The move reflects France’s strategic recalibration amid rising domestic pressures, European fragmentation over Gaza and a widening rift with Washington.
Rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, have reached an agreement on aspects of their bid to end a decade-long split
Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have agreed to form a new unity government in the West Bank and Gaza which will be headed by Mahmoud Abbas.
Israel is wrapping up preparations to release 550 Palestinian prisoners in the final phase of a swap with Hamas militants.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says he would uproot settlements in a "generous" peace deal with Palestinians, but ruled out a return to 1967 borders.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal buried the hatchet at a Cairo reconciliation ceremony on Wednesday.
A surprise deal to end decades of rivalry between Fatah and Hamas was on Thursday welcomed by the Palestinian leadership, but denounced by Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement and its bitter rival, Hamas, struck a deal on Wednesday to form an interim unity government.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday he was ready to go to Gaza and broker a unity deal with the Islamist Hamas movement.
No image available
/ 15 October 2009
Hamas on Thursday asked for more time to consider a unity deal and demanded that it include a clause on the right to resist Israeli occupation.
No image available
/ 12 October 2009
Palestinian authorities have begun a rare military trial of security officers accused of torturing a Hamas suspect to death.
Fatah elected a new generation of leaders at its first congress in 20 years, including a popular militant jailed in Israel.
The first congress in 20 years of Fatah that would seal a future peace pact with Israel was in danger on Friday of fizzling out in discord.
Fatah members were preparing on Friday to elect a new leadership for the first time in 20 years, hoping to breathe new life into the party.
The second day of Fatah’s first congress in 20 years was marked by acrimonious rows on Wednesday as delegates demanded accountability.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah will endorse a two-state solution but keep the option of ”armed struggle” with Israel.
Rivals Hamas and Fatah said prospects for a breakthrough have improved in their reconciliation talks, which continued in Cairo on Tuesday.
Rival Palestinian factions have so far failed to overcome obstacles in reconciliation talks which they hope will lead to a unified governing body.
Salam Fayyad announced on Saturday he would resign in a move to bolster unity talks between Fatah and Hamas, but Mahmoud Abbas has asked him to stay.
Palestinian leaders were urging US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday to push Israel to freeze construction in West Bank settlements.
No image available
/ 26 February 2009
The rival Palestinian movements are holding reconciliation talks on Thursday aimed at paving the way for the creation of a unity government.
No image available
/ 13 February 2009
Gaza militants fired two rockets into southern Israel on Friday, only hours after a senior Hamas member said the Islamists had accepted a truce deal.
No image available
/ 11 February 2009
An Islamist opposition activist was sentenced to two years in jail on Wednesday by a military court for crossing illegally into the Gaza Strip.
No image available
/ 29 January 2009
An Israeli warplane on Thursday bombed an area of the Gaza Strip border known to contain smuggling tunnels to Egypt, the military said.
No image available
/ 7 November 2008
Hamas has threatened to boycott next week’s Palestinian reconciliation talks, accusing president Mahmoud Abbas of arresting hundreds of its members.
Hamas forces on Saturday battled Fatah gunmen with mortars and machine guns in a crowded Gaza City neighbourhood, leaving nine dead.