Israel will release more Palestinian prisoners this week in a bid to advance the peace process. Israel agreed to free another 90 Palestinian prisoners to try to bolster President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of a US-sponsored conference on Palestinian statehood, officials said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traveled to the West Bank town of Ramallah to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The talks focused on a document on Palestinian statehood to be presented at an international peace conference in the United States, possibly in November.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaves Washington Tuesday for another round of talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders, leading up to a U.S.-hosted regional conference planned for November. A senior Rice aide says it is a very important moment for efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to set up joint negotiating teams to resolve key points of contention in the lead-up to a U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference in November.

Egyptian officials have told European politicians a peace conference that fails to achieve a breakthrough between Israelis and Palestinians will add to anger, frustration, and extremism in the Middle East. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is hosting a round of high-level talks in Alexandria in an apparent bid to reassert Egypt's diplomatic role in the region.

Expectations are low for a Middle East peace agreement despite progress reported at a summit meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday. As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, suspicions run deep on both sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will meet on Tuesday in Jerusalem to prepare the ground for the November's peace summit.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet in the West Bank town of Jericho Monday, a media adviser to the Palestinian leader said Saturday.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Israel is ready to discuss "fundamental issues" with Palestinians who are now governed by leaders accepted by the Jewish state and the West.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Palestinian leaders Thursday on the final day of her Middle East tour aimed at gaining support for a U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace conference later this year.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held talks with senior Israeli officials Wednesday to try to restore momentum to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. She came to Jerusalem from Saudi Arabia, where she obtained a qualified Saudi endorsement of the Middle East meeting the United States plans to host this autumn.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will begin laying the ground for a Mideast peace conference in a visit to Israel on Wednesday, hoping to push Israelis and Palestinians closer to renewing talks.