President Barack Obama, interviewed in Moscow today, said that his vice president’s assertion that Israel is a sovereign nation and cannot be told what to do, or not to do, about Iran’s nuclear program is “absolutely not” a green light for a preemptive attack against Tehran’s nuke plants.
“Absolutely not,” Obama told CNN’s Ed Henry. “And [...]

Nobel peace laureate Mairead Maguire on Tuesday accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” policies in annexed east Jerusalem, where the municipality plans to tear down almost 90 Arab homes.
“I believe the Israeli government is carrying out a policy of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians here in east Jerusalem,” said Maguire, who won the 1976 Nobel prize for [...]

Moderate Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of Israel’s governing Kadima Party has declared victory in a tight race with hawkish Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
Livni made her claim in a speech to supporters. She said, “Today the people chose Kadima. … We will form the next government led by Kadima.”
Earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu also declared victory. He says [...]

Israel withdrew the last of its troops from the Gaza Strip before dawn Wednesday, the military said, and pursued diplomatic efforts to stanch the flow of arms into the Hamas-ruled territory.
The timing of the pullout reflected Israeli hopes to defuse the crisis in Gaza before President Barack Obama entered the White House.
The military said troops [...]

Israel plans to pull all of its troops out of the Gaza Strip by the time President-elect Barack Obama is inaugurated Tuesday, but only if Hamas militants hold their fire, Israeli officials said.
Thousands of troops have left Gaza since Israel declared Saturday its intention to unilaterally halt fire after a devastating, three-week Israeli onslaught.
Gaza’s Hamas [...]

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel announced late Saturday night that the Israeli military would begin a unilateral cease-fire in Gaza within hours while negotiations continued on how to stop the resupply of Hamas through smuggling from Egypt.
Mr. Olmert, who said all Israeli objectives for the war had been reached, said Israel was responding positively [...]

Israel said it was approaching the “endgame” of its three-week offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers and scheduled a Security Cabinet vote Saturday on a truce proposed by Egypt.
If Israel agrees to stop shooting, Israel radio said a truce summit would be held in Cairo Sunday with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Israeli leaders expected to [...]

Israel’s Security Cabinet will vote Saturday night on an Egyptian proposal for a truce to end the 3-week-old offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers, a senior government official said.
The official said a vote to approve the truce would amount to a “unilateral” cease-fire, though Israeli forces would only leave Gaza after an official declaration that the [...]

Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden urged Muslims to launch a jihad against Israel and condemned Arab governments as allies of the Jewish state in a new message aimed at harnessing anger in the Mideast over the Gaza offensive.
Bin Laden spoke in an audiotape posted Wednesday on Islamic militant Web sites where al-Qaida usually issues its [...]

Israel dropped bombs and leaflets on Gaza on Saturday, pounding suspected rocket sites and tunnels used by Hamas militants and warning of a wider offensive despite frantic diplomacy to end the bloodshed.
Egypt hosted talks aimed at defusing the crisis, but war had the momentum on a bloody day on which more than 30 Palestinians, many [...]