JERUSALEM (CNN) — A European Union delegation is heading to the Middle East to meet with regional leaders and seek a Gaza cease-fire, officials said Saturday.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet the delegation Monday in Ramallah, West Bank, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said. Abbas then plans to head to New York for meetings at the United Nations, Erakat said.
Monday’s first meeting will involve members of the European Union leadership and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country just finished a six-month EU presidency. The Czech Republic, which took over the …

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israeli warplanes and gunboats blasted more than two dozen Hamas targets Saturday, including weapons storage facilities, training centers and leaders’ homes as Israel’s offensive against Gaza’s Islamic militant rulers entered a second week.
There were tentative signs that the current phase of fighting may be nearing an end. Most of the airstrikes targeted empty buildings and abandoned sites, suggesting Israel may be running out of targets.
Ground troops massed on the border, waiting for a signal to invade Gaza, but international cease-fire efforts were also gaining …

JERUSALEM — Israel stepped up its diplomatic activity on Thursday, possibly to try to gain more time for its rolling military offensive against Hamas in Gaza while keeping up airstrikes against the radical Islamic group’s infrastructure for a sixth day.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni left for a brief visit to France where she was to meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy and other French officials for “an exchange of opinions and ideas” and to share information about Israel’s intentions and plans, an Israeli official said. France is seeking ways to promote …

Israel has rejected calls for an immediate temporary ceasefire to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip after five consecutive days of aerial assault.
Yigal Palmor, a foreign ministry spokesman, said it was unrealistic to expect Israel to agree to a plan “with no mechanism to enforce the cessation of shooting and terror from Hamas”.
Israel’s security cabinet met on Wednesday to discuss the proposal made by France, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
“That proposal contained no guarantees of any kind that Hamas will stop the rockets and …

GAZA (Reuters) – Foreign powers stepped up calls on Israel and Hamas on Tuesday to halt hostilities after four days of Israeli air attacks on the Gaza Strip and rocket salvoes by the Islamist militants deep inside the Jewish state.
The Quartet of Middle East peace brokers — the United Nations, United States, Russia and European Union — urged an immediate cease-fire, a U.N. spokeswoman said after telephone consultations by the group’s foreign ministers.
Israeli warplanes destroyed Hamas targets for a fourth day, including five ministerial buildings and a structure belonging …

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The international community piled pressure on Israel to halt its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Monday, as raids on the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas entered their third day.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon added his voice to the 15-member Security Council’s call for an immediate end to hostilities and urged Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the poverty-stricken territory.
“He deplores that violence is continuing today, and he strongly urges once again an immediate stop to all acts of violence,” which has already left more than …

European and Russian leaders sought common ground on Friday on tackling the global financial crisis despite divisions over Georgia and European concerns about security and energy supplies from Russia.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, heading the EU side at a one-day summit in the French resort of Nice, and Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev will then fly directly to Washington to join the G20 meeting of top economies on the crisis.

France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy says he is concerned about Russia’s threat to deploy missiles near Poland and wants a summit on European security.
“We really must move forward… to remove sources of friction,” Mr Sarkozy said at a joint news conference with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

PEREVI, Georgia: Dozens of Georgians crowded onto a rickety bus Monday, clambering over one another to flee this remote mountain village, which has become a flash point of mounting tensions on the boundary of South Ossetia.
They left behind a nearly deserted village, whose remaining residents are afraid to come out onto the streets for fear of attracting the attention of Ossetian soldiers patrolling the area. Russian troops continued to withdraw from the main checkpoint at the western edge of Perevi, leaving Ossetians in charge of a tense population.

BRUSSELS — The European Union said Monday that it would resume negotiations with Russia that it had halted following Russia’s invasion of Georgia, in a significant step toward normalizing ties with Moscow.
On Sept. 1, the European Union froze talks with Russia on a strategic partnership agreement until Russian troops withdrew to positions they held before Aug. 7, the day hostilities broke out in South Ossetia, a breakaway region of Georgia. The decision was presented as a rare and bracing show of European unity.