All Blog Posts from World Watch

On Monday, Damascus-based Hamas poured cold water on any imminent deal for the release of an Israeli soldier captured more than three years ago, saying it was still premature to trumpet a happy ending.

Talk of a possible deal has moved to center stage with Israeli media saying that a Hamas delegation was heading to Cairo to discuss the latest list of prisoners Israel is prepared to release in a swap for Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit. Israeli President Shimon Peres heightened speculation after his talks with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Sunday, when he spoke of "real progress" in the negotiations.

"The brouhaha in the media talking about being close to reach an agreement on prisoner exchange deal is purely Israeli leaks designed to influence the feelings of our children, prisoners and their families and to try to pressure and influence on the process of indirect negotiations carried out through the German intermediary," a Hamas statement said. "Hamas will continue its efforts through the competent authority to overcome the obstacles set by the Israeli enemy in the way of completion of exchange … Although we hope to reach an honorable deal for our people as soon as possible, would like to emphasize that it is premature to talk about specific results … or close a deal."

Israeli newspapers said Hamas representatives had already crossed into Egypt from Gaza to meet the German mediator to debate a possible deal for the release of Shalit, captured by Hamas in a 2006 raid near the Israel-Gaza border. The militants tunneled into Israel and attacked an Israeli army outpost, killing two other soldiers.

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A top adviser to U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell said on Thursday the Obama administration is seeking to play a "balanced" role in its drive for peace in the Middle East.

Fred Hoff made his remarks, in a bid to test Syria's support for Washington's efforts, after lengthy talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem in Damascus.

"Mr. Hoff underlined the United States' quest to work for achieving comprehensive peace in the region and its determination to play its effective and balanced role for resuming peace negotiations on all tracks," said an official statement.

Meanwhile, the Israelis said they were ready to resume direct talks with Damascus if it distances itself from Iran and armed Islamist groups in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories that are arrayed against the Jewish state.

Syria dismissed the Israeli demand, insisting that any new negotiations should include assurances that it will recover the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 war.

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Members of a high-profile European parliamentary delegation are urging their governments to engage in direct talks with Hamas and end the Islamic movement's international isolation. The push comes after a marathon meeting Saturday between the delegation and Hamas's political leader Khaled Mashaal, who is in exile in Damascus.

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Foreign ministers and international aid groups will converge in the Egyptian summer resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday in a bid to reconstruct the Gaza Strip, devastated a month ago by three weeks of non-stop onslaught by Israeli forces. Facing the reconstruction efforts are tricky questions about how to devise a mechanism for funneling the necessary cash.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — who is arriving in this Red Sea resort on her first visit to the Middle East since joining the Obama administration — has said the United States would offer more than $900 million through the United Nations or the Palestinian Authority.

[Washington has no direct contact with Hamas, a group which remains on the State Department's list of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.]

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A top Hamas leader would not rule out the possibility of freeing Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit in return for releasing Palestinian prisoners, and indicated a Gaza truce accord between Israel and the Palestinian militant movement could be reached within the next few days.

"Throughout the talks that we have been making in Cairo, I think there might be positive results in the next few days on reaching an understanding on a truce with the Israelis," Hamas' Mousa Abul Marzouk told CBS News.

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Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said on Friday he would accept a long-term cease-fire with Israel if it would include an immediate lift of the 18-month blockade on the tiny, impoverished seaside Gaza Strip, and open its border crossings to allow humanitarian aid in to the 1.5 million people there.

"The enemy has given obscure and incomplete answers through Egypt that do not reach the level of lifting the siege," Mashaal told a rally in Damascus to celebrate the "victory" in Israel's 22-day military operation against Hamas, which left more than 1,300 Palestinians killed and some 5,000 wounded.

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Palestinian reconciliation was dealt a new blow Sunday when Hamas rejected Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' condition that the militant group should first recognize the supremacy of the PLO before they hold new talks.

In a speech at a Palestinian hospital in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, Abbas lashed out at the Islamist movement for its conduct during the three-week Gaza war, accusing the group of "irresponsible behavior" and of carrying out "an agenda which is not Palestinian."

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told a U.S. delegation Saturday that he was seeking to set off a "positive and constructive" dialogue with the United States, hoping to clench stronger ties between the two nations, reports CBS News' George Baghdadi.

Assad's outreach came during lengthy talks with a visiting U.S. congressional delegation headed by Democratic Rep. Adam Smith of Washington State, a rare visit seen by many diplomats here as an attempt to break the ice between Damascus and Washington.

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Nobody said it would be easy.

After three days of talks in Israel and the West Bank, U.S. envoy George Mitchell isn't optimistic, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger. Mitchell said the Gaza war "offers a sobering reminder of the very serious and difficult challenges and unfortunately the setbacks that will come.

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The official purpose of former Senator George Mitchell's' trip to the Mideast is fact-finding, and a new fact is about to emerge, one that informed sources in the West Bank call "politically explosive."

A 262-page secret government report first obtained by the respected daily paper Ha'aretz shows that the military has turned a blind eye to the expansion of Israeli settlements on Palestinian-owned land, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey.

Under international law the military is responsible for policing the occupied territories and safeguarding Palestinian rights, including land ownership.

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