Arabs to push for UN Security Council resolution on Palestinian state. (Emergency meeting of Arab FM in Cairo)

CAIRO- Arab League foreign ministers agreed on Saturday to formally present a draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council that will set a time frame for the creation of a Palestinian state.

Gaza patients denied access into Israel for using "State of Palestine" term

GAZA, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- 68 Palestinian patients seeking treatment in Israel were denied access by Israeli authorities through Erez crossing with Gaza for holding documents using the term "State of Palestine", according to local source.

"The patients were returned because the Palestinian Authority started to use documents with the term 'State of Palestine'" instead of the Palestinian National Authority, the Israeli official quoted an Israeli liaison official as saying.

Israeli reports said that Israel will not accept any official documents that refer to a Palestinian state that Israel does not recognize.

Hellenic MOD: Statements by Defence Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos and Foreign Affairs Minister of the Palestinian National Authority Riad Al Malki. -After their meeting at the MOD (video)

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Hellenic MOD, 7/2/14

Palestinians: Ariel Sharon was a 'criminal' /Porträt zum Tod von Ariel Scharon :Kriegsverbrecher oder Nationalheld?

Palestinians marked the death of former prime minister Ariel Sharon on Saturday with condemnation and strident blame, AFP reported.

A senior Fatah official labeled the late former premier as a "criminal".

“Sharon was a criminal, responsible for the assassination of (former Palestinian president Yasser) Arafat, and we would have hoped to see him appear before the International Criminal Court as a war criminal,” AFP quoted Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajub as saying.

Israel PM halts plans to build settler homes. -Netanyahu says international outcry risked diverting attention from country's lobbying against Iran nuclear deal.

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Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has ordered a reassessment of plans to build nearly 24,000 settler homes, saying he feared an international outcry that would divert attention from Israel's lobbying against a nuclear deal with Iran.
The right-wing Israeli leader announced the reversal on Tuesday in the face of stiff US opposition to settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Palestinian anger that threatens three-month-old peace talks brokered by Washington.
Before news of Netanyahu's change of course, President Mahmoud Abbas ordered the Palestinian leadership to hold "an urgent emergency meeting in the coming hours, with all options on the table", the Palestinian Maan news agency reported.

USA werden trotz Verlusts des Stimmrechts bei UNESCO weiter mitwirken...

Die USA bedauern den Entzug ihres Stimmrechts bei der UNESCO, wollen aber die Zusammenarbeit mit dieser Organisation fortsetzen.

Das erklärte US-Außenministeriumssprecherin Jennifer Psaki am Freitag in Washington. „Es sei betont, dass der Verlust des Stimmrechts in der Generalkonferenz noch keinen Ausschluss bedeutet. Die USA sind gewillt, ihre Kontakte mit der UNESCO nach Kräften fortzusetzen.

 Wir werden unseren Sitz und unsere Stimme als gewähltes Mitglied des Exekutivrates bis 2015 beibehalten“, sagte Psaki.

U.S., Israel lose voting rights at UNESCO over Palestine row.

UNESCO has suspended the voting rights of the United States and Israel, two years after both countries stopped paying dues to the U.N.’s cultural arm in protest over its granting full membership to the Palestinians.
The U.S. decision to cancel its funding in October 2011 was blamed on U.S. laws that prohibit funding to any U.N. agency that implies recognition of the Palestinians’ demands for their own state.
Israel also pulled its funding, objecting to what it called unilateral attempts by the Palestinians to gain recognition of statehood.
Both countries missed a 11:00 GMT Friday deadline to provide an official justification for non-payment and a plan to pay back missed dues, a UNESCO source told Reuters. That automatically triggered suspension of their voting rights.

Pourparlers de paix au Proche-Orient : John Kerry met en garde les Israéliens.

Le secrétaire d'Etat John Kerry, qui poursuit sa tournée au Proche-Orient pour tenter de ranimer le processus de paix engagé fin juillet, a adressé jeudi un message inhabituellement sec au gouvernement israélien. 

«L'alternative à la reprise négociations est un risque de chaos», a-t-il lancé dans une mise en garde à peine voilée à Benyamin Nétanyahou, qui a récemment suscité la fureur des Palestiniens en autorisant la construction de 1500 logements à Jérusalem-Est. 

Jubilant crowds welcome Palestinian prisoners. -Israel frees 26 men to Gaza and West Bank in second phase of deal linked to renewed peace talks.

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Israel has freed 26 Palestinian prisoners, the second of four batches released as part of a deal that set in motion the current Israeli-Palestinian talks.
Jubilant celebrations kicked off on Wednesday morning in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where the prisoners are seen as heroes who fought for independence, and were received by their families and Palestinian leaders.
"We greet and welcome our brothers, and we confirm that they will return to their homes and nowhere else," Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, said in a speech to a roaring crowd in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

High Court rejects application against release of Palestinian prisoners...

The High Court rejected the application by the Almagor Terror Victims Association on Tuesday evening against the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners.

The prisoners are being released as part of a deal that was made in July to kick-start the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

The High Court ruled that it did not have jurisdiction on the matter and that two prior applications that challenged the government's decision were similarly rejected.

Israel denied an official European Union delegation entry to the Gaza Strip.

Photo: mapsof.net

Israel on Wednesday denied an official European Union delegation entry to the Gaza Strip, claiming the visit would strengthen the ruling Hamas movement, reported the Ma'an News Agency.

Six members of an EU Parliament delegation to the Palestinian Legislative Council were due to visit Gaza from Oct. 27-30 in a trip largely focused on social, economic and humanitarian issues, including visits to UNRWA health centers, schools, food distribution centers, rehabilitation centers and sports clubs.

The MEPs, from a cross-section of political parties representing six EU member states, were informed in an email by Israeli authorities that they would not be allowed into Gaza via the Erez crossing for the three-day visit, which also included trips to Christian schools, a sports clubs and the University of Palestine.

UN: Palestinian status bid LIVE (UN ONLINE)/The Palestinian bid has been upheld with 138 votes in favour, 9 against and 41 abstentions./138 ΝΑΙ 9 ΟΧΙ 41 ΑΠΟΧΕΣ

UN: Palestinian status bid LIVE

­The UN General Assembly is discussing the Palestinian Authority’s bid for non-member observer status. The Palestinian leader, President Mahmoud Abbas, will voice an official request for the status upgrade, followed by a debate and vote. Many nations, including France, Spain, China, and Russia have pledged to uphold the request. Opponents of the upgrade include the US, Germany and some other countries.