Direct talks with Israel would be futile under current circumstances, President Mahmoud Abbas has said.

Israel agreed today to ease its land blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, hoping to quell growing international criticism after a deadly sea raid.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is using her second overseas trip to assess Mideast peace prospects, reconnect with European allies and remind her Russian counterpart that US efforts to rebuild relations with Moscow have their limits.

A protester against the Annapolis peace conference was shot dead by Palestinian police loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas today.

Israel should turn over Arab neighbourhoods in Jerusalem to the Palestinians as part of a peace deal with the moderate government of President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel’s deputy prime minister said today in some of the frankest remarks to date about what Israel might be willing to relinquish.

Israel has promised solutions for many of the day-to-day concerns of Palestinians in Israeli-controlled areas, Palestinians President Mahmoud Abbas said after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the entire Palestinian Cabinet today, a gesture of support for the team of moderates that replaced the Hamas government after the Islamic militants seized Gaza by force.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Ramallah today for talks with the moderate West Bank Palestinian leadership, to lay the groundwork for a peace conference with Israel.

Israeli Cabinet ministers today approved a list of 256 Palestinian prisoners due to be released this week in a gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, officials said.

Israel and the Palestinian government of President Mahmoud Abbas have resumed security talks after a long break, both sides said today, a new sign of cooperation between Israel and Palestinian moderates after the Islamic militant Hamas took over Gaza.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas today presented the list of ministers in his new Cabinet to President Mahmoud Abbas, concluding the formation of a new coalition.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas today said he would step down within four days as part of his coalition agreement with the rival Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian gunmen waged a street battle outside the residence of President Mahmoud Abbas today, only hours after rival factions Fatah and Hamas reached a ceasefire in a bid to end days of bloody fighting.

Hamas will not participate in early elections, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said today, in a harsh verbal attack on President Mahmoud Abbas.

In a statement faxed to reporters today, Hamas openly accused a Fatah “death squad” for the killing of Hamas judge Bassam al-Fara.

President Mahmoud Abbas has received assurances that Western donors will end an aid embargo against the Palestinian government once he forms a unity government with Hamas, a Hamas politician said today.

The soldier whose abduction sparked Israel’s invasion of Gaza is alive and in stable condition, a Palestinian official said today, as President Mahmoud Abbas warned that the coming hours were “critical, sensitive and serious” to resolving the crisis.

Palestinian security personnel loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas went on a rampage late today, firing at the Palestinian parliament and Cabinet buildings.

A Gaza security chief loyal to moderate President Mahmoud Abbas was killed in a car bomb today, the second attack on security commanders in volatile Gaza in less than a week.

Palestinian security today foiled an attempt to kill a top commander loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas with a roadside bomb, officials said, further raising tensions between Abbas’ Fatah movement and the Hamas-led government.

Three thousand gunmen loyal to the radical Hamas government deployed across the Gaza Strip today, violently breaking up a peaceful teachers’ protest in a southern town, in the Islamic group’s most brazen challenge yet to moderate President Mahmoud Abbas.

HAMAS edged toward recognition of Israel, a key international demand, in an agreement worked out by Hamas and Fatah leaders in an Israeli prison.

The ousted Fatah party will boycott today’s session of the Hamas-dominated parliament to protest against the militant group’s overturning of new powers for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian police said no fighting had taken place near President Mahmoud Abbas’s house in Gaza City.

The Israeli government paid tribute to Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern today for his attempts to stop attacks on Jewish buildings in Dublin.