Saudi, Jordanian monarchs, President Mubarak discuss with Abbas situation in Gaza, peace process

Arab League welcomes Saudi call for UN Security Council to convene to discuss Israeli settlements

Israeli cabinet hints at Gaza quiet, Israeli army resumes raids

Lebanon rejects Olmert wishes, asserts Arab initiative commitment & int’l resolutions

Knesset approves law on having Jerusalem as capital of "Jewish people"

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received at his palace President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

During the audience, they discussed the developments of the Palestinian issue, continual aggressions of Israeli forces on the Palestinian people, and the necessity of achieving a just and comprehensive peace ensuring Palestinians the establishment of an independent state on their national land with Al-Quds as its capital.

The audience was attended by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister and Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, Minister of State, Cabinet's Member and Chief of the Court of Cabinet's Presidency.

President Mahmoud Abbas met in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The two leaders discussed the calm in the Gaza Strip and President's Abbas initiative on national dialogue.

The meeting also tackled the latest developments in the Palestinian territories, exerted efforts to push the peace process forward, consolidating the unity of the Palestinian people and Egypt's efforts to achieve calm between the Palestinians and Israelis to lift suffering and siege imposed on the Palestinian people.

President updated his counterpart on the outcome of the meeting with the Israeli PM Ehud Olmert and the initiative of the comprehensive national dialogue to end division and strengthen the national unity.

President Mahmoud Abbas and His Majesty King Abdullah II underlined the importance of forcing Israel to respect the international agreements, such as discussing the final status issues, to reach a just and everlasting settlement for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

President Abbas briefed the King, during his visit, on the PNA stance that aims to start a national dialogue with Hamas, as well as his view towards this issue.

Abbas also outlined King Abdullah on the outcome of his recent meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, as well as results of his talks with Saudi and Egyptian leaderships. For his part, King Abdullah reiterated that the call by president Abbas for national dialogue must mark a starting point towards bolstering Palestinian national unity, enabling Palestinians restore their legitimate rights and establishing their viable independent state on the national soil.

The King underlined Jordan's support for these efforts as well as the importance of continuing international involvement to achieve tangible progress in the peace negotiations to establish the independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian national soil in West Bank and Gaza Strip.

'The current escalation in Gaza and the Israeli threats of wide military operations against the strip as well as the Israeli policy of building more settlements mainly in Jerusalem pose great threat to the security and stability of the region,' King Abdullah said.

Jordan's King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned that an Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip would "jeopardize" peace and stability in the region, according to a royal court statement. "The current escalation in the Gaza Strip, the threat to launch a large-scale offensive on the territory and Israel's expansion of settlements, particularly in Jerusalem, represent a grave danger to the stability and security in the region and jeopardizes peace efforts," King Abdullah said.

Abbas told reporters after his talks with the monarch that any such Israeli move would have a "catastrophic effect", but he also called on Hamas to stop firing missiles on Israeli towns.

Israel has warned that it might launch an offensive if Egyptian efforts to mediate a truce ending the daily rocket and mortar attacks from the Gaza Strip failed.

King Abdullah expressed support for Abbas' endeavors to reach reconciliation with the Hamas movement, which broke with the president's Fatah group a year ago by seizing control of the Gaza Strip by force.

Abbas briefed the monarch on his earlier talks in Cairo with President Mubarak on the prospects of Cairo hosting a dialogue between Fatah and Hamas and mediating a truce between Israel and Hamas.

Senior ministers convene in Jerusalem for five-hours discussion on escalation in south; decide to give Egyptian mediation efforts a chance while preparing for possibility of wide-scale military operation in Gaza Strip.

Following Jerusalem meeting on the situation in Gaza, which took place in the midst of another mortar barrage on the western Negev, the political-security cabinet issued a statement saying Israel would give Egypt's efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian groups a chance but at the same time gear up for a possible wide-scale operation in the Strip.

Ministers who took part in the meeting were asked not to comment on it. Most cabinet members who were asked for their opinion prior to Wednesday's meeting said they were in favor of a broad operation, but Defense Minister Ehud Barak said "it is the cabinet members' responsibility to pay close attention to what the IDF chief of staff (Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi) and the General Staff have to say regarding what can or cannot be achieved through military action in Gaza".

