Israel and the Palestinians are to hold their first direct talks in almost three years on Wednesday, overshadowed by a deepening rift over settlements and following the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners.
A group of jihadist fighters said Tuesday they had fired a Grad rocket on the Israeli Red Sea town of Eilat in retaliation for an alleged Israeli air raid.
Israelis and Palestinians resumed direct talks for the first time in three years on Monday, with the United States urging negotiators to make tough compromises to reach a peace deal.
Israeli politicians on Saturday hailed an announcement by US Secretary of State John Kerry's of a breakthrough in talks with Palestinians but warned it was an opportunity that could not be missed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday angrily rejected European Union guidelines barring the bloc's 28 member states from funding projects in Jewish settlements.
US Secretary of State John Kerry headed to Jordan Monday on his sixth trip to the region as he tries to push Israelis and Palestinians back to peace talks.
The singing rises through the early-morning cool which still covers the esplanade in front of the Western Wall, the holiest site at which Jews can pray.
The Israeli air force (IAF) attacked targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Sunday, following rocket fire from the Palestinian territory into southern Israel.
Europe must take a firmer line with Iran over its controversial nuclear programme, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday at the start of a working meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday that the idea of a Palestinian state was at a "dead end", prompting the Palestinians to accuse him of sounding the death knell of a two-state solution.
Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon got to fly in a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft during a US visit Friday, as his country weighs whether to buy the American military plane.
Iran is working round the clock to enlarge its nuclear infrastructure with the eventual aim of developing an industry capable of building up to 30 bombs a year.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad threatened Israel with renewed fighting in the Golan Heights and said Russia was committed to supplying him with advanced missiles.