Special report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts   

    TEHRAN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Attorney General Ghorbanali Dorri Najaf Abadi said on Monday that Iran was going to launch a legal action against Israel over Gaza issue, Iran's satellite Press TV website reported on Monday.

    "Iran will host an international meeting to review the legal aspects of the Gaza war in preparation for the prosecution of war criminals," Dorri Najaf Abadi said, adding that "the meeting would be held in March."

    The international event will study ways to bring those who committed war crimes during the 22-day Israeli war to justice, he said.

    Earlier in January, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demanded a trial of Israeli leaders.

    Ahmadinejad, during his address on Jan. 16 to an emergency Arab summit on Gaza held in the Qatari capital Doha, urged the international court of justice to prosecute Israeli leaders for "war crimes" in Gaza.

    "It is the most essential that Israel's political and military leaders stand trial for the acts of genocide they have committed against Palestinians," he was quoted as saying by Press TV.

    Iran never hesitated to pronounce its all-out support for Hamas during the three-week unprecedented Israeli air and ground offensive on Gaza, which left over 1,400 Palestinians killed and some 5,500 others wounded.  

Hamas offers one-year truce with Israel

    GAZA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Hamas movement has offered a one-year truce with Israel through indirect talks, sponsored by Egypt between the Islamic movement and Israel, a Hamas official said Monday.

    The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua on telephone that his movement accepts a one-year truce "with guarantees that Israel shows commitment to lift the siege and completely reopen crossings." Full story

Hamas rejects a long-term truce with Israel

    GAZA, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- Islamic Hamas movement's leaders Sunday rejected to reach a long-term ceasefire agreement with Israel, saying a ceasefire with a limited period of time is acceptable.

    Senior Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Radwan told reporters in Gaza that Hamas delegation heading to Cairo is "not to agree on a long-term ceasefire, but to discuss the reinforcing of the truce between Israel and Gaza factions." Full story

UN chief calls on regional, int'l leaders to help sustain Gaza truce

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Calling the halt to fighting in Gaza "fragile," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Friday called on leaders in the Middle East region and around the globe to help sustain it and allow the recovery of its devastated population.

    "I am relieved the fighting has ended, with the declaration of unilateral ceasefires and the withdrawal of Israeli troops," Ban said in statement delivered by Lynn Pascoe, UN under-secretary-general for political affairs, to an extraordinary meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Full story

Iran says Israeli truce indicates its defeat in Gaza

    TEHRAN, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A senior Iranian official considered Sunday Israel's unilateral truce as its defeat in Gaza, the official IRNA news agency reported.

    Ali-Reza Zaker Isfahani, chairman of the strategic studies at the Presidential Office, was quoted as saying that "Israel's unilateral cease-fire in Gaza indicated its absolute defeat" and "the Zionist regime in no longer capable of pursuing its vicious goals in the besieged area." Full story