Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas urged Christian pilgrims from around the world to visit the Holy Land to mark the visit of Pope Francis, set for 2014, in a Christmas message on Monday. The pontiff is to make a brief visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories from May 25, his first to the Holy Land, Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot said last week.

During the peak years of Palestinian suicide terrorist attacks , Israel was regularly dubbing somebody else as head of Hamas’ military wing in the West Bank. The particular individual’s true status or abilities as a handler of terrorists were not always commensurate with the title conferred on him by Israeli intelligence.

A year ago, Mohammed Assaf was a 23-year-old wedding singer in a Gaza refugee camp. But since he won the “Arab Idol” singing competition in June, in front of more than 100 million viewers, he has become something of a pop superstar in the Arab world. Now, Mr. Assaf is trying to conquer North America, or at least its people of Arab descent.

On December 9, 2013 at the World Bank senior officials from the Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly manage the shared water resources of the Red Sea, Jordan River, and the Sea of Galilee (commonly known as the Lake Tiberias or the Kineret).

An influential Saudi prince blasted the Obama administration on Sunday for indecision and a loss of credibility with allies in the Middle East, saying that American efforts to secure a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians would founder without a clear commitment from President Obama. “We’ve seen several red lines put forward by the president, which went along and became pinkish as time grew, and eventually ended up completely white,” said Prince Turki al-Faisal, the former intelligence chief of Saudi Arabia.

This has happened in recent days: The Dutch water company Vitens severed its ties with Israeli counterpart Mekorot; Canada’s largest Protestant church decided to boycott three Israeli companies; the Romanian government refused to send any more construction workers; and American Studies Association academics are voting on a measure to sever links with Israeli universities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that any agreement to emerge from newly restarted talks with the Palestinians will likely initially result in a “cold peace,” and therefore Israel must insist on “iron-clad security arrangements” to protect itself in case the accord collapses.

The Gaza Strip's ruling Hamas movement has cancelled its upcoming anniversary celebrations, for the first time since it came to power six years ago, as the territory grapples with economic woes. Hamas said it would be inappropriate to hold the annual celebrations, used to display the group's control on the region, as deep economic challenges rip the crowded coastal strip. "The decision to cancel the rally is a message of solidarity recognising the difficult circumstances experienced by our people in Gaza," Hamas official Ashraf Abu Zayed was quoted by AP news agency as saying.