Jerusalem - Israeli Foreign Minister and Vice Prime Minister Tzipi Livni condemned Thursday the terrorist attacks across Mumbai, saying they underscored once again that terrorism was the "greatest challenge" the world was facing today.

"There is nothing which justifies the unforgivable murder of innocent civilians and as such the international community must work together in the ongoing war against this despicable and evil phenomenon," she said in a statement by her office.

Jerusalem - United Nations aid agencies asked international donors Wednesday for 462 million dollars to help fund their activities in the Gaza Strip and West Bank in 2009, saying most of the money was needed for emergency food and cash assistance to Palestinians.

Around 274 million dollars is meant for UNWRA, the UN agency which assists Palestinians living in the refugee camps throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

Jerusalem - Major international media organizations protested against Israel Thursday because it has prevented journalists from entering the Gaza Strip for nearly two weeks now.

The media organizations sent a letter to caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, saying they were "gravely concerned" about the denial of access to the Gaza Strip to foreign journalists, which they called "unprecedented."

Jerusalem - Israel plans to release some 250 Palestinian militants from Israeli pr

Jerusalem - Israel allowed basic humanitarian aid into Gaza for the first time in almost two weeks Monday, but kept its border crossings shut to fuel and non-essential goods as a fragile truce which had largely held for five months further unravelled.

The collapsing Gaza truce overshadowed a meeting between Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem - Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Jerusalem Monday, with a collapsing Gaza truce high on their agenda.

The two leaders have been meeting regularly since they revived Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations for the first time in seven years at an international summit in Annapolis, Maryland, a year ago.

At the summit, they set out to reach a deal by the year's end, but

meeting that deadline became increasingly unlikely after Olmert resigned in September to fight corruption allegations, paving the way for early elections in Israel in February.