The Hamas leadership in Syria decided on Wednesday to suspend negotiations for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit until after the Muslim feast of Id al-Adha.

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.

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.

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.

Israel's Air Force bombed a Hamas weapons factory and two smuggling tunnels in Gaza in response to the firing of two Kassam rockets at Israel.

Palestine’s Fatah party established an elections commissariat for the first time in the movement’s history.