Embassy of the State of Palestine

Today PLO Executive Committee member and head of the PLO Department of Culture and Information, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, strongly denounced Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s statements that questioned the illegality of settlements and called for the international community to refrain from labeling settlements illegal under international law

Israel has summoned the ambassadors of Britain, France, Italy and Spain, accusing their countries of pro-Palestinian bias.

The Foreign Ministry said the envoys would be told that their "perpetual one-sided stance" is unacceptable.

On Thursday, the four EU countries summoned Israeli ambassadors to object to plans to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The EU's Catherine Ashton has labelled the settlements "an obstacle to peace".

Diplomatic row follows criticism of US secretary of state's efforts to broker Middle East peace deal reported in Israeli newspaper.
American efforts to broker a peace deal in the Middle East were engulfed in a diplomatic row on Tuesday when the US state department lambasted a senior Israeli minister for "offensive and inappropriate" comments describing John Kerry as obsessive and messianic.

WASHINGTON -- The White House on Tuesday condemned as “offensive” the reported comment of Israel’s defense minister that Secretary of State John F. Kerry’s campaign for Mideast peace grows from his “messianism.”

(Reuters) - Israel's hawkish defense minister apologized to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday after a newspaper quoted him scorning the diplomat's quest for Israeli-Palestinian peace as messianic and obsessive.

RAMALLAH, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian presidency on Tuesday rejected what it called Israeli government's incitement against President Mahmoud Abbas.
Nabil Abu Rdineh, spokesperson for the presidency, said in a statement that the Israeli campaign against Abbas "reveals that Israel rejects any real, viable peace."
He added that Abbas is sticking to the Palestinian people's national principles and that's what angers the Israelis.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the scorching of a mosque in the village of Dayr Istiya near Salfit in the Northern part of occupied Palestine. This criminal act was committed by a group of settlers as part of the “price tag” operation which aims at performing random violence against Palestinians under the protection of the Israeli soldiers despite the continuous attempts of the Israeli government to deny its responsibility.

The United Nations figures show that the annual rate of Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians has nearly quadrupled in the past eight years.

The figures released on Wednesday also said that Israeli security forces have failed to stop the so-called “price tag” campaign against Palestinians.

(Reuters) - Israel on Friday published tenders for 1,400 new homes in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, days after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited the region to push peace efforts with the Palestinians.

The Palestinians have warned in the past that any further expansion of Israeli settlements on land they seek for a state could derail U.S.-brokered peace talks that resumed in July after a three-year break and are set to last until April.

Pope Francis has announced his first trip as pontiff to the Holy Land, from 24 May to 26 May.He will visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem in the West Bank, and the Jordanian capital, Amman.

He made the announcement during his weekly Sunday blessing in Vatican City.

The visit is so far his only foreign trip planned for 2014. He said he would hold a meeting with the representatives of all Christian Churches in the Middle East in Jerusalem.