Israel "couldn't care less" about the Palestinian leadership's reaction to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's settlement freeze offer, said Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Thursday morning.

S Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell welcomed with hesitation the Israeli decision to offer a 10-month settlement construction freeze in the West Bank excluding East Jerusalem

The Palestinian Authority quickly rejected the security cabinet's decision Wednesday to suspend new West Bank housing starts for 10 months, even as the White House welcomed what Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu characterized as a "far-reaching and painful step" meant to "encourage resumption of peace talks with our Palestinian neighbors."

President Mahmoud Abbas has refused peace talks until Israel halts construction on all Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem, where Israel okayed the construction of 900 settlement units earlier this month.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday evening that Israel would impose a 10-month freeze on construction in West Bank settlements, saying the move was a bid to restart stalled peace talks with the Palestinians.

Hamas’ senior-most leader Khalid Mash’al is expected to make a decision about a proposed prisoner exchange with Israel on Wednesday.

A federal grand jury in Pennsylvania indicted four men Tuesday for an alleged plot to support the Lebanon-based group Hizbullah through illegal schemes, including buying the group more than 1,000 machine guns.

The Prime Minister's Office is expected to announce Wednesday a 10-month freeze on construction in settlements in the West Bank, sources in the American administration told Haaretz.

Fatah officials say strongman's release could expedite Abbas' resignation, paving way for Barghouti to replace him.

Canadian leaders have asked the country's prime minister to disavow a taxpayer-funded Conservative flyer they say portrays the opposition Liberal Party as anti-Semitic.