Ban Ki-moon

(AP) JERUSALEM - Israel on Thursday rejected calls from the United Nations and others for an international investigation of its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla but left the door open to foreign involvement.

Israel says the commandos used force, killing nine people, only after activists attacked them with knives, crowbars and clubs, as well as two pistols grabbed from raiders. Activists who had set sail for Gaza with tons of aid, hoping to break Israel's 3-year-old blockade of Gaza, say Israeli commandos fired first.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. Security Council called early Tuesday for an "impartial" investigation of Israel's deadly commando raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and condemned the "acts" that resulted in the loss of at least nine lives.

After an emergency meeting and marathon negotiations that lasted nearly 12 hours, the 15 council members finally agreed on a presidential statement. It was weaker than what was initially demanded by the Palestinians, Arabs and Turkey because of objections by the United States, Israel's closest ally.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting Monday on Israel's deadly commando raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip, with the Palestinians and Arab nations demanding condemnation and an independent investigation.

The Palestinians and Arabs, backed by a number of council members including Turkey, also called for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza, immediately release the ships and humanitarian activists, and allow them to deliver their goods.

UNITED NATIONS - Iran was criticized from all sides - from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, from the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano and from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. And so was Israel (but not India and Pakistan) for its undeclared nuclear arsenal.

However, Iran may have the last laugh since the month-long unwieldy conference on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), can only adopt resolutions or outcome documents by consensus.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Wednesday voiced hope that the Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks would begin "shortly" during a meeting Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank — Visiting U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said Saturday that Israeli settlement building anywhere on occupied land is illegal and must be stopped, while a Palestinian teenager was killed in clashes with Israeli troops elsewhere in the West Bank.

UN chief Ban Ki-Moon visited Gaza and blamed Israel for its economic woes but ignored Hamas’s smuggling of weapons for use against Israel.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Visiting U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said Saturday that Israeli settlement building anywhere on occupied land is illegal and must be stopped, while a Palestinian teenager was killed in clashes with Israeli troops elsewhere in the West Bank.

Visiting the West Bank, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon plans to send a message of support for a Palestinian state and a return to negotiations.

President Shimon Peres was told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hoped to visit the region in the coming year.