Palestina News

GAZA – Israeli troops killed two Palestinian Hamas gunmen and wounded three others in the Gaza Strip on Friday, the Islamist faction and hospital officials said.

RAMALLAH – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Hamas Islamists on Monday to agree to early elections and to open a “new page” by ceding control of the Gaza Strip and holding reconciliation talks with his Fatah faction.

GAZA – Hamas and Fatah fighters waged gun battles in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday that raised to seven the number of people killed in the deadliest clashes between the rival Palestinian factions in months.

ISMAILIA, Egypt – Israel has agreed to allow 550 Palestinians who have been stranded in Egypt for roughly four months to cross into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday via the Jewish state, Egyptian security and border sources said.

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has barred new construction work, building planning and occupancy tenders at West Bank settlements without his approval, documents show.

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency) Iran said it hoped Palestinian issue would be resolved through the implementation of a Tehran plan which calls for the restoration of Palestinians’ rights.

ISMAILIA, Egypt – Stranded Palestinian haj pilgrims protesting at Egypt’s refusal to allow them to return to Gaza through a Hamas-controlled crossing, smashed furniture and windows at a shelter on Monday, a security source said.

GAZA – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction will limit its anniversary celebrations in Hamas-run Gaza to candles and fireworks this week for fear a rally — banned by the Islamist group — will spark violence.

JERUSALEM – The number of people killed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict dropped sharply in 2007, but human rights abuses in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank increased, an Israeli human rights watchdog said on Monday.

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday ruled out relaxing Israel’s grip on the occupied West Bank until the Palestinians rein in militants after a shooting attack killed two off-duty Israeli soldiers.