Ehud Barak approved construction in West Bank. Scheme cuts farmers’ access to land, say critics.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Tuesday freed the most senior of dozens of Hamas politicians in custody, prompting speculation it was a prelude to a deal for the release of an Israeli soldier held by Palestinians for three years.

Jerusalem – Israeli PublicSecurityMinister Yitzhak Aharonovitch visited the flashpoint Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif compound in Jerusalem’s old city Tuesday, setting off a storm of protest among Muslims, who called the tour a ‘provocation.’

The British government has refused to heed a petition calling on the UK to impose an arms embargo on Israel and press other countries to stop supplying arms to the Jewish state.

But a future Palestine must be ‘demilitarized,’ and the Jewish settlements won’t be halted, Israel’s leader says.