borders. “The…

Israeli and Palestinian Authority security officials were meeting for a second round of talks on the transfer of the West Bank town of Jericho on Wednesday evening, but second round…

An official Japanese source denied that Japan is planning to host a Mideast summit saying ‘we have no such plans,’ Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda clarified that Japan has…

After few weeks, during which Israel halted coordination with the Palestinian Authority and has frozen the implementation of the Sharm’s summit understandings, Israel-PA coordination is back on track. The embargo…

Israel’s strategic goal is to phase out Palestinian labor by 2008, Israeli army chief of staff said on Tuesday.    Speaking to a security conference, Ya’alon said that before the…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused Tuesday Israel of undermining peace efforts by dragging its feet over promises to free prisoners and pull back from West Bank cities.  His comments followed…

Head of the Palestinian Police in the West Bank, General Haj Ismail, said that the Israeli army will redeploy in Tulkarem area and hand the security responsibility over to the…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the Weekly American Time magazine that U.S. President George Bush has no right to interfere in Palestinian issues, such as the refugees’ right to return…

The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon met with the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Hani Al-Malqy, on Sunday, and criticized the policy of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. “We will give Abbas…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz will meet this week in an attempt to push forward talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The meeting will…

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will meet with United States President George W. Bush in Washington on April 12, Israeli official source said Sunday. Bush also plans to meet separately…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to meet with the U.S. President George W. Bush later in March, Palestinian official source said on Saturday. ‘The visit will take place in the…

Over the past week the Israeli army carried wide scaled operations against the Islamic Jihad fighters in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, ignoring the Sharm Al-Sheikh understandings in…

Over the past week the Israeli army carried wide scaled operations against the Islamic Jihad fighters in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, ignoring the Sharm Al-Sheikh understandings in…

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon likely has shed more tears on late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat than any other world or regional leader. Suddenly, he lost the main element that…

Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas urged Egypt, on Thursday, to help the P.A maintains truce with Israel, and asked Mubarak to personally oversee the adherence of the Palestinians and Israelis to…

A senior Israeli Military source stated that the army expects the Palestinian Authority to replace its senior level of the security service in the West Bank, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported…

Thursday at dawn, a car bomb and other explosive charges detonated near Israeli military jeeps operating in the northern West Bank city of Nablus and Balata refugee camp. The military…

In a surprising move, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders plan to convene summit talks in Egypt on Thursday. A top Saudi official is expected to join the summit, Palestinian sources reported…

Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Mousa, demanded Israel to be committed to its pledges and promises to the International Community, especially the pledges made at the Sharm Al-Sheikh…

The London conference called the PA to meet security obligations to enable it to combat militant groups, Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday in an interview to Israeli TV…

Leaders attending Tuesday’s international conference in support of the Palestinian Authority said they expect ‘action by Israel’ regarding its commitments to the road map.      Senior British sources described…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said during the London Meeting on supporting the Palestinian Authority, that security procedures adopted by the Palestinian Authority should be part of a broader political path…

Following the suicide attack in Tel Aviv, which took the lives of 5 Israelis, Israel’s government froze relations with the Palestinian Authority, halted both the process of transferring West Bank…

The final statement to be issued at Tuesday’s London international conference will call for establishing a sovereign, independent, viable, democratic and territorially contiguous Palestine. The conference, called by British Prime…

Israeli justice minister Tzipi Livni, informed the Palestinian Authority (PA) said Israel is opposing a meeting of the joint Palestinian-Israeli committee to discuss releasing Palestinian detainees, “The Israeli government will…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blamed unnamed party for Tel Aviv bombing on Friday, and said that he will not tolerate any bombings adding that the Palestinians are ready to reach…

A West Bank Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef expected Friday that the upcoming Cairo meeting between Palestinian factions will not result in a formal truce unless Israel meets Hamas demands,…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said after meeting with the first group of deportees which was allowed back in the west Bank, that all of the deportees will return home within…

Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel on Monday morning reached five drop-off points in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, where they will undergo a final check by Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials.  …

Palestinian security official Mohammed Dahlan proposed Friday that the Palestinian Authority receive responsibility for the city of Tul Karm first, because of the dispute over the transfer of Jericho. Dahlan's…

Palestinian News Agency, WAFA, reported on Saturday that the Israeli army has increased its military presence between the two West Bank Cities of Ramallah and Nablus. Palestinian passengers said it…

The Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and ex–detainees Affairs said that the list of 500 detainees released by the Israeli prison authorities on its website includes only 4 female detainees, and…

Sa’eed Syam, a leader on Hamas in the Gaza Strip said on Friday during a protest in Gaza that Hamas will not consider a cease fire with Israel unless it…

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said that Israel will allow the return of 16 Palestinians who were deported from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip during the last four…

The Israeli online daily Haaretz, reported that Israel and Palestinian officials reached an agreement allowing Palestinians aged 16 to 25 to leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing.…

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said on Wednesday that they will continue the dialogue among them until arriving a final decision on declaring a truce. {mosimage}Khader Habeeb, the media spokesman…

Mortar shell were fired at an Israeli army outpost in the southern part of the Gaza Strip early Wednesday. Five more shells were fired at the Gaza Strip settlement of…

Monday at night, an Israeli source reported that the Israeli High Court will review appeals submitted by Israelis against the release of Palestinian detainees; Israeli army announced that it postponed…

Israel army Chief Moshe Ya’alon on Tuesday said that the army opposed transferring the West Bank village of Uja to the Palestinian Authority, dismissing Palestinian reportsclaims that an agreement had…

Israeli authorities decided on Monday to delay the transfer of security control over Jericho to the Palestinian authority after differences occurred over details of the transfer planned for Tuesday. {mosimage}Palestinian…