Hariri calls for Arab support for Palestinian bid, praises Abbas’ UN speech

Lebanon’s Opposition leader Saad Hariri praised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ address to the UN General Assembly on Saturday , in which he urged UN members to back his bid to admit Palestine as a full UN member state. (more…)

UN Security Council to discuss Palestinian statehood bid on Monday

The UN Security Council will meet Monday afternoon to discuss a request by the Palestinians to admit the state of Palestine as a full UN member, the council’s current president, Lebanon’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nawaf Salam, told reporters on Friday. (more…)

Obama to meet Abbas and Netanyahu over Palestinian UN bid

US President Barack Obama will urge his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas to drop a bid for UN recognition of statehood later on Wednesday.

Mr Obama will also meet Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu amid frantic diplomacy aimed at averting a crisis. (more…)

Clinton in Egypt for renewed Mideast peace talks

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will continue an attempt to broker peace in the Middle East on Tuesday when she and special envoy George Mitchell meet leaders from Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Egypt.

The negotiations involving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (more…)

Obama: Peace talks might focus first on possible border

President Obama on Friday signaled that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators might begin their peace talks by focusing on the potential border between the two states in order to overcome conflicts over Israeli settlement growth on the West Bank.

Describing his efforts to persuade Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to extend the 10-month moratorium, which expires this month, (more…)

Jordanians brief Lebanon PM on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks

Prime Minister Saad Hariri met Tuesday with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, accompanied by Jordan’s Ambassador to Lebanon Ziad al-Majali. (more…)

Abbas awaits U.S. answers before talking to Israel

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday he was still waiting for the United States to explain how it might help restart peace talks before he will consider reopening those negotiations.
A senior aide to U.S. mediator George Mitchell will meet Abbas in the coming days, a senior U.S. official said.
Abbas has resisted U.S. and other Western pressure to resume negotiations with Israel which were suspended over a year ago. He has insisted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu impose a complete freeze on the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“We are still awaiting the American administration’s response regarding their proposals,” Abbas said of suggestions that Washington could host “proximity talks” involving officials, but not leaders, from the two sides as a way of preparing for a full-scale resumption of negotiations. Reuters

Israeli police raid Palestinian refugee camp

A Palestinian refugee camp on the edge of Jerusalem erupted in violence on Monday after Israeli police carried out a raid to arrest tax evaders and Palestinians responded by throwing stones. Reuters

Mitchell to visit Lebanon Tuesday for talks about ME peace

US Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell is expected to arrive in Beirut Tuesday for a two-day visit, the National News Agency (NNA) reported
Mitchell is expected to talk with President Michel Suleiman, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Saad Al-Harriri, Minister of Foreign affairs Ali Al-Shami and other senior officials here regarding the Middle East peace process

NNA also reported is expected to visit the Palestinian territories, Israel and Syria.
According to the US State department Mitchell is hoping he can persuade all players to back Washington’s latest endeavor to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

Army arrests most wanted Fatah al-Islam member

Al-Nahar newspaper has reported that Lebanese army intelligence arrested last night the most wanted member of “Fatah al-Islam” . He reportedly is very dangerous and has been involved in several acts of terrorism. He was found in a house that the army intelligence raided in the area of Aisha Bakkar in West Beirut. According to army intelligence the detainee, who was not identified , was preparing to carry out new terrorist acts. He is Palestinian but resides in Lebanon.