Ex-US president Carter urges Palestinian elections

Former US president Jimmy Carter on Saturday urged Palestinians to hold elections to end the de facto division of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Islamist-run Gaza Strip.

He was speaking at a joint news conference with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the Palestinian political capital Ramallah in the West Bank.

Israel finds bodies of kidnapped teens

The bodies of three Israeli settlers who went missing near Hebron two weeks ago have been found on Monday near the city in the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an urgent security cabinet meeting over the matter. 

Israel has accused the Islamist Hamas movement, which has its power base in the Gaza Strip, as being behind the abduction of the teenagers. Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

Kerry, Abbas to meet for second day in Paris

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet on Thursday afternoon as part of Kerry's plan for a deal between Palestine and Israel.

The meeting comes after more than two hours of talks on Wednesday. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resumed last year after a nearly three-year break.

U.S. officials say they are trying to forge a "framework for negotiations" as a first step.

US calls Ya'alon's comments about Kerry 'offensive'; Netanyahu does damage control

State Dept. issues rebuke after Ya'alon reportedly calls Kerry "messianic, delusional"; PM says "Even when we have disagreements with the US, they are always on the heart of the matter, not on the merits of an individual."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did damage control on the Israel-US relationship in his speech in honor of the Knesset's 65th birthday, following Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon's comments about US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Cisjordanie: une dizaine de colons capturés par des Palestiniens

Une dizaine de colons israéliens ont été capturés et battus mardi par des habitants palestiniens d'un village du nord de la Cisjordanie occupée où ils avaient pénétré, a-t-on appris de sources concordantes.

En début d'après-midi, les 13 colons ont été relâchés et évacués par l'armée israélienne, à la suite de tractations menées en coordination avec les institutions palestiniennes, selon des sources de sécurité palestiniennes.
Auparavant, ils avaient été détenus dans une maison près du village de Qousra par des villageois palestiniens, selon un photographe de l'AFP et un responsable municipal local, Abdelazim Wadi.

Kerry leaves Middle East without achieving framework...

   JERUSALEM, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry headed back to the United States on Monday after failing to create a framework for the Israeli-Palestinian talks.
Kerry did however claim that progress has been made in talks with both sides and several Israeli politicians, including Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Labor chief MK Yitzhak Herzog.

Kerry operated his shuttle diplomacy, with back and forth excursions between Jerusalem and Ramallah, but it seems that both sides are looking to blame the other party for the talks' deterioration rather than trying to kick-start them.

Kerry meets with Abbas in Ramallah...

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Ramallah on Saturday and met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian and Israeli officials have publicly differed on the future status of the West Bank's border with Jordan, where Israelis want a permanent security presence but Palestinians want a full withdrawal of Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers.

Kerry has said such an accord would narrow gaps between the sides and pave the way for a final deal when the nine-month period allotted the US-backed talks expires on April 29.

UN agency condemns Israeli demolition of Arab homes, urges adherence to international law

26 December 2013 – The United Nations agency assisting Palestinian refugees today condemned Israel’s latest demolitions in the West Bank which have displaced 68 people, including 32 children, in the depths of winter, saying it is violating international law and calling on it to abide by its obligations.
“Because of these demolitions, which violate international law, these historically self-sufficient communities have been forced to endure the pitiless seasonal weather in inadequate housing, entirely dependent on international assistance,” the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said of the demolitions which took place on Christmas Eve in Ein Ayoub near Ramallah and Fasayil Al Wusta near Jericho in the Jordan valley.

UN chief Ban slams Israeli plans to advance east J'lem, West Bank construction....

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday blasted an Israeli announcement made earlier in the day to advance settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Ban condemned as "contrary to international law" the move announced by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in conjunction with Israel's release early Wednesday morning of 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners.

He added that further Israeli building in areas over the Green Line constituted "an obstacle to peace".

However, Ban stated his appreciation for Israel's undertaking the "difficult step" of releasing the second batch of pre-Oslo prisoners amid "deep domestic opposition" as a gesture for continuing peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.

Thousands rally in Israel to remember slain PM Rabin.

AFP - Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to mourn peace-seeking prime minister Yitzhak Rabin on the 18th anniversary of his assassination by a Jewish extremist.

The demonstrators were mainly young people representing a wide political spectrum but protesting against Israeli radicals opposed to peace with the Palestinians, an AFP reporter said.
The demonstrators carried portraits of Rabin -- who was assassinated after addressing a rally in the same square on November 4, 1995 -- and banners with slogans against racism and intolerance.