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.”

US President George Bush told the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian territories he is personally committed to their mission of peace, urging them to stick with it and not lose sight of their goal.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair's aides ordered organisers of a Chinese conference he addressed to make things difficult for media trying to cover the event, it was reported today.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, making his first trip to Russia since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip, planned to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov today.

New Mideast peace envoy Tony Blair will hold his first meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday, a Palestinian official said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today endorsed the idea of early elections, deepening animosities with Hamas following the Islamic militant group’s violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman today criticised the recent appointment of Tony Blair as an international Mideast envoy, but expressed hope that Gordon Brown would relieve tensions between the two countries.

The United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia today announced the appointment of Tony Blair as their representative in efforts to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israeli and US leaders have agreed ahead of a three-way meeting with the Palestinians not to deal with a new Palestinian government that does not denounce violence, recognise Israel and accept peace agreements, an Israeli official said today.

European Union officials said today they were cautiously optimistic about a Palestinian power-sharing deal reached by Hamas and Fatah political leaders in Saudi Arabia, but said it was too early to lift an international aid embargo against the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

Fatah and Hamas clashed at Cabinet ministries, universities and security headquarters today in defiance of a truce that was to have calmed the seething Gaza Strip.

Tentative talks between Israel and the Palestinians aimed at restarting the stalled peace process could begin next month, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said during meetings in Europe to rally support from British and German leaders.

President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have discussed the Lebanon crisis and tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme, the Kremlin said.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov today called for Palestinian militants to release a captured Israeli soldier and stop attacking Israeli cities.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas today appealed for the European Union to give the Hamas-led government a “chance to adapt” to international requirements and not cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority.

Western peacemakers were to meet today to consider how, or whether, to help Palestinians out of their financial crisis, with growing evidence that sanctions against the Hamas-led government are causing grinding poverty that could ignite violent rage.

Russia sent €7.9m in urgent financial aid to the Palestinian Authority today, the Foreign Ministry said.

Israel’s foreign minister today cautioned the international community against going down the “slippery slope” of legitimising Hamas, criticising Russia’s decision to invite the militant group to Moscow for talks.

Hamas and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas today asked the international community not to cut vital aid to the Palestinians, as world leaders met to discuss the fallout from the Islamic militant group’s victory in elections last week.

EU foreign ministers today called on the militant group Hamas to clarify its political intentions in an eventual Palestinian government, urging it to embrace peace efforts with Israel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is embarking on the first ever visit by a Kremlin leader to the Jewish state in an historic bid to cement improving relations after decades of Soviet-era strain.

Four Palestinians, including a university professor and his teenage son, and an elite Israeli commando were killed today in a fierce night-time gun battle in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Four Palestinian militants have been killed in northern Gaza, apparently when a bomb they were planting exploded prematurely.

US diplomats met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and newly-elected Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas yesterday to present them with an internationally backed Mideast peace plan that envisions Palestinian statehood within three years.

Yasser Arafat and his prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas remained at loggerheads today over the composition of the new Palestinian Cabinet.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a bus stop in northern Israel today, killing himself and an Israeli policeman.