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/ 23 May 2008

Israeli police quiz Olmert again in bribery case

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was questioned by police for an hour on Friday, the second time this month that investigators have quizzed him over allegations he took bribes from an American businessman. Investigators from the National Fraud Unit turned up early for a previously arranged appointment at Olmert’s official residence in Jerusalem.

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/ 21 May 2008

Israel, Syria pursue peace talks

Israel and Syria said in surprise announcements on Wednesday they were conducting indirect peace talks with Turkish mediation. Senior officials from both sides were currently in Turkey, an Israeli government official said. He would not confirm there had been direct contacts between the two delegations.

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/ 14 May 2008

Bush arrives in Israel as scandal clouds peace hopes

United States President George Bush arrived in the Middle East on Wednesday to celebrate Israel’s 60th birthday and try to energise peace efforts complicated by a corruption scandal that could topple Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. A smiling Olmert and his wife, Aliza, greeted the president and First Lady Laura Bush at a red-carpet ceremony at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport.

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/ 8 May 2008

Israel marks 60th birthday amid regional tension

Israel on Thursday threw a huge birthday bash to celebrate 60 tumultuous years during which the Jewish state made great strides forward but failed to achieve peace with its neighbours. Military air shows topped the programme with war planes being put through their paces even as a dark cloud hung over the political future of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

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/ 25 April 2008

Israel snubs Hamas offer of six-month Gaza truce

Israel on Friday dismissed a Hamas proposal for a six-month Gaza Strip truce during which an embargo on the territory would be lifted, saying the Palestinian Islamists wanted to prepare for more fighting rather than peace. The Hamas offer, issued on Thursday following talks with Egyptian mediators, departed from previous demands by the group.

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/ 21 April 2008

Carter: Hamas would conditionally accept peace

Former United States president Jimmy Carter said on Monday Hamas leaders told him they would accept a peace agreement negotiated by their rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, if Palestinians approved the deal in a vote. In a speech, Carter said Hamas ”said they would accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders if approved by Palestinians.”

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/ 11 April 2008

Israel sends tanks, bulldozers into Gaza

Israeli tanks and bulldozers crossed into the Gaza Strip on Friday after the Jewish state warned it would retaliate against Hamas for a deadly explosion of violence earlier this week. Ten tanks and two armoured bulldozers entered 1km into Gaza, west of the Bureij refugee camp, drawing heavy fire from militants.

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/ 2 April 2008

Israel to hand out gas masks to civilians

Israeli authorities have decided to distribute gas masks to civilians, starting next year, to prepare for a possible non-conventional weapons’ attack, public radio reported. It said Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai announced the decision during a closed-door meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and members of his security Cabinet.

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/ 8 March 2008

Peace process in peril after seminary bloodbath

Israeli officials said on Friday they would continue to meet Palestinian leaders under the recently revived peace process, but after escalating violence in Gaza and Jerusalem there was a recognition on both sides that the negotiations are faltering. Mark Regev, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said Israel was still committed to the peace process.

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/ 5 March 2008

Rice says Palestinian-Israeli peace talks to resume

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to resume peace talks suspended over an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. Signalling a willingness by Israel to hold fire, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said there would not be further attacks on Gaza if Palestinian militants stop rocket salvoes.

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/ 5 March 2008

Israel vows to continue Gaza strikes

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed on Wednesday to keep up military strikes on the Gaza Strip as long as rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled territory continues. ”The Israeli army operations against the Gaza Strip will continue as long as the rocket fire continues,” a senior official quoted the premier as saying.

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/ 5 March 2008

Rice ends Mideast trip without move on peace talks

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrapped up a Middle East trip on Wednesday after failing to secure a resumption of peace talks as Palestinians insisted on a truce and Israel vowed more strikes on Gaza. Rice met senior Palestinian negotiators and Israeli ministers at the end of a visit aimed at mending peace efforts hobbled by Israeli attacks.

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/ 4 March 2008

Israel continues Gaza strikes after deadly blitz

Israeli war planes on Tuesday carried out raids on the north of the Gaza Strip, killing two Palestinians and wounding two others, a Palestinian medical source said. Israel had vowed on Monday to keep hitting Gaza, even as troops pulled out of the Hamas-run territory after clashes that killed more than 120 Palestinians and dealt a blow to peace talks.

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/ 2 March 2008

UN slams Israel after bloody day in Gaza

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned Israel for using ”excessive” force in the Gaza Strip and demanded a halt to its offensive after troops killed 61 people on the bloodiest day for Palestinians since the 1980s. The 1,5-million Palestinians crammed into the blockaded, 45km sliver of coast, enjoyed a relative respite early on Sunday from Israeli air strikes and raids.

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/ 1 March 2008

Israel kills 52 in Gaza, two soldiers killed

Israel killed 52 Palestinians on Saturday in its deadliest and deepest incursion into the Gaza Strip since pulling out in 2005, stoking fears of a broader conflict that could derail renewed United States-backed peace talks. At least 29 of the dead were civilians, among them women and children, said Palestinian doctors who were working round the clock.

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/ 1 March 2008

Israel kills 22 Palestinians in Gaza raid

Israeli forces killed 22 Palestinians in the Hamas-led Gaza Strip on Saturday in the most intense fighting in weeks and Israel threatened a broader offensive to stop rocket fire. A total of 57 Palestinians have been killed in four days of Israeli raids and air strikes in the Gaza Strip that the Jewish state launched after cross-border rockets killed an Israeli man on Wednesday.

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/ 12 February 2008

Olmert certain Iran is secretly building nuclear arms

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday he was convinced that Iran was leading a secret operation to build nuclear weapons and urged a greater international effort to prevent Tehran from succeeding. ”We are certain that the Iranians are engaged in a serious … clandestine operation to build up a non-conventional capacity,” Olmert said.