Arab League endorses direct Palestinian-Israeli talks

The Arab League has endorsed direct Palestinian peace talks with the Israelis, but has left the timing to the Palestinians, officials said.

The US has been pushing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to restart the direct talks, suspended since 2008.

Mr Abbas has been demanding guarantees on borders and a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity. (more…)

Israel: A failing colonial project?

Increasingly, despite its early military and political successes, Israel cannot for long endure as a colonial project.

Palestinian shot dead in West Bank by Israeli soldiers

A Palestinian man has been shot dead by Israeli troops after entering a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

The man was killed on Thursday morning in Barkan, west of the city of Nablus. (more…)

Connelly: US will not support forced naturalization of Palestinians in Lebanon

Maura Connelly, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the State Department Near Eastern Affairs bureau, and former charge d’affaires at the U.S. embassy in Damascus, was nominated last month by US president Barack Obama to be the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon. That’s the job her boss Assistant Secretary of State Jeff Feltman previously held. (more…)

Palestinians to be granted work permits in Lebanon

The Justice and Administration parliamentary committee tasked with reviewing the bill that was proposed by Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt over Palestinian civil rights approved on Monday an amendment of Article 59 of the labor law. (more…)

Arab League insist on guarantees before Palestinian-Israeli direct talks

The head of the Arab League has said that Palestinians cannot move into direct peace talks with Israel unless “written guarantees” are given beforehand.

Amr Mussa, the secretary general of the 22-member pan-Arab organisation, spoke in Cairo as Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, held meetings aimed at breathing new life into the stalled peace process. (more…)

Lebanon: UNRWA deficit is ‘dangerous’

Head of Lebanon’s Justice and Administration parliamentary commission MP Robert Ghanem told LBCI television on Thursday that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has had a budget deficit for the last few years, calling it “dangerous”. (more…)

Israel demolishes two more West Bank homes

The Israeli military demolished two Palestinian houses in the West Bank on Thursday because they were built without permits, according to witnesses and the military.

The 13 members of the Al-Shawamreh family, including nine children, were ordered out of the houses at dawn (more…)

Libya’s Gaza aid ship diverted to Egypt

The Libyan aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip has apparently changed course for Egypt following a warning from the Israeli navy.

The vessel, Al-Amal, now appears bound for the Egyptian port of El-Arish, on the Sinai peninsula. (more…)

Jumblatt denies withdrawing bill over Palestinian civil rights

During an interview with al Nahar newspaper that was published on Sunday MP Walid Jumblatt denied that he has withdrawn his bill that grants Palestinians civil rights and allows them to buy property in Lebanon, Lebanon Files has reported

Jumblatt said he never heard about any other proposals in this regard and that he is awaiting the parliamentary meeting on this issue. (more…)