The United Nations has voted overwhelmingly to recognise a Palestinian state, but the Palestinians still face enormous limitations: they do not control their borders, airspace or trade, they have separate and competing governments in Gaza and the West Bank, and they have no unified army or police.

France has announced it plans to vote in favour of recognising a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly tomorrow.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has set a date for seeking non-member observer status at the UN.

Israel has destroyed a Syrian armoured vehicle in retaliation after a mortar shell landed on its territory in the first direct confrontation between the countries since the Syrian uprising broke out.

Three Syrian tanks have entered the demilitarised zone in the Golan Heights, according to Israel’s military.

US presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke aggressively yesterday about protecting Israel from Iranian nuclear threats and suggested that he was open to breaking with US policy dating to 1967 by moving the United States embassy to Jerusalem if the Israelis asked.

THOUSANDS of cheering Palestinians gave President Mahmoud Abbas a hero’s welcome in the West Bank yesterday.

Thousands of Palestinians cheering and waving flags gave President Mahmoud Abbas a hero’s welcome in the West Bank today, as he told them triumphantly a “Palestinian Spring” had been born following his historic speech to the UN last week.

Israeli troops opened fire today at a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters who tried to break into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from neighbouring Syria, killing as many as 11 people and wounding scores in a burst of violence marking the Arab defeat in the 1967 Mideast war.

Three people were killed today when Israeli security forces opened fire across the Syrian frontier to disperse hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters who stormed the border on the anniversary of the Arab defeat in the 1967 Mideast war.

Four people were reported to have been shot dead today when the Israeli military opened fire on a group of Syrians trying to cross the border along the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced Israel as a “genocidal” government yesterday as he hosted Syrian President Bashar Assad on his first visit to Latin America.

ISRAEL insisted yesterday it would continue construction in contested east Jerusalem, taking an uncompromising stance against US pressure following a tense visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today delivered a stinging rebuke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his government’s announcement of new Jewish housing in east Jerusalem, calling it “a deeply negative signal.”

ISRAEL said yesterday it plans to build nearly 700 new apartments in east Jerusalem, drawing tough criticism from both the Palestinians and the United States, which denounced it as an obstacle to peacemaking.

Israel said today that it planned to build nearly 700 new apartments in east Jerusalem, drawing tough criticism from both the Palestinians and the US, which denounced it as an obstacle to peacemaking.

Palestinian officials said today they were preparing to ask the United Nations to endorse an independent state without Israel’s consent.

Israel officially approved the construction of hundreds of new homes in the West Bank, the Defence Ministry said today, deepening an already unprecedented rift with the US over Israeli settlement expansion.

Palestinians won’t be pressured into resuming peace talks with Israel as long as construction in Jewish settlements continues, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said today.

Israeli prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni today abandoned her efforts to form a new coalition government and said she would recommend early parliamentary elections.

An Israeli Cabinet minister confirmed today that Israel was trying to bring Syria back to the negotiating table.

The first formal peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in seven years got off to a rocky start today.

Syria will send its deputy foreign minister to the US-sponsored Mideast peace conference this week after the issue of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was added to the agenda, the state-run news agency said today.

Israel must control all of Jerusalem forever, said former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, taking a stand against a key compromise that could seal an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

The Palestinians are ready to yield parts of the West Bank to Israel if compensated with an equal amount of Israeli territory, according to the lead Palestinian negotiator.

a meeting with the Palestinian leader today, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed releasing some prisoners, lifting some West Bank roadblocks and establishing a team to work on a broad agreement in advance of a US-sponsored peace conference in November.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will begin laying the ground for a Mideast peace conference in a visit to Israel today, hoping to push Israelis and Palestinians closer to renewing talks.

Elder statesman Shimon Peres took office as Israel’s ninth president today at the age of 83, pledging to devote the full seven-year term to realising his lifelong dream of bringing peace to the Middle East, despite the limitations of the largely ceremonial post.

Marking 40 years of Israeli occupation, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today warned that his people were on the verge of civil war.

Hamas militants fired rockets into Israel today as they battled their rivals from Fatah in the streets of the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today said Israel was prepared to make “far-reaching compromises” and “very painful concessions” to achieve peace with its neighbours.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert praised an Arab peace plan that calls for the full recognition of Israel as a major breakthrough in Arab relations with the Jewish state, but he flatly rejected its demand for the return of Palestinian refugees, Israeli media reported today.

Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has hailed a peace drive by Arab states as marking a “revolutionary change”.

An international diplomatic drive for Mideast peace gained momentum today, with Israel welcoming the idea of a regional peace summit and Saudi Arabia suggesting it would consider changes in a dormant peace initiative to make it more acceptable to Israel.

The new Hamas-Fatah coalition was to set to clear a final formal hurdle today, approval by the parliament, before taking on the challenge of persuading a sceptical world to end a crippling year-long boycott of the Palestinian government.

Little progress was reported tonight from the second summit meeting in a month between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Al-Qaida’s number-two leader tonight criticised the Palestinian group Hamas for agreeing to respect past agreements with Israel as part of an accord to form a national unity government.

Israeli security forces tripled their usual numbers around Jerusalem’s Old City this morning as the city braced for possible riots during Muslim prayers at the Holy Land’s most contentious religious site.

Rival Palestinian leaders have signed an agreement on a power-sharing government in Saudi-brokered talks.

Israel and Syria have reached understandings on a future peace deal between the two countries following a series of secret talks between its representatives, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported today.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Jordan today for talks that the Jordanian government hopes will culminate in renewed American efforts to revive the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said today that a peace initiative proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was a “positive” step toward peacemaking.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said he would be willing to sacrifice his job if the international community would lift economic sanctions that have crippled his Hamas-led government.

Israeli defence minister Amir Peretz today said a dormant Saudi initiative for Mideast peace could be a “basis for negotiations,” indicating a new basis for talks with the Palestinians after years of stalemate.