Shimon Peres is the ninth President of the State of Israel.

The UN in the Gaza Strip says it will run out of food aid in two days unless Israel’s blockade – which it describes as “shameful and unacceptable” – eases.
The UN refugee agency Unrwa, which distributes food to half of Gaza’s 1,5m people, called the blockade “a physical as well as a mental punishment”.
Israel is now allowing a limited amount of fuel across the border, but it is still blocking food deliveries.
It says it tightened sanctions because of rocket attacks by militants.
The Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, said …

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israeli aircraft fired missiles at militants in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinians sent rocket barrages flying into Israel, officials said, as newly resumed violence threatened to bury a five-month-old truce.
The renewed rocket fire from Gaza prompted Israel to seal its crossings with the territory, halting shipments of food aid and fuel.

Israeli President Shimon Peres has praised the king of Saudi Arabia for his Middle East peace initiative.
At an interfaith meeting at the United Nations, Mr Peres told King Abdullah he hoped his would be the “prevailing voice of the whole region”.
The Saudi plan, proposed in 2002, calls for Israel to withdraw from occupied land in exchange for Arab recognition.
King Abdullah organised the two-day conference in New York to promote a dialogue on religion and culture.

Citizens in the Gaza Strip are bracing for more electricity blackouts after Israel cut off fuel shipments to the territory’s only power plant.
Israel has closed crossings into Gaza, making it likely that electricity would be completely cut off in the territory from about 1600 GMT, Palestinian officials said.
Israel’s defence ministry closed the crossings on Sunday after Palestinian fighters fired rockets into southern Israel. No one was hurt in the attack.

Two brothers seized in Lebanon are accused of a role in the death of a Hezbollah chief. Two brothers held in Lebanon as Israeli spies are linked to a team responsible for the assassination of a notorious terrorist leader, Lebanese security sources have claimed.
Ali Jarrah, 50, a Lebanese citizen, and his brother Youssef, from Marj in the Bekaa valley, were arrested last week by the Lebanese army, which charged them with espionage. A third suspect has also been held, sources close to the investigation said. All three face the death …

JERUSALEM (AFP) — The UN special envoy to the Middle East on Saturday expressed alarm at Israel’s resumption of Palestinian house demolition in the occupied West Bank, warning it undermined peace efforts.
Robert Serry “is alarmed by the recent resumption of house demolitions in the West Bank after a freeze dating back to April this year,” his office said.

An Israeli businessman kidnapped in Ghana almost a week ago has escaped unharmed from his captors.
There are reports he was freed by Ghanaian security forces with the help of Israeli police.
Other reports say he simply slipped away from his captors in a taxi and then called the police.
The Jerusalem Post named the man as Dror Weinstein, a businessman in his 60s. His kidnappers had demanded $500,000 (£300,000) for his release.