Mahmoud Abbas

President Bush said Monday that his administration would sponsor a fall meeting of Israeli, Palestinian and Arab leaders to try to revive Middle East peace efforts aimed at the creation of an independent Palestinian state. Bush, seeking to build support for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in his power struggle with the militant Hamas movement, said the United States also was prodding other countries, including Arab states, to step up donations to Abbas' government. He said U.S.

Israel will release 250 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Monday as he and Arab leaders met here to shore up Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and search for fresh peacemaking opportunities. The summit, which was held by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and included King Abdullah II of Jordan, produced no breakthroughs.

For much of the last week, Fatah gunmen in black masks have ruled the streets here, abducting rivals, looting or burning their property, and intimidating elected officials inside the Hamas-run City Hall. Demoralized by Hamas' military defeat of their comrades in the Gaza Strip, the gunmen are sowing retribution across the West Bank.

The violent divorce between the main Palestinian factions has provided a second wind for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, two weak leaders whose earlier attempts at peacemaking went nowhere.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has steadfastly resisted full-fledged peace talks with the Palestinians, held a wide-ranging discussion with their leader Sunday on relations between Israel and a future Palestinian state. Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met for two hours; aides attended the first half and then left the two to talk one on one. The leaders issued no statements afterward, leaving the aides to give somewhat differing accounts.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.