Mahmoud Abbas

Urging that Middle East peace talks must move beyond a familiar pattern of taking "tentative steps forward and then stepping back," President Obama entered a meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this afternoon with a series of handshakes and a call for "flexibility." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas clasped one another's hands for a lengthy handshake, as television cameras captured the first few moments of their three-way meeting with Obama.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday underscored the complexity of resolving the Gaza Strip crisis when he insisted anew that his administration alone should be responsible for the coastal enclave's border crossings.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that he would agree to talks with the militant Islamic group Hamas, an apparent about-face that reflects dwindling hope for a U.S.-brokered peace with Israel. Hamas embraced the offer to end a year-old breach, a move that could jeopardize the Israeli and Western support that props up Abbas' more secular administration.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday outlawed the Hamas-led Interior Ministry's police force, the most powerful armed unit outside his control in factional fighting that has left 33 people dead in the last month. The ministry responded with defiance. It announced plans to double the size of the black-uniformed paramilitary force and vowed to resist Abbas' order that its 6,000 members be incorporated into the security apparatus loyal to the president's Fatah movement.

Kamel Ghannam, a 31-year-old Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade commander, is the kind of battle-hardened veteran that the Palestinian Authority president needs in his often-violent power struggle with Hamas. But President Mahmoud Abbas can't have him right now because the warrior is on Israel's "wanted terrorists" list. He is hiding to elude an Israeli army crackdown in the West Bank.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday implored Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for help moving stalled peace talks with Israel toward their final stage. Meeting with Rice during her five-day tour of the Middle East, Abbas said he was willing to push ahead to final negotiations "in back channels, in open channels, in secret channels, any way it can be achieved," said Saeb Erekat, a veteran Palestinian negotiator, who sat in on part of the discussions.

A day after agreeing with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on a way to move toward peace with the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert toured a stretch of the West Bank separation barrier Tuesday. But his talking points demonstrated the gap in expectations Rice will face when she returns to the region next month for three-way talks with Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israeli officials said Friday that they had transferred $100 million in withheld revenues to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to the move during a meeting with Abbas last month. Israel began withholding about $50 million monthly in taxes and customs duties last year after the militant Hamas movement took control of the Palestinian government following elections.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the exiled chief of the rival Hamas faction failed Sunday night to resolve their differences over forming a unity government, dashing hopes for a quick end to deadly clashes between their supporters. But Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said in a statement that they had "achieved major progress" during their first meeting since July 2005, and that they hoped to resume talks within two weeks.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas wrangled Sunday for more than two hours over differences that have blocked a resumption of substantive peace talks, but they achieved little more than a pledge to keep meeting regularly.