Israel News

Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak, right, stands with Israeli military chief Lt.

The United Nations Human Rights Council's fact-finding probe into rights violations committed during the recent Gaza conflict heard from victims, witnesses and experts from southern Israel and the West Bank over two days of public hearings which wrapped up in Geneva today.

The executive commission of the European Union on Thursday backtracked on its unusually harsh criticism of Israeli settlements, declaring that a statement released earlier this week did not reflect the commission's position.

Hosting the German foreign minister this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used an especially tainted term to condemn the Palestinian demand that Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank be removed.

CAIRO - Egyptian authorities arrested 25 militants with links to al-Qaida on suspicion of plotting attacks on oil pipelines and ships in the Suez Canal, the Interior Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

A top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there is no Palestinian leadership and he doubts there will be true peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Last weekend's kerfluffle over Vice President Joe Biden's supposed "green light" for an Israeli attack on Iran was perplexing on several grounds.

They had collected information about Hamas leaders and fighters and sent it on to the Fatah-run security forces in the West Bank "to use in any future war" against the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, he said in a statement.

Israel must tear down its West Bank separation barrier, a senior U.N. official said Wednesday, marking five years since the International Court of Justice declared the barrier illegal and a violation of Palestinian rights.

Low-cost carrier easyJet PLC announced Wednesday that it will open new services from London to Israel and Morocco later this year.

Tel Aviv - The US and Israel have reached a compromise on the issue of settlements, under which Washington will allow it to continue constructions that have already begun, an Israeli newspaper reported Wednesday.

The Foreign Ministry on Monday said the EU ambassador to Israel was called in for explanations after the European Commission said Israel's settlement policy helps strangle the Palestinian economy and makes the Palestinian government more dependent on foreign aid.

An Israeli soldier being held in Gaza by Hamas militants is in good condition, said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who added that he hopes the issue of the soldier's release will be resolved soon.

Israeli company Seambiotic and NASA's John Glenn Research Center will join hands in studying micro-algae cultivation to produce bio-fuel, a local daily reported Tuesday.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has denied a report published by Britain's Sunday Times claiming that it would allow Israeli jets to use the kingdom's airspace in an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

A They say a reliable way to help predict the intensity of the next big flood can use common cell phone towers across the United States.

The White House has denied that it had given Israel the green light to attack Iran while the Saudis rejected media reports that Israeli jets can use its airspace during an attack on Iran.

Jerusalem - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday called on all parties in the Arab-Israeli conflict to return to the negotiating table, saying that "time is working against peace" in the region.

Bahraini officials made an unprecedented visit to Israel to collect five Bahrainis detained trying to enter the Gaza Strip to deliver aid, local media reported Saturday.

Israeli archaeologists have uncovered an ancient quarry where they believe King Herod extracted stones for the construction of the Jewish Temple 2,000 years ago, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Monday.