Jimmy Carter tells the Israeli Council on Foreign Relations that Hamas leaders have told him that they would accept a peace deal with Israel negotiated with Palestinian authority. Also Hamas lets Shalit, the captured Israeli soldier in Hamas custody, to send another letter home, saying that he is in good health.

Jailed senior Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti says Palestinians are ready for peace with Israel, and he urges both sides to reach a cease-fire agreement as soon as possible.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he cannot speak about progress in the peace process with Israel until the two sides start putting a draft accord on paper.

Under U.S. pressure, Israel has begun easing travel restrictions for Palestinians in the West Bank. The move has aroused Israeli anxiety and Palestinian skepticism.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrapped up a three-day trip to the Middle East saying peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians are moving forward, but Israel needs to stop its settlement activities.

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the Middle East to try and push forward Israeli Palestinian peace talks.

Israel is extending an olive branch to Syria.

Israel says it will allow up to 600 foreign-trained Palestinian police to be deployed in the West Bank town of Jenin, site of frequent clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney says Hamas, with support from Iran and Syria, is trying to hinder peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.

An unofficial truce has taken effect in the Gaza Strip where Palestinian militants have nearly stopped rocket attacks against Israel. This lull follows a violent period in which more than 120 Palestinians were killed in recent Israeli military offensive.

Israeli officials say peace talks with the Palestinians will continue despite an attack by a Palestinian gunmen inside a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem that killed eight people and wounded 35 others.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the Israelis and Palestinians intend to resume peace talks - suspended after an Israeli offensive in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.