Israel | featured news

The missile could easily reach Israel. Coupled with suspicions about Tehran's nuclear program, it stokes international concerns.

Jewish settlers widened their protests on Sunday against a temporary construction freeze by shooting at a Palestinian home, torching and stoning vehicles, and assaulting Israeli officers in separate West Bank incidents.

Israel has rejected a demand for the release of two Hamas commanders as part of any exchange for a captured Israeli soldier, a source close to negotiations said Wednesday, signaling talks had hit a snag.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to announce Wednesday a formal plan to limit settlement construction for 10 months, hoping to revive talks with the Palestinians, government sources said.

Israeli fighter jets attacked what the country said were "terrorist sites" in Gaza in retribution for an earlier attack, the military said Sunday.

Israel triggered a fresh rift with Washington over settlement building on Tuesday by approving the building of 900 homes for Jews on West Bank land it occupied in a 1967 war and annexed to its Jerusalem municipality.

The United States would veto a Palestinian declaration of statehood in the United Nations Security Council, U.S. senators visiting Israel said Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday there was no alternative to negotiations to secure peace and that any unilateral moves by the Palestinians would unravel past agreements.

The Palestinian president on Wednesday resisted U.S. pressure for a resumption of peace talks with Israel, repeating his demand for a complete halt to West Bank settlement building before negotiations.

The White House announced Sunday that President Barack Obama will be meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu during the Israeli prime minister's trip to Washington, ending days of uncertainty.