As security cabinet prepares to decide on future military operation in Strip, militias seem unwary. 'The Israelis know that any large operation would carry severe consequences,' says militant source.

Palestinian sources told Ynet that despite the increased attacks on the Negev, a ceasefire agreement was imminent.

During the session some 100 residents of Israel's battered southern region urged the cabinet to decide on Israel's response to the incessant rocket and mortar fire.

The head of the General Security Services (Shabak), Yuval Diskin, told the cabinet that Palestinian Authority militants in Gaza are already equipped with missiles capable of hitting the port of Ashdod and Kiryat Gat. According to Diskin, the enemy in Gaza must be defeated immediately if a greater escalation is to be avoided.

"Ever since the Philadelphi Route [between Gaza and Egypt] was breached, Hamas has "The threat to the State of Israel is growing exponentially." -- Shabak head Yuval Diskin been bringing high-quality weaponry into the Strip, which has made it possible to fire beyond Ashkelon, as far as Kiryat Gat and Ashdod," he warned.

Ashdod, the fifth largest city in Israel, is home to over 200,000 residents and Israel's largest port, accounting for sixty percent of the country's imported goods. It is located just under 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) north of Gaza. The inland city of Kiryat Gat, in the Southern District, is located 56 kilometers (35 miles) southeast of Tel Aviv.

"They already know how to operate sophisticated weapons there," Diskin said of the militants in Gaza. "They have not yet shut the door on the Egyptians' efforts [at brokering a temporary ceasefire], but they are preparing for the next round." According to Shabak estimates, if Hamas does not obtain all its goals in a temporary ceasefire agreement, "then there will be an even greater escalation."

Diskin told the ministers that Hamas in Gaza currently has firepower that must be "dealt with immediately. If you don't take care of this problem now, then it will become more severe. The more time passes, the operation that will eventually be carried out will cost more casualties and more dead soldiers."

Israel also fears an invasion of Gaza would cause high casualties among Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians, so it has not closed the doors on a ceasefire mediated by Egypt. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak will travel to Egypt to discuss a truce with Egyptian President Mubarak.

Under the truce proposal, both sides would halt attacks and Israel would lift its crippling blockade on Gaza. But Hamas has rejected two key Israeli conditions: an end to weapons smuggling from Egypt and the release of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held for nearly two years by Hamas militants in Gaza.

League of Arab States warned of the risks of the Israeli threats to invade the Gaza Strip, asserting that the Israeli escalation will destroy the peace process.

In a press statement, Mohammed Sbaih, assistant of League of Arab States (LAS) Secretary for Palestinian issues reiterated that the LAS strongly rejects the Israeli decision to build new housing units inside the colonies in Jerusalem.

He asserted that Jerusalem is a "red line" pointing out that the fate of Jerusalem cold not be determined by colonies or the Israeli electoral campaign.

Sbaih revealed that the coming LAS meeting, on June 15, will adopt a plan to face the Israeli running colonies.

Palestinian Interior Minister Riad Al-Maliki said that President Mahmoud Abbas' call for dialogue with Hamas is in accordance with a Yemeni-brokered agreement from earlier this year.

At the time of the announcement that Hamas and Fatah had agreed to resume direct talks in late March, prominent Fatah leaders had distanced themselves from the accord. The Arab League later gave their blessing to the "Sana'a Declaration" signed in the Yemeni capital, even though senior Fatah leader Ahmad Qurei said Fatah's representative signed the document due to a logistical mix-up. Al-Maliki's comments appeared to reverse that position.

Al-Maliki stated his hope that President Abbas' efforts will succeed in bringing an end to the current internal Palestinian crisis which he said has harmed the Palestinian cause.

President Mubarak received a message from Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on bilateral relations means of boosting cooperation in various domains and other issues of common concern.

Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Ali Mujawar conveyed the message at a meeting with President Mubarak. Mujawar is to lead his country's delegation to the joint committee meetings.

"Egypt and Yemen on underlined the importance of boosting economic relations and increasing investments between the two countries," Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif said to his Yemeni counterpart Mohammed Ali Mujawwar at the first session of the Egyptian-Yemeni higher committee meetings.

