At a time of simmering Mideast tensions and rising malaise, a group of French chefs recently visited the West Bank to bring a little joie de vivre to Palestinian kitchens.

An elderly woman is suing Israel's national airline for sexism, after she was asked to move seats because a man refused to sit next to her.

The serenity of Majdal Shams leaves Edna Heled at peace.

The British Government intends to ban public institutions in the country from themselves banning the purchase of goods from Israel.

Young liberals have made a video of Israelis and Palestinians kissing each other in response to a book being banned.

Benjamin Netanyahu has likened a decision by the European Union to label goods from Israeli settlements to the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses.

An African man shot by an Israeli guard who mistook him for an assailant was then kicked by a mob as he lay bleeding before he died.

Arab neighbourhoods in Jerusalem are expected to be sealed off and soldiers placed in city centres to support the police amid rising bloodshed and unrest.

Israeli leaders proposed harsh new measures to curb "Jewish terrorism" after a wave of extremist violence left Israeli and Palestinian children dead in knife and arson attacks.

The Abuoda family live in West Bank and have no access to additional funding from a welfare system or from UNRWA, the United Nations refugee agency for Palestinians.

NZ has told members of the UN Security Council that there is a window of opportunity for the council to act to restart negotiations in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

Now that it is our turn to chair the United Nations Security Council Murray McCully says we will attempt to revive peace talks between Israel and Palestine. Not an easy task.

A Kiwi journalist has arrived home safely after being detained by Israeli military on an activist ship seeking to break a blockade of Gaza.

Two Maori Television journalists are expected to arrive in New Zealand from Israel tomorrow, after the activist ship they were on board was detained by the Israeli navy.

Druze in the Golan Heights can only watch as jihadi forces attack the town that is home to their relatives.

An ambitious attempt to spy on foreign ministers as they negotiated over Iran's nuclear programme has come to light.

Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre is visited by Christians from everywhere, writes Kate Shuttleworth.

Atriumphant Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be on a new collision course with Barack Obama after the US President bluntly restated his belief in a Palestinian state and criticised the Israeli leader's election campaign tactics.

Israel is facing the prospect of its first national unity government in 30 years.

With portraits of the late Menachem Begin on prominent display, the bustling Jerusalem market should have been comfortable home turf for Benjamin Netanyahu.

Pakistan has test-fired a ballistic missile able to carry a nuclear warhead to every part of India. Yesterday's test was another escalation in Islamabad's effort to keep pace with its neighbouring rival's formidable military advancements.

Though just over one week remains before Israel votes for a new parliament, there's not much of an election buzz in Nazareth, the biggest majority-Arab city in the country.

A Palestinian family of six sleep in one bedroom in a cramped, damp and mouldy three-room home.

The Mayor of Jerusalem helped wrestle a man with a knife to the ground after an ultra-Orthodox Jew was stabbed at a busy intersection.

The Government is doubtless pleased with what it will see as an elegant solution to a problem triggered last year by the appointment of New Zealand's ambassador to Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

An Israeli conductor collapsed and died in the middle of a performance as horrified audience members looked on.

King Abdullah, who has ruled Saudi Arabia since August 2005 and sought to modernise the ultraconservative Muslim kingdom, has died.

A diverse and stunning coral reef is in danger of becoming the next victim of one of Israel's worst environmental disasters.