A police officer's apparent suicide has caused a security scare at a farewell for the French President in Israel.

Russia and Israel will be able to switch to a visa-free regime at the end of September, the Russian embassy in Israel said on Sunday.

An uneasy six-month truce between Israel and Palestinian militant factions in Gaza Strip led by Hamas came into force on Thursday amid widespread scepticism over how long the deal brokered by Egypt would hold.

Palestinian and Egyptian officials say Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas have reached a cease-fire agreement that will go into effect in Gaza on Thursday. Israel would not confirm the deal, but said a negotiator was rushing to Cairo to finalize details. Robert Berger at the VOA bureau in Jerusalem.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says the militant group and Israel may be close to signing a truce in the Gaza Strip.

The United States' top diplomat has arrived in the Middle East to try to give a boost to the peace process. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is pushing for a peace agreement before President Bush leaves office in January.

Recent reports indicating that Israel and Syria are indirectly engaged in Turkish brokered peace talks suggest a major (albeit overdue) development in the Mid-East peace-making process. Since the collapse of the Israeli-Syrian peace negotiations in May 2000, I have consistently been advocating the need for Israeli-Syrian reconciliation specifically because there is not a single dispute in the region that is not affected in one form or another by this conflict.

In a major setback to beleaguered Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defence Minister Ehud Barak threatened to topple the coalition government if the Israeli leader does not step down to face corruption charges based on Morris Talansky's reports.

The Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian met yesterday with Ehud Gol, Ambassador of Israel to Armenia to discuss further strengthening ties between the countries in the areas of travel, tourism, culture and politics.

The speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives is to address the Israeli Knesset, as she leads a congressional tour to show support for the Jewish state.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that Israel cabinet was "very close" to deciding on how to respond to continued rocket attacks from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni indicated Sunday Israel may uproot some of its West Bank settlements as part of a peace accord with the Palestinians. Livni spoke at the start of a meeting Sunday with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. VOA's David Gollust reports from Jerusalem.