Palestinian Territories News

GEORGE S. HISMEH The first nine months of Barack Obama's tenure at the White House were pregnant with thought-provoking ideas and commendable aspirations aimed at improving the tarnished US image and bringing the world closer together in every way possible, especially in the Middle East where the unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict has been brewing ...

A series of events commemorating the anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin culminated on Saturday night with a massive memorial rally at Rabin Square, in Tel Aviv.

The United Nations General Assembly has endorsed a report which found both Israeli forces and Palestinian militants were guilty of serious human rights violations during the 22-day conflict in the Gaza Strip over Christmas and New Year.

A chaplain exhorted hundreds of mourners gathered at a candlelight vigil to not give up hope as Fort Hood and its surrounding community looked to each other for comfort after an Army psychiatrist allegedly went on a deadly shooting spree at the military base.

France's foreign minister says Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' decision not to run for re-election is a "threat to peace" in the Middle East.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip: Hamas said Friday it is allowing Muslims to leave the Gaza Strip on the annual pilgrimage to Mecca after blocking them last year because of a Palestinian political dispute.

A cousin of the man suspected of shooting fellow soldiers at a Texas military base says he had little contact with his Palestinian relatives in the West Bank but had told family there that he suffered discrimination in the U.S. Army because he is a Muslim.

It's being reported that a street has been named after a Twitter username in the Palestinian West Bank.

Israeli naval commandos intercepted a ship carrying "hundreds of tonnes" of arms from Iran to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a raid dozens of miles off its coast, officials said on Wednesday.

With President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to appear at the same convention of Jewish activists, and their governments nearing a deal on the thorny settlements issue, it would seem like a great time for a sit-down. But there's a problem: the reluctance of the Palestinians - and by extension the Arab world - to climb on ...

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The 4,500 Palestinian workers who travel through the Eyal checkpoint, near West Bank city of Qalqilya, on their way to work in Israel , are finding it hard to enjoy the long-awaited winter.

Masked Palestinians throw stones at Israeli policemen in Jerusalem's Old City, near the Lion Gate, as part of ongoing violent clashes.

Israel said that commandos had intercepted a ship carrying "hundreds of tons" of arms from Iran to Hezbollah in a raid dozens of miles off its coast but both Iran and Syria denied the cargo was headed to the Lebanese militia.

Police alleged on Tuesday that illegal Palestinian workers from the West Bank were hired to do construction projects at the Petah Tikva home of basketball star Lior Eliyahu.

Relations between Washington and Jerusalem are warming, as months-long tensions over West Bank settlements and other issues have gradually eased.

Palestinian elections are scheduled to be held in less than three months, but the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Salam Fayyad, isn't concerned about running for office.

Rather, he's set his sights on a longer-term platform: establishing a Palestinian state by 2011 - a goal he outlined recently in a clear, well-organized booklet titled "Palestine: Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State."

"All I'm campaigning for is the two-year statehood program," said Dr. Fayyad in an interview Sunday. "The idea is unabashedly that two years down the road, we will have something that will look like a Palestinian state."

Palestinians in the West Bank finally have a second mobile phone network after months of disputes with Israel, but with less capacity than originally planned.

Israeli naval commandos seized an arms ship Wednesday near Cyprus that was carrying missiles and anti-tank weapons from Iran to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, defense officials said.

Palestinian farmers are said to be experiencing an economic boom in the production of olives.