US President Barack Obama said Sunday it was a ''promising'' sign that Israel's prime minister was reviewing a package of US incentives aimed at halting Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank.

Secretary of State criticizes Israel's settlement plans as 'counterproductive'; Egypt: Israel not doing what it is supposed to do.

The United Nations should not erase 4,000 years of historic Jewish connection to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem just to score a political point, Israeli Prime Minister Binjamin Netanyahu told told the international organization's Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during a meeting on Monday in New York, the Jerusalem Post reported.

European bomb detection experts will meet Friday to examine whether Europe needs to step up air cargo security measures following parcel bomb plots in Greece and Yemen, an official said.

Hizbullah leader: No Lebanese should participate in investigation into former PM's assassination since info gathered by UN sent to Israel.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu on Tuesday urged the Cape Town Opera to abandon a trip to Israel next month, saying Palestinians would not have equal access to the performance.

Hamas is willing to accept Fatah's request to meet somewhere other than Damascus to discuss reconciliation, Hamas leader Salah Al-Bardawil said Wednesday.

America has sown chaos across the globe, says Assad in an apparent rejection of the Obama administration's overtures.

With talks at a stalemate and no agreement from the Israelis to reinstate a settlement freeze, the Palestinians are playing a new card: an end game to statehood through an appeal to the international community.

The Vatican moved on Monday to soothe Israeli anger over critical remarks made by Middle East Catholic bishops, saying individual comments should not be taken as the view of the Church.