Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected a package of Israeli goodwill gestures designed to coax the Palestinian leader back to peace talks, where further Israeli concessions would be discussed. A Palestinian official told Xinhua that the Israeli confidence-building measures – which included the release of security prisoners and programs designed...

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Conflicting reports regarding plans by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to visit the Gaza Strip are heightening uncertainty regarding the intentions of the Islamist premier. Turkish television announced overnight that Erdogan would travel to Gaza on July 5, a report that Erdogan’s press secretary promptly shot down. Erdogan has...

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Conflicting reports surrounding the recent resignation of Israeli national security adviser Major-General (res) Yaacov Amidror are calling attention to the complicated economic and geopolitical calculations the country must make in managing its vast newly-found energy reserves. Amidror is one of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s closest advisers. During his term he has...

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again called on Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table. The Israeli prime minister is reportedly considering a number of confidence building measures which may entice the Palestinians to resume peace negotiations, potentially including the release of some Palestinian...

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Last week Palestinian Authority (PA) prime minister Rami Hamdallah angrily tendered his resignation and then reportedly withdrew it. Apparently those reports were premature: He offered his resignation on Thursday because of a “conflict over authority” within his cabinet, government sources said, but withdrew it the next day… Mr Hamdallah’s resignation...

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been under pressure to return to negotiations with Israel, after Israeli leaders again reiterated their willingness to return to peace talks without preconditions. Yesterday Abbas told EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton that he too is committed to the peace process: During a meeting with...

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Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah this morning submitted his resignation to Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas. The story was first reported in Arabic media. Hamdallah issued an announcement via his official Twitter feed. The feed itself starkly illustrates his short tenure, which lasted some two weeks: Reuters conveyed a government...

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Western officials are scrambling to evaluate the diplomatic consequences of extremist statements made by Jibril Rajoub, a Palestinian Authority (PA) official often emphasized by Western diplomats as a relatively moderate voice. Rajoub is a former head of the Preventative Security Force and a member of the Central Committee of PA...

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Washington Institute fellow David Makovsky has taken to the New York Times to argue that Europe has to follow the example set two years ago by President Obama and, bluntly, make Palestinian leaders and citizens face some difficult truths: The only way to achieve Palestinian statehood is through direct, unconditional talks with Israel....

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Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson announced today that Stockholm plans to cut assistance that it provides to the Palestinian Authority (PA), after Swedish officials became dissatisfied with the pace of Palestinian negotiations with Israel. Sweden currently provides $107 million annually to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank....

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