The two sides also called for exploring new prospects of cooperation and encouraging the private sector.

Nazif called for finding new spheres of investments between Egypt and Yemen, Cabinet spokesman Magdi Radi said.

Nazif urged finding new vistas of investment cooperation, such as the fishery domain, proposing establishing a joint Egyptian-Yemeni company, he added.

The Yemeni side voiced keenness to benefit from the Egyptian expertise in the medicine and medical treatment domains.

Nazif instructed the health and foreign ministries to facilitate the entry of Yemeni nationals into Egypt for medical reasons, Radi said.

Talks also touched on cooperation in energy, electricity, environment, scientific research and tourism, he added.

The two sides encouraged the private sector and major firms to do business in both countries, Radi noted.

The Egyptian-Yemeni balance of trade tilts in favor of Egypt, posting 107 million dollars in 2007.

The two sides are keen to increase this figure, he said.

The Prime Minister of the Gaza-based de facto government, Isma'il Haniyeh, said that his government and the Hamas movement would try their best to lay the groundwork for Palestinian national dialogue which he hopes will politically reunite the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Haniyeh's comments came during a visit he paid to Ahmad Shawqi Boys School and Al-Carmel Girls School in Gaza City to check up on security and order during the Palestinian General Secondary School Exam. Haniyeh noted that Palestinian students in both the West Bank and Gaza were taking the same exam.

He told reporters, "Exams are unified in both parts of the Palestinian homeland as a step on the way to geographical contiguity which we will endeavor to maintain in the future. I wish all students good luck so that they become good components of Palestinian society."

"We follow up with the Egyptian efforts to broker a ceasefire and to lift the siege, and we are trying to pave the way for unconditional Palestinian national dialogue regardless of any consideration to who won or who lost," Haniyeh added.

With regards to Israeli threats to undertake a major military operation in the Gaza Strip, Haniyeh said, "It is taken for granted that Israel does not seek our people's well being, however such threats do not scare the Palestinian people as they are nothing new. These threats actually reflect the political and security crisis Israel's leaders are facing due to the heroic steadfastness of our people and resistance."

Haniyeh also stressed that Israel does not wish to see the Palestinian people united, and so the Palestinians must choose unity.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said that he considers reaching a peace agreement with Israel by the end of 2008 to be impossible.

The agency said that talks regarding the establishment of a Palestinian state do not appear to have progressed since the Annapolis conference held in November 2007. Washington expressed its hope to reach a framework agreement before US President George W. Bush ends his term of office in January 2009.

Fayyad described Israel's continued settlement construction in the West Bank as an obstacle to any progress in the negotiations.

He added: "I have a strong feeling that we will not be able to reach an agreement by the end of this year."

Fayyad's statements echoed those made last week by Ahmad Qurei’, head of the Palestinian negotiating team, who said that reaching an agreement by the end of 2008 would require a "miracle."

When asked about Qurei’s statements last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert answered that "in the Middle East, he who believes in miracles is realistic."

Fayyad angered Israel when he sent a letter to the European Union last month accusing the Israeli government of ignoring Palestinian rights by continuing to build settlements in the West Bank and refusing to remove checkpoints that hinder Palestinian economic development.

Israel is seeking to keep large settlement blocs in the West Bank in any future peace agreement with the Palestinians, as well as a series of checkpoints in the West Bank to prevent attacks on Israel or the settlement blocs.

Fayyad told Reuters, "Even if reaching a peace agreement by this year is possible, we still cannot accept any continuation of settlement activities."

The Knesset approved in a preliminary reading an amendment to the Basic Law whereby Jerusalem would be considered not just the capital of Israel, but the capital of the Jewish people.

The amendment was submitted by the chairman of the National Unity - National Religious Party. It won coalition support and was passed by a majority of 58 to 12.

There is the Jerusalem of citizens and the Jerusalem of above, which we want all Jews to see as their home," Orlev said of the amendment".

MK Avhsalom Vilan, who voted against the bill, called it "complete nonsense" and said he worried it would cause the collapse of the peace process.

We're lying to ourselves for political reasons to make it impossible to reach a political solution in Jerusalem," he said. Vilan was referring to a right-wing proposal to include Jews from around the world in the decision-making process over Jerusalem."