Middle East leaders will meet in Egypt on Monday seeking to bolster Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and his new Western-backed cabinet after the bloody seizure of the Gaza Strip by Hamas.

Israel’s prime minister on Monday announced plans to release 250 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails and promised to improve life in the West Bank in an attempt to boost Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after the militant group Hamas’ takeover in Gaza.

DUBAI: A man described as a leader of al-Qaeda’s wing in Egypt called for attacks on Israeli and Western targets in the Arab world’s most populous country in support of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.