JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli settlers damaged houses and cars in two Palestinian villages on Tuesday, witnesses said, in an apparent show of anger over Israel’s demolition of homes in an unauthorized settler outpost.

Villagers in Hiwwara in the occupied West Bank said settlers threw petrol bombs into a house, broke the windows of another, and burned several cars in the overnight rampage before moving on to nearby Burin, where Israeli soldiers prevented them from attacking a mosque.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel and Egypt’s new military rulers have made initial contact and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday welcomed their pledge to stand by Cairo’s peace treaty with the Jewish state.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of Egypt’s Higher Military Council, spoke by telephone on Saturday, a ministry spokeswoman said, declining to give further details.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A Palestinian gunman opened fire at Israeli soldiers, who shot back and killed him, near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank on Thursday, the military said.

The incident seemed likely to fuel concern in Israel that Palestinian attacks against Israelis in the occupied West Bank, which have largely subsided in the past few years, could increase if peace talks remain frozen.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak broke away on Monday from the Labor Party he leads, splitting the once-dominant center-left movement in a step that could give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost.

Barak, who is likely to remain defense chief, had been under pressure within Labor, a junior partner in the governing coalition, to press Netanyahu to move more quickly toward an elusive peace agreement with the Palestinians.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli bulldozers cleared the way for 20 new homes for Jews in East Jerusalem by demolishing a derelict hotel Sunday, in a settlement project that angered Palestinians and drew criticism from the United States.

Construction at the Shepherd Hotel compound, whose ownership is contested, was likely to deepen Israeli-Palestinian acrimony as Washington tries to revive peace talks. The negotiations are stalled by a dispute over Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas captured in a 1967 war.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli bulldozers cleared the way on Sunday for 20 new homes for Jews in East Jerusalem, demolishing a derelict hotel in a settlement project that has angered Palestinians and drawn U.S. objections.

Construction at the Shepherd Hotel compound, whose ownership is contested, was likely to deepen Israeli-Palestinian acrimony as Washington tries to revive peace talks stalled by a dispute over Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas captured in a 1967 war.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, trying to keep his coalition intact before a vote this week on Israel’s budget, has opted to play the diplomat in a flare-up with his fiery foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman.

Commentators accused Netanyahu of kowtowing to the ultranationalist Lieberman at the expense of Israel’s international image, but agreed a coalition crisis had been averted for now and predicted the budget would pass.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, trying to keep his coalition intact before a vote this week on Israel’s budget, has opted to play the diplomat in a flare-up with his fiery foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman.

Commentators accused Netanyahu of kowtowing to the ultranationalist Lieberman at the expense of Israel’s international image, but agreed a coalition crisis had been averted for now and predicted the budget would pass.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An American tourist was stabbed to death and another woman wounded while hiking in foothills outside Jerusalem, Israeli police said on Sunday.

“We are examining whether this is a nationalistic stabbing, but other leads are being examined as well,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, using Israel’s term for an attack by Palestinian militants.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – An American tourist was stabbed to death and another woman wounded while hiking in foothills outside Jerusalem, Israeli police said on Sunday.

“We are examining whether this is a nationalistic stabbing, but other leads are being examined as well,” police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, using Israel’s term for an attack by Palestinian militants.