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.

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.

Proche-Orient: pessimisme ambiant avant une nouvelle mission de Kerry

La libération de 26 prisonniers palestiniens par Israël avant la nouvelle mission au Proche-Orient du secrétaire d'Etat John Kerry, la 10e depuis mars, n'a pas dissipé le pessimisme ambiant sur les chances de progrès dans les négociations de paix.

Ces libérations, survenues mardi avant l'aube, sont conformes aux engagements pris auprès des Etats-Unis et des Palestiniens par le Premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahu de relâcher en quatre étapes un total de 104 détenus palestiniens afin de permettre la relance des négociations de paix qui ont repris fin juillet dernier.
Deux premiers contingents de prisonniers avaient été relâchés le 13 août et le 30 octobre. Le dernier groupe de Palestiniens doit être libéré en février.
Les festivités qui ont accompagné comme d'habitude la libération des prisonniers -considérés comme des "combattants héroïques" chez eux- ont été dénoncées en Israël.

Israel aprueba la anexión de los asentamientos del valle del Jordán

La Comisión de Asuntos Legislativos del Gobierno israelí aprobó hoy un proyecto de ley para la anexión de los asentamientos judíos en el valle del Jordán, territorio ocupado por Israel desde 1967.

La comisión, antesala a los proyectos de ley que el Gobierno presenta al parlamento, aprobó la propuesta por ocho votos a favor y tres en contra, los de los ministros Yair Lapid, Tzipi Livni y Yaacov Pery, informa la edición digital del diario 'Haaretz'.

Presentado por la diputada del Likud Miri Regev, del ala más derechista del partido Likud, que encabeza el primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, el proyecto busca aplicar la legislación israelí en todas las colonias israelíes y en las carreteras que conducen a ellos, lo que de facto se traduciría en la anexión del territorio.

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.