Mahmoud Abbas

Israel Releases 198 Palestinians

AFP  |  Aug 25, 08 9:09 AM CDT

(Newser) - Israel today released 198 Palestinian prisoners in an effort to bolster Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, the AFP reports. The release, on the eve of a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, included two prisoners held since the late 1970s who were convicted of murdering Israelis. One of them, a Fatah party member who killed an Israeli settler in Hebron, was elected to parliament in 2006. More »

Olmert Proposes New West Bank, Gaza Borders

Haaretz  |  Aug 12, 08 11:26 AM CDT

(Newser) - Ehud Olmert has presented Mahmoud Abbas with a plan to withdraw from most of the West Bank and all of the Gaza Strip once the Palestinian Authority retakes Gaza from Hamas. The centerpiece of the proposal is a new permanent border that would keep 7% of the West Bank in Israel in exchange for adding some territory to Gaza. Abbas immediately rejected the proposal because it doesn't create a contiguous Palestinian state, though it offers passage without checkpoints between the West Bank and Gaza. More »

In Blow to Bush, Olmert Rules Out Deal in 2008

Financial Times (UK)  |  Jul 28, 08 4:45 PM CDT

(Newser) - Ehud Olmert said today it is "unrealistic" to expect a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement by the end of the year. The Israeli PM and Palestian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas pledged last year to make a deal by the end of 2008, and their inability to do so is a blow to President Bush's hopes for the situation to be resolved before he leaves office, reports the Financial Times . More »

Abbas Calls for Renewed Talks With Hamas

New York Times  |  Jun 5, 08 5:57 AM CDT

(Newser) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered an unexpected olive branch to Hamas yesterday, reports the New York Times . Abbas, in control of only the West Bank since the Islamic militant group seized Gaza last year, said it was time for national unity talks aimed at forming a new government. The move could signal the total breakdown of faltering peace talks with Israel. More »

Bush Arrives in Israel to Press for Peace

Reuters  |  May 14, 08 7:49 AM CDT

(Newser) - President Bush arrived in Israel today to celebrate the Jewish state’s 60th birthday and try again to spur peace talks with Palestine. Ehud Olmert says he and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have reached an understanding on several key points, but Olmert is embroiled in a corruption scandal, and could soon be out as prime minister. Bush and Olmert are also expected to discuss Iran. More »

Israel Pledges to Pull 50 West Bank Roadblocks

Al Jazeera  |  Mar 30, 08 7:33 PM CDT

(Newser) - Pressured by Condoleezza Rice to kickstart flagging peace talks, Israel pledged to remove about 50 roadblocks from the West Bank—the first in a series of “concrete steps” to finalize a deal, Al Jazeera reports. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad hailed the news despite skepticism from other officials. “We will believe it when we see it,” one Palestinian negotiator told the Washington Post . More »

The West Warms to Hamas, But Israel Stays Cold

Christian Science Monitor  |  Mar 24, 08 9:25 PM CDT

(Newser) - The West may be warming to talks with Palestine's radical Hamas party, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The EU is promoting them, and Washington has nudged Egypt to spark Israel-Hamas dialogue, although Jerusalem remains staunchly opposed. "Whoever invites us to negotiate with Hamas is actually inviting us to negotiate on the size of our coffin and on the number of flowers we want on it," one Israeli official said. More »

Fatah and Hamas Sign Deal, But Feuding Continues

Reuters  |  Mar 23, 08 8:02 PM CDT

(Newser) - In a second attempt to mend fences, rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas agreed to resume direct talks today to resolve disputes and revive their failed coalition. A Hamas official called the deal “a new beginning and the start of a new stage,” but just hours after signing the Yemeni-sponsored Sanaa Declaration, the factions returned to feuding, Reuters reports. More »

US Set to Deliver $150M in Aid to Palestinians

Reuters  |  Mar 19, 08 6:47 PM CDT

(Newser) - The US promised today to transfer $150 million in aid to the economically ailing Palestinian Authority, marking the first installment of $550 million the US pledged at a donors' conference in December, Reuters reports. The contribution will be the largest single donation since the Authority was launched in 1994, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said. More »

Egypt Hosts Gaza Truce Talks

Reuters  |  Mar 6, 08 12:44 PM CST

(Newser) - Egypt has begun talks with Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an attempt to broker an end to rocket attacks on Israel and retaliatory Israeli raids in Gaza, Reuters reports. A ceasefire would make it easier for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to resume peace talks with Israel. Leaders of the groups met with officials in Egypt today, but were noncommittal, except to say they'd study Egypt's proposal. More »

Abbas Backs Down, Will Resume Talks

Associated Press  |  Mar 5, 08 9:44 AM CST

(Newser) - Fatah Palestinians will resume peace talks with Israel, Mahmoud Abbas said today, recapitulating on his demands that Israel first halt its bloody campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Abbas characterized the peace process as a “strategic choice.” The Palestinian president halted the talks on Sunday after an Israeli attack, and reiterated his demands earlier today, but a flurry of backroom dealings by Condoleezza Rice brought him around. More »

Abbas Rebuffs Rice on Talks

New York Times  |  Mar 5, 08 3:00 AM CST

(Newser) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas refused to commit to resuming peace talks with Israel yesterday despite entreaties from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the New York Times reports. "I call on the Israeli government to halt its aggression so the necessary environment can be created to make negotiations succeed," Abbas said. More »

Abbas Freezes Peace Talks With Israel

Reuters  |  Mar 2, 08 1:24 PM CST

(Newser) - Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas halted peace talks with Israel today “until [Israeli] aggression is stopped,” Reuters reports. Abbas ordered the suspension of the US-brokered talks as Israel’s Gaza offensive continued and the Palestinian death toll topped 100. But Israeli PM Ehud Olmert showed no sign of relenting, calling Israel's actions self-defense. More »

Peace Deal Unlikely This Year: Israel

New York Times  |  Feb 11, 08 7:06 PM CST

(Newser) - Israel and Palestine probably won't sign a peace deal this year but could agree on a "declaration of principles," a top Israeli minister said today. The announcement by Vice Prime Minister Haim Ramon follows weeks of warnings that a peace treaty could topple Israeli's coalition government, and that Palestine's president lacks the influence to fulfill such a deal. More »

Gunfire Erupts at Gaza-Egypt Border

BBC  |  Jan 22, 08 12:10 PM CST

(Newser) - Crowds of Palestinians swarming the Rafah border crossing today in an attempt to enter Egypt from Gaza were turned away as both riot police and Palestinians fired guns into the air, the BBC reports. Dozens of people were injured as the protesters, mostly pro-Hamas women, called for the border to be opened to supplies cut off by the Israeli blockade, the AP said. More »

Israel: 'This War Will Not Stop'

Associated Press  |  Jan 17, 08 11:39 AM CST

(Newser) - Israel continued its Gaza offensive unabated today, rejecting ceasefire overtures from Hamas and saying instead that it would fight until rockets stopped flying across its border , the AP reports. “This war will not stop,” said Ehud Olmert. “We will continue to fight the Jihad without concessions.” The assaults killed a militant leader and his wife today, and at least 25 since Tuesday. More »

Israelis Kill Son