US envoy George Mitchell stepped up the pace of efforts to save Middle East peace talks launched four weeks ago.
The US believes Israel and the Palestinians are making progress towards resolving a dispute over settlement building that threatens peace talks.
US President Barack Obama has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House next week.
Dozens of people were injured in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in Jerusalem on Friday, as tension over land and holy sites mounted.
Israel’s foreign minister said on Thursday he would tell a visiting US envoy that there was no chance of reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians.
A burst of shuttle diplomacy by the US Middle East envoy on Friday produced no immediate results.
United States Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell called on Arab states on Monday to fully normalise ties with Israel.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Wednesday Israel would consider a limited moratorium on new construction in Jewish settlements.
Israel said on Monday it had approved construction of 50 new homes at a West Bank settlement as part of a plan for 1 450 housing units.
We’re only 50 days in, but it’s not too soon to discern a refreshing thread of logic in the president’s foreign policy.
Last-ditch efforts to form a broad-based Israeli coalition failed on Friday, fuelling concerns about prospects for peace with the Palestinians.
Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu was making a fresh bid on Friday to persuade Tzipi Livni to bring her centrist Kadima party into an Israeli coalition.
A soldier was reported killed close to the border with Gaza Strip on Tuesday in what Palestinians said appeared to have been an attack by militants.
Barack Obama on Thursday ordered the closing of Guantánamo prison and named veteran trouble-shooters for the Middle East and Afghanistan.
Disgraced United States sprinter Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in prison on Friday for lying to federal prosecutors about her steroid use, a stunning downfall for the…
