The diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East – comprising the United Nations, European Union, Russian Federation and the United States – supported US President Bush’s call for an international meeting in the fall.

The Quartet of international mediators to the Middle East conflict gather in Lisbon today to discuss the humanitarian crisis on Palestinian territories aggravated by internal conflict.

The United States and its partners in the international Quartet trying to encourage peace between the Palestinians and Israel will meet in Portugal next week with the group's new representative, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says stopping the killing and finding a political solution in the Darfur region of Sudan remain his highest priorities. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from London, the U.N. chief has been meeting with Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair.

Middle East mediators will meet with Tony Blair Tuesday for the first time since his appointment as a top peacemaking envoy to the Middle East, a senior Russian diplomat said Monday.

For the first time ever, the 22-nation Arab League is set to send a delegation to Israel. Its mission: to discuss a sweeping peace initiative with the Jewish state, as well as the threat posed by Hamas and other Islamic extremist movements.

The Arab League and the government of Israel both welcomed the appointment of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as a top peacemaking envoy to the Middle East.

In an interview published Thursday Tony Blair said that would begin working as a Middle East envoy immediately and travel to the region as early as next month.

Palestinian and Israeli leaders, along with the King of Jordan and Egypt's president, have gathered for a four-party summit in Egypt to discuss ways of resuming the Middle East peace process.

Palestinians are grappling this week with a new political reality - the Palestinian territories are now effectively split between Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. VOA's Jim Teeple reports from our Jerusalem bureau the split is likely to fundamentally change how Israel, western donor nations and Israel's neighbors such as Egypt deal with the Palestinians.

Foreign ministers of Arab League countries will hold an emergency session in Cairo Friday on the situation in Palestine and Lebanon, the secretary general of the 22-nation bloc said Thursday.

Four international mediators in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians will gather for their next meeting in Cairo June 26-27, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday.