US President Donald Trump heads for Israel and the Palestinian territories Monday as part of his first trip abroad since taking office, hoping to renew peace efforts but with controversy trailing him. The unpredictable president arrives having already upturned expectations when it comes to the decades-old Middle East conflict, giving Palestinians more hope than they … Read more
The Palestinians are taking seriously Donald Trump’s efforts to help resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict, a minister said Thursday, ahead of the US president’s visit to the West Bank next week. Foreign minister Riyad al-Malki was speaking in Muscat where he was accompanying Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as part of a regional tour prior to the … Read more
As he plans his first foreign trip and visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories, US President Donald Trump seems optimistic that he can help secure peace in the region. But what, if anything has changed to justify the hope that he can overcome a challenge that has frustrated all his recent predecessors? Trump welcomed … Read more
President Donald Trump plunged into the Middle East peace process on Wednesday, receiving Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas at the White House as part of a push to end the long-running conflict. After hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February, the self-styled deal-maker-in-chief will host Abbas for the first time since coming to office. “The … Read more
The United States has for several decades played a mediating role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while remaining Israel’s main supporter. On May 14, 1948, David Ben Gurion founds the Jewish state of Israel, after the British mandate ends in Palestine. The administration of US president Harry S. Truman recognises the state minutes after it is … Read more
President Donald Trump will play peacemaker at the White House on Wednesday, meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas as part of an effort to end the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict. After hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February, the self-styled deal-maker-in-chief will host Abbas for the first time since coming to office. “The President’s ultimate … Read more
US President Donald Trump meets Mahmud Abbas Wednesday for their first face-to-face talks, with the Palestinian leader hoping the billionaire businessman’s unpredictable approach can inject life into long-stalled peace efforts. Abbas makes the trip to Washington while politically unpopular back home, but hoping Trump can pressure Israel into concessions he believes are necessary to salvage … Read more
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday urged the United States to help restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, a statement from the presidency said. The statement came after Sisi met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas who will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday for talks on reviving the stagnated Middle East … Read more
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled talks on Tuesday with German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel after the visiting diplomat declined to call off meetings with rights groups critical of Israel’s government, an official said. The Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the meeting was cancelled after Gabriel decided to go ahead with talks with … Read more
US President Donald Trump will host Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas at the White House May 3 for talks on efforts to revive the Middle East peace process, the White House said Wednesday. ‘They will use the visit to reaffirm the commitment of both the United States and Palestinian leadership to pursuing and ultimately concluding a … Read more
US President Donald Trump will host Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas at the White House May 3 for talks on efforts to revive the Middle East peace process, the White House said Wednesday. “They will use the visit to reaffirm the commitment of both the United States and Palestinian leadership to pursuing and ultimately concluding a … Read more
Brazil on Tuesday sternly criticized Israel’s approval for renewed large-scale settlement building in the occupied West Bank. “The settlements in (Palestinian territory) are illegal and amount to an obstacle for the two-state solution and for a fair and lasting peace,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. Brazil reiterated its position in favor of the … Read more
Three months after a landmark UN resolution condemning Israeli settlements, the measure has changed little on the ground and some analysts question whether it ever will. Security Council Resolution 2334, passed in December, did little to halt settlement building, with a raft of new projects announced by Israeli officials in the weeks that followed. At … Read more
Israel’s government has approved the building of the first new settlement in 20 years in the occupied West Bank – a move swiftly condemned as an obstacle to peace based on a two-state solution. The move late on Thursday – considered illegal under international law – was adopted less than a week after the United … Read more
The Palestinians and the United Nations on Friday condemned the Israeli cabinet’s approval of the first officially sanctioned new settlement in the occupied West Bank in more than 20 years. The security cabinet gave its unanimous backing to the new settlement late on Thursday as what is widely seen as the most right-wing government in … Read more
President Donald Trump is “serious” about solving the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said ahead of a meeting with the US leader. “The US administration of President Donald Trump is seriously considering a solution to the Palestinian issue,” Abbas told AFP late Wednesday after a meeting of the Arab League in Jordan. Abbas met … Read more
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Thursday to move ahead on a plan to create Israel’s first new settlement in the occupied West Bank in more than 20 years despite international concern over the issue. “I promised to create a new community and we are going to respect that commitment and create it today,” Netanyahu said … Read more
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has met one of US President Donald Trump’s top envoys on the sidelines of an Arab summit as the White House seeks ways to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks. The meeting on Tuesday night comes ahead of Abbas’s expected visit to the White House in April and after Trump adviser Jason Greenblatt held … Read more
The US ambassador to the United Nations received a rapturous welcome Monday at Washington’s biggest pro-Israel forum, where she vowed never to allow “Israel-bashing” at the world body. Nikki Haley was addressing the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference for the first time since President Donald Trump named her Washington’s UN envoy. … Read more
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Monday rejected a request for clemency by jailed ex-prime minister Ehud Olmert, who is serving a 27-month prison sentence for corruption, his office said. Olmert, who was premier between 2006-2009, was convicted of graft and entered prison in February 2016. The president noted that the grounds for the request — … Read more