Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has signed a decree changing the name of the Palestinian Authority to the "State of Palestine," according to the organization's official news agency.
According to the decree, official stamps, signs and official letterhead will be changed and hold the new name of "the State of Palestine."
Palestinians have long been pushing for official statehood. It was granted "nonmember observer state" status after a vote at the United Nations vote in November.
If you're confused about whether something similar to this has already happened, you can read our explainer, that gives details about what the recent Palestinian moves mean.
Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman will be charged with breach of trust and fraud, Israel's Justice Ministry announced Thursday.
Liberman will not face more serious corruption charges including money laundering and witness tampering, charges that have been leveled against him.
Liberman is suspected of illicitly obtaining about $3 million through a number of shell companies. The alleged crimes date back to before Liberman became foreign minister in 2009.
The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday endorsed an upgraded U.N. status for the Palestinian Authority, despite intense opposition from the United States and Israel.
The resolution elevates their status from "non-member observer entity" to "non-member observer state," the same category as the Vatican, which Palestinians hope will provide new leverage in their dealings with Israel.
Explaining the Palestinians' U.N. bid
Palestinian leaders had been working with dozens of supporting nations to develop a formal draft, enlisting the backing of European countries such as France and Spain. Germany abstained from the vote.
FULL STORYA fragile truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to hold amid reports Friday that Israeli troops opened fire near the Gaza border, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding 19, Hamas security and health officials said.
The shooting happened east of Khan Younis, a border city in Gaza, when a group of protesters and farmers approached the 300-meter "no man's land" between Israel and Gaza, according to Hamas security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
FULL STORYAn arrest has been made in Wednesday's bombing in Tel Aviv of a bus, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman Thursday.
"He is an Arab-Israeli from Taybe & was a member of Hamas," said the spokeswoman, Avital Leibovich, in a Twitter posting about the attack, in which 24 people were wounded. Taybe is a village in the West Bank.
Israeli police said that the bomb was detonated by a cell phone and that the suspect was from Ramallah on the West Bank.
FULL STORY
Editor's note: CNN has crews in Israel, Gaza and around the region reporting on the hours-old cease-fire and fallout from the upsurge in the Gaza-Israel conflict, which extended eight days. Here are some of their stories:
[Updated 6:17 p.m. ET Wednesday]
#Gaza victory party petering out, people going home. I can hear the drones again.
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benwedeman (@bencnn) November 21, 2012now that it seems most residents have gone home & streets quieted down, can hear the drones again #gaza
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Arwa Damon (@arwaCNN) November 21, 2012The talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do to avoid it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff debate.
Today's programming highlights...
Continuing coverage - Crisis in the Middle East
Editor's note: CNN has crews in Israel, Gaza and around the region reporting on the latest attacks, talks and fallout from the upsurge in the Gaza-Israel conflict. Here are some of their stories:
[Updated 8:35 a.m. ET Wednesday]
A bomb exploded on a bus in Tel Aviv as it passed by Israeli army headquarters around noon local time Wednesday. The attack, which police said left at least 22 people injured, shook up the Israeli public and threatened to