The display shouldn't be so shocking. President Barack Obama was a professor before a politician, and that scholarly charm and cool helped get him elected. As if explaining a basic science problem - what goes up must come down, and vice versa - Obama calmly dismissed the suggestion that US-Israeli relations have reached a crisis. "We and the Israeli people have a special bond that's not going to go away, but friends are going to disagree sometimes. There is a disagreement in terms of how we can move this peace process forward." 

At least 11 people have been injured in an Israeli air strike at an airport in southern Gaza, Palestinian medical officials and witnesses said. The strike targeted Gaza's defunct international airport, located near the town of Rafah, late on Friday, witnesses said. The Israeli army told Al Jazeera that the attack targeted "a terror site" and said its pilots confirmed that the target was hit. 

Israel yesterday came under renewed fire from the international community for its settlement policy in occupied East Jerusalem, in the latest sign of tensions between the Jewish state and key allies. The Middle East Quartet - made up of the US, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations - condemned a controversial Israeli plan, revealed last week, to build another 1,600 homes for Jewish settlers in Arab East Jerusalem. It also called for the speedy creation of a Palestinian state and an end to "provocative actions" on both sides. 

The international Quartet of Middle East peace mediators has urged Israel to freeze all settlement activity. Speaking for the Quartet, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned Israel's announcement of plans to build new homes in disputed East Jerusalem. That move undermined efforts to restart indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks. 

The Quartet of Middle East negotiators has demanded that Israel halt all settlement activity and denounced Israel's plan to build new housing in East Jerusalem. The Quartet's comments came at a news conference in Moscow on Friday, following a meeting by the group, which brings together the United Nations, the US, the EU and Russia. Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary-general, read a joint statement by the group, saying that the Quartet "urges the government of Israel to freeze all settlement activities." 

Two members of the international quartet of Middle East mediators suggested today that stalled indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians may be unblocked in coming days. Speaking after a meeting in Moscow of the group - comprising the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia - quartet envoy Tony Blair told Reuters he hoped for a package of measures to get the talks started.
 

Israeli aircraft have launched a series of strikes on Gaza, striking multiple targets in the strip. The raids came after Israel threatened a "strong" response following the firing of a rocket from Gaza earlier on Thursday. The rocket attack killed a Thai man working on a farm near Ashkhelon. It was the first death caused by a missile launched from the strip since the end of Israel's war on Gaza in January 2009. 

***image1***The EU's new foreign policy chief has been in Gaza on one of the highest level visits there by a Western official since Hamas took power. Baroness Ashton's trip comes amid a new push by the EU and US to revive stalled Middle East peace talks. The international quartet of Middle East mediators - the EU, US, UN and Russia - is to meet in Moscow later. As Lady Ashton arrived, militants in Gaza fired a rocket into Israel, killing a man, Israeli officials said.