In party draft, Fatah commits to peace talks but asserts right to resist Israeli occupation

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The proposed new platform of the Palestinians’ moderate Fatah party marginalizes the once central theme of “armed struggle” against Israel, but demands a complete Israeli settlement freeze before talks for a final peace deal can take place.

For Palestinian exiles attending Fatah conference, return to West Bank is bittersweet

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — After lives spent in exile fighting Israel, it’s a bittersweet homecoming to the West Bank for hundreds of veterans in the Fatah movement of the late Yasser Arafat.

Tarnished but still critical to Mideast peace effort, Palestinian party seeks image makeover

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Fatah, the divided and demoralized movement of the late Yasser Arafat and the West’s best hope for delivering a Mideast peace deal, is trying to stage a comeback.

Gaza father suspected of bludgeoning daughter with iron chain in ‘honor killing’

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A Gaza man is being held on suspicion he bludgeoned his daughter with an iron chain, cracking her skull in a particularly brutal family “honor killing,” two human rights groups said Wednesday, citing police and forensics reports.

Palestinians from landlocked West Bank get permits, enjoy first dip in the Mediterranean Sea

BAT YAM, Israel — Giggling children built castles, drew pictures in the sand and splashed water on each other in a refreshing first for Palestinian youngsters from the landlocked West Bank: a day at the beach.

Analysis: Netanyahu eases West Bank life in ‘economic peace’ plan, Palestinians refuse talks

JERUSALEM — In the four months since hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to power, West Bank Palestinians have enjoyed an economic recovery and Israel has experienced a period of relative calm.

No breakthrough on settlement dispute in US envoy’s talks with Israeli prime minister

JERUSALEM — Israel’s prime minister and the top U.S. Mideast envoy said they made progress Tuesday on their dispute over West Bank settlements, but offered no sign of a breakthrough at a meeting in Jerusalem.

Israel’s Netanyahu, US envoy try to end spat over settlements in Jerusalem meeting

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell are trying to resolve a public dispute over Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Cover heads, hide the mannequins; Hamas rulers launch campaign to make Gaza more Islamic

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Police order a lingerie shop to hide its scantily clad mannequins. A judge warns female lawyers to wear head scarves in court. Beach patrols break up groups of singles and make men wear shirts.

Hamas threatens to derail convention of rival Fatah movement unless its prisoners freed

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah on Monday were locked in a new dispute that threatens to derail next week’s Fatah convention, seen as key to rehabilitating the corruption-stained party that has led peace talks with Israel.

As US envoys push settlement freeze, report shows Israeli settler population now over 300,000

JERUSALEM — An Israeli paper is reporting that the number of Jewish settlers in the West Bank is now over 300,000.

Obama envoy: US favors overall Mideast peace accord; Israel hopes to settle disputes with US

JERUSALEM — President Barack Obama’s Mideast envoy called on the Arab world to take steps toward normalizing relations with Israel, and Israel’s prime minister said he hoped his country’s disputes with the U.S. over West Bank settlement construction would soon be resolved.

Top US officials line up to tell Israel to step back from settlements, stand down on Iran

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is dispatching four of its most senior foreign policy and security figures to Israel this coming week with the same message on two open questions causing friction between the close allies: Don’t do it.

Clinton announces transfer of $200 million to Palestinians, to help ease budget crisis

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The United States has transferred $200 million to the Palestinian government to help ease a growing budget deficit, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.

Israeli Cabinet minister: US should honor past settlement deals, American credibility at stake

JERUSALEM — Israel’s deputy prime minister said Tuesday the Obama administration’s call to freeze West Bank settlement construction undermines past agreements between the U.S. and Israel and damages American credibility.

US envoy for Mideast peace heads to region after new settlement spat with Israel

WASHINGTON — The special U.S. envoy for Middle East peace departs for the region this week amid new signs of tension between the Obama administration and the Israeli government over settlement construction.

Israeli settlers stone cars and set fire to Palestinian fields during rampage in West Bank

NABLUS, West Bank — More than 30 Israeli settlers, some of them on horseback, set fire to fields and olive trees and stoned Palestinian cars during a rampage in the West Bank on Monday, a Palestinian official said. Two Palestinians were lightly injured.

Netanyahu’s ‘economic peace’ yields first fruits for Palestinians, but still has a way to go

NABLUS, West Bank — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to make “economic peace” with the Palestinians, and the first fruits are already being seen in eased Israeli restrictions that are stoking a retail and entertainment boom in the West Bank.

Israeli security chief says foreign jihadist fighters sneaked into the Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM — The head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service says foreign nationals linked to the global jihadist movement have infiltrated the Gaza Strip.

Israel rejects US call to halt housing project planned in disputed area of Jerusalem

JERUSALEM — Israel on Sunday rejected a U.S. demand to suspend a planned housing project in east Jerusalem, threatening to further complicate an unusually tense standoff with its strongest ally over settlement construction.

Palestinian government lifts ban on West Bank operations of Al-Jazeera satellite TV

RAMALLAH - The Palestinian Authority (PA) has decided to lift its ban preventing the al-Jazeera satellite channel from working in the West Bank, but at the same time said it would go ahead with planned legal measures against the Qatari-based broadcaster.

It’s Hamaswood! Militant Muslim group premiers feature film about slain militant in Gaza

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Gaza movie premiere drew an exclusive crowd with local celebrities posing for jostling photographers — and that’s pretty much where the similarities end between Hollywood and the fledgling film industry of Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

Bruno crashes the Holy Land spectacularly, but movie’s subjects aren’t in on the joke

JERUSALEM — Bruno’s flamboyant sashay across the Middle East has succeeded in one thing — uniting Sacha Baron Cohen’s unwitting Israeli and Palestinian victims in their joint disdain for his latest comedic creation.

Al-Jazeera TV banned from West Bank

WEST BANK - The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday banned Al-Jazeera television from operating in its territory and threatened legal action over allegations it broadcast against President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian government suspends Al-Jazeera, after channel hosts president’s rival

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian government shut down the West Bank operations of the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera on Wednesday, a day after a guest on the station accused the Palestinian president of involvement in Yasser Arafat’s death.

Former Israeli soldiers allege military used reckless force in Gaza war

JERUSALEM — More than two dozen Israeli soldiers who fought in the Gaza war say the military forced Palestinians to serve as human shields and used reckless firepower that caused needless deaths, according to a report released Wednesday.

Palestinian government suspends Al-Jazeera in West Bank, alleging incitement

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian government said Wednesday it is suspending the West Bank operations of the Arab news station Al-Jazeera, alleging incitement and unbalanced reporting from the Palestinian territories.

West Bank economy can enjoy robust growth if Israel broadens efforts to ease restrictions: IMF

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The West Bank economy could post its strongest performance in years in 2009, but only if Israel broadens recent efforts to ease restrictions on Palestinian trade and movement, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, offering a rare upbeat assessment after years of downturn.

West Bank car accident injures 3 Israelis, 1 seriously

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says three Israelis have been injured after crashing their car in the West Bank.

3 Israelis wounded, 1 seriously, in West Bank stone-throwing attack

JERUSALEM — The military says three Israelis have been wounded, one seriously, after being attacked by stone-throwing Palestinians in the West Bank.