AMMAN – An Israeli plan to release a batch of Palestinian prisoners as a "goodwill gesture" and "confidence-building measure" to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, does not signal the end of detention of thousands of other prisoners, but it could bring the outgoing Israeli government closer to securing the release of an Israeli soldier held by Hamas.

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents foreign journalists in Israel, is taking the Israeli government to court. Israel has refused to allow the foreign media into Gaza to report first hand on the escalating humanitarian crisis there as Israel continues to keep the coastal territory sealed from the outside world for the third consecutive week.

GAZA CITY, Gaza -- Half of Gazas bakeries have closed down and the other half have resorted to animal feed to produce bread as Israels complete blockade of the coastal territory enters its 19th day.

AMMAN -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has launched an unusual kind of peace campaign, by targeting the Israeli public with paid advertisements in major Hebrew-language newspapers to promote the Arab peace initiative.

Israel is once again trying to teach the Palestinians, especially Hamas, the Islamist group in control of the Gaza Strip, a lesson that it has repeatedly failed to do despite its overpowering military arsenal. One would think that the Israeli establishment, now in a state of disarray thanks to the discredited leadership of the outgoing prime minister, Ehud Olmert, would realize that a new approach is needed if it wants to live side by side in peace with the Palestinians.

GAZA CITY, Gaza -- Israel has banned foreign journalists from entering Gaza to cover the deteriorating humanitarian situation there as the country s complete closure of the territory enters a third week.

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised on Monday to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that Israel would release 250 Palestinian prisoners next month ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

U.S. President-elect Barack Obamas historic election victory may have done a lot more for Israeli moderates than just boost the election prospects of the Kadima party and its new leader Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. A remarkable public speech by one of the Jewish states espionage chiefs Monday suggests that Obamas emergence is encouraging Israeli doves to spread their wings, even in the military high command.

CAIRO – African migrants trying to sneak into Israel from Egypt along the lengthy Sinai border, often with little more than the clothes on their backs, are being gunned down by Egyptian police carrying out a new "shoot-to-kill" deterrence policy, a human rights group says in a damning report that also claims Israel may be involved.

Barack Obama should not miss this golden opportunity come Jan. 20 when he takes over as the nations 44th president. Three other U.S. presidents who preceded him have tried their hand, often half-heartedly, but could not seriously strive for a reasonable solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, brewing since 1948.