Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Thursday he will not seek re-election as he voiced frustration with the US position on Israeli settlements and delivered a major blow to Washington's Middle East peace efforts.
Israeli naval commandos intercepted a ship carrying "hundreds of tonnes" of arms which officials said were being sent from Iran to the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. The haul from the Francop ship is among the largest ever seized by Israel, containing hundreds of ammunition crates packed into shipping containers, many hidden behind sacks of cement.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday the future of Jerusalem must be on the agenda of any Middle East peace talks, as the Palestinians again took Israel to task over Jewish settlements in the disputed holy city. Duration: 00:52
Israeli commandos seized a ship Wednesday that defense officials said was carrying hundreds of tons of weapons from Iran bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas — the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered. (Nov. 4)
Israel says Gaza militants tested new rocket
Jewish settlers took over a Palestinian house in East Jerusalem after a court ruled in their favour following a lengthy landownership dispute.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday moderated her praise for Israel's offer to restrain, but not stop, building settlements in Palestinian areas, but said it still falls short of U.S. Expectations. (Nov. 2)
The Palestinians on Sunday accused U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of undermining progress toward Mideast peace talks after she praised Israel for offering to curb some Jewish settlement construction. (Nov. 1)
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Israel to make a new push to resume stalled Mideast peace talks. In a joint news conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he's eager for advancement. (Oct. 31)
Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon towards Israel
Amnesty International says Israel is denying Palestinians fair access to water. A report released Tuesday accuses Israel of violating international law by restricting Palestinians' water access. Israel has rejected the allegations. (Oct 27)
A report by the human right groups Amnesty International says that Israel is preventing Palestinians from receiving enough water in the occupied territories.
Amnesty International has accused Israel of denying Palestinians adequate access to water while allowing Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank almost unlimited supplies. Israel's brief military offensive on the Gaza Strip at the start of the year damaged water reservoirs, wells, sewage networks and pumping stations. Duration: 02:09
Hundreds of Hamas supporters took to the streets of Gaza City, protesting violence incidents in Jerusalem.
Lebanese chefs have broken their third Guinness world record for food this year. On Sunday, they made the biggest tabbouleh in the world, one day after making the biggest dish of hummus. Images
Palestinians in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza voice mixed reactions to President Abbas's call for January elections while Hamas refuses the decision.
A Palestinian man heckles Middle East envoy Tony Blair, calling him a "terrorist" during tour of a West Bank mosque before being subdued by bodyguards.
Israel: Hezbollah turning Lebanon into powder keg
Stephanopoulos says award may strengthen president's hand in Iran and Mideast.
Clashes in the West Bank and Jerusalem broke out between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces -- in an ongoing dispute over entrance into the al-Aqsa mosque.
Israeli police are on high alert Friday following a strike call amongst Palestinians over recent clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a flashpoint site sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Officials have said they are particularly concerned about the situation in predominantly Arab east Jerusalem and Arab-Israeli cities.
Unprecedented show pokes fun at everyone from Obama to Hamas
Kevin Sites first reported from Lebanon at a time when Syrian troops had pulled out, but political assassinations were continuing to fuel rage and apprehension. In Gaza, Sites documented a chaotic funeral procession through the streets.
Syria faces intense political trouble with Lebanon, a confrontation with the U.S. over Iraq and a crisis about its role in the Arab world. But Syria's greatest challenge may be with itself.
Syrian troops are gone, but the spate of murders of anti-Syrian lawmakers and journalists has continued. Meanwhile the country's political web remains tangled, as Kevin Sites reports from Beirut.
In Haifa’s Rambam Hospital, the wards are full of young men like Brian Seidner - Israeli soldiers who got out of Lebanon with their lives, but just barely. Seidner describes his experience fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Ya'ar Ben-Giat, 19, a reservist in the Israeli Defense Forces, was killed Saturday in ground fighting in south Lebanon. Friends and family mourn as he is buried near Haifa on Sunday, just a day before a cease fire is to begin.
Israel has voted to expand its ground offensive in Lebanon, but is holding off for now to give diplomatic efforts more time to gain traction. Meanwhile, additional columns of armor are already massed in northern Israel near the Lebanese border.
The Israel-Lebanon border near Metula, Israel, is an area of surprisingly quiet desolation. Kevin Sites was able to pass through a section of broken fence and inspect the rubble on the Lebanese side, where Hezbollah flags still fly.
Kevin Sites reports from the Israel-Lebanon border near Metula, Israel, where a fence is all that separates Israel and Hezbollah. It's an area of surprisingly quiet desolation, save the occasional sound of rocket or artillery fire piercing the warm breeze.
Four bridges in Lebanon were destroyed by Israeli air strikes on Friday, breaking up the last major roadway from Beirut to Syria. Kevin Sites reports from what was left of the Halat bridge as rescue workers try to recover a car trapped in the rubble.
Nearly three weeks of Israeli bombing, and a ground fight between Israeli and Hezbollah forces, has reduced the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbail to rubble. Meanwhile, a lull in the bombing has given stranded residents a chance to flee.
With a lull in the Israeli bombing campaign, journalists were able to visit Bint Jbail, the Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon that has been a major focal point of the fight between Israel and Hezbollah. Kevin Sites reports.
In the deadliest attack on Lebanon since the fight between Israel and Hezbollah began, Israeli air strikes killed dozens of civilians in Qana, mostly women and children. Kevin Sites surveys the scene, where there were conflicting accounts about the death toll.
Kevin Sites gained access to the home of a Hezbollah fighter in a southern Lebanon village. He shows off a small weapons stash inside, including an M-16, an AK-47 and a grenade launcher. He says many homes have small stashes like this, but that larger weaponry is kept elsewhere.
The Union of Municipalities in Tyre has been working with local humanitarian groups to distribute limited amounts of aid supplies for the people of southern Lebanon. Officials hope that will soon be bolstered by U.N. aid efforts.
United Nations spokesman in Lebanon Khaled Manosour discusses the difficulty in getting aid to southern Lebanon, and outlines the plan for distribution, now that a limited supply has finally arrived.
The first U.N. shipment of humanitarian aid - 90 tons of food and medical supplies - reached Tyre, southern Lebanon, Wednesday afternoon. But with the conflict still raging, distributing the aid around the greater area will be a major challenge.
Six medics were wounded in an Israeli strike on two Red Cross ambulances Sunday night in southern Lebanon. One of the injured being transported lost a leg in the attack.
Ali Najem is the son of the head surgeon at Najem hospital in Tyre, southern Lebanon. He shows Kevin Sites some of the shrapnel that has been removed from victims - an array of wires, metal and circuitry.