Israel postpones settlement approval in bid to calm relations with U.S.

Israel postponed a vote Wednesday to authorize construction of additional Jewish settlement homes in East Jerusalem to avoid straining U.S.-Israeli relations, a local official said.

Lavrov warns Kerry against bringing US’ domestic agenda to UN SC

Attempts to use the Middle East Quartet and the United Nations Security Council is bickering between the Democrats and the Republicans are harmful, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday.

Israel recalls envoys from 2 states over UN resolution

Israel has summoned ambassadors from Senegal and New Zealand following their support for a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlement building in the occupied territories.

UN Security Council demands end to Israeli settlements after US abstains from vote

After the United States abstained from voting, the UN Security Council on Friday passed a resolution demanding Israel stop building settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, a reversal of the usual US practice of protecting Israel.

Egypt delays U.N. resolution aimed at Israeli settlements

Egypt on Thursday asked to delay a vote on a United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at halting Israeli settlement expansion on Palestinian land after President-elect Donald Trump called for the measure to be vetoed.

Israel rejects French proposal to host Palestinian-Israeli peace talks

Israel rejected on Monday to participate in an international peace summit proposed by France, asking Paris to refrain from promoting the conference, two high ranking Israeli officials told a French EU special envoy currently on a visit to Jerusalem.

EU agrees labelling of Israel 'settlement' goods

The European Union published new guidelines on Wednesday for labeling products made in Israeli settlements, a move Brussels said was technical but Israel branded "discriminatory" and damaging to peace efforts with the Palestinians.

UN report on 2014 Gaza conflict finds evidence of possible war crimes by both Israel and Palestinian groups

 UN, 22 June 2015 – A new report released by a United Nations investigative panel on the possible commission of war crimes in Gaza during the 2014 conflict between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in the enclave, has gathered substantial information finding the allegations to be credible, the Organization’s human rights office announced today.

Russia lifts ban on missiles delivery to Iran. The White House said the decision could raise sanctions concerns

The Kremlin says Russia has lifted its ban on the delivery of a sophisticated air defense missile system to Iran, the Associated Press reported Monday, in a move which Iran said helps regional security.

World presses Netanyahu after upset election win. Israel PM Netanyahu softens stance on Palestinian state

As Benjamin Netanyahu weighed up options for a new right-wing coalition Thursday, Western governments cranked up the pressure on the Israeli premier over his controversial campaign pledge ruling out a Palestinian state.

EU urges Israel, Palestine to stop aggravating tense situation

The European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said here on Tuesday recent steps taken by Palestinians and Israelis could aggravate the already tense situation on the ground and bring them further away from a negotiated solution.

UN Security Council action on Palestinian statehood blocked

UN, 30 December 2014 – Falling short of the required number of positive votes and faced with a veto from one of its permanent members, the United Nations Security Council today failed to adopt a draft resolution that would have affirmed the “urgent need” to reach within 12 months a peaceful solution to the situation in the Middle East and would have paved the way to a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Palestinians demand UN vote on Israeli withdrawal, defeat likely

UN Security Council is expected to vote as early as Tuesday afternoon on a Palestinian draft resolution that calls for a peace deal with Israel within a year and an end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories by late 2017.

Syria: Israeli jets bomb army facilities near Damascus airport. (no reports of casualties)

Syrian media reported on Sunday evening that Israeli jets had bombed targets near Damascus international airport and in the town of Dimas, north of Damascus and near the border with Lebanon.
There were no reports of casualties in the reports, but the general command of the Syrian army said in a statement that several facilities had been hit, both at the Damascus International Airport and in the area of Dimas.

France, US strike deal to pay $60 mln for Holocaust victims deported by SNCF

France said today it had agreed to put $60 million into a fund managed by the United States to compensate Holocaust victims deported by French state rail firm SNCF to Nazi death camps, a deal that protects it from future US litigation.
About 76,000 Jews were arrested in France during World War Two and transported in appalling conditions in railway boxcars to concentration camps such as Auschwitz, where most died.

Arab League to push UN on Palestinian state. (Draft resolution to the Security Council setting a timeframe for creation of Palestinian state)

The Arab League has agreed to present to the UN Security Council a draft resolution that will set a timeframe for the creation of a Palestinian state.

"We can no longer wait. We can no longer live with the status quo. Israel wants us to be an authority without authority," Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said. "I understand the consequences of the UNSC move, but the most dangerous situation we can be in is remain in the status quo."

Israelis demand govt resignation after Jerusalem attack

Hundreds of Israelis demonstrated in west Jerusalem on Tuesday to demand the government's resignation in the wake of a deadly attack on a Jewish synagogue in which four Israelis were killed.

Israel will ‘never’ limit Jerusalem settlements (Avigdor Lieberman)

Israel will never agree to limit its construction activity in Occupied East Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday. “One thing should be clear: we will never accept the definition of building in Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem as settlement activity,” he said at a news conference with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Israeli ministers denounce Kerry remarks on conflict

Two senior Israeli government ministers lashed out at US Secretary of State John Kerry on Oct. 17 over remarks he made linking the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the growth of Islamic extremism.
     
"I respect John Kerry and his efforts but he keeps breaking new records in lack of understanding of our region and the essence of our disputes," Communications Minister Gilad Erdan said in an interview with Israeli public radio.

In Cairo, Ban urges parties to Gaza conflict to end "cycle of building and destroying"

UN, 12 October 2014 – On the next stop of his tour of North Africa, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Egypt today at a conference on the reconstruction of Gaza urged all parties to last summer's war to address the root causes of the protracted conflict to prevent the “cycle of building and destroying” from becoming a ritual. “We are here to stand with the people of Gaza who have endured a terrible summer of suffering,” said Mr. Ban in his remarks to the Cairo Conference on Gaza attended by the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, and several foreign ministers including of Egypt, and Norway.