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.

THE US and France last night appeared to be at odds over Arab demands to change a UN resolution they are co-sponsoring to call for a complete halt in Israeli-Hezbollah hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice returns to the Middle East today in another attempt to forge an agreement for a multinational force aimed at bringing an end to the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, after conferring with her aides, said today she will return to the Middle East to work with others on trying to bring an end to the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting, but did not say when she would travel.

In a surprise visit to Beirut today, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the beleaguered prime minister of Lebanon for his courage in struggling to contain the fighting between the Hezbollah militia and Israel.

Syria’s vice president today blamed Israel for the escalating violence in Lebanon and Palestinian territories, and Arab countries worried over possible Israeli retaliation against Syria after the capture of two Israeli soldiers by its ally, Hezbollah.

A top US diplomat today warned the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Lebanon’s Hezbollah guerrilla was “a very dangerous escalation” and demanded their release.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency today said it is adding 100,000 Gaza residents, mostly government employees and their families, to its food distribution programme to meet an increasingly desperate situation there.

With formal peacemaking a dim prospect at this volatile time, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert intends to sound out US President George Bush today about Olmert’s ambitious plan to impose a West Bank settlement on the Palestinians.

Newly-installed Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar said the United States is biased toward Israel, guilty of crimes against the Muslim and Arab world and is widening the rift between the American people and those of the Middle East.

Two senior US envoys have postponed their visit to Israel and the Palestinian areas following Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s grave illness, Palestinian officials said today.

GEORGE Bush, not Tony Blair, is the king of spin and news management, a new study into the effects of propaganda claimed yesterday.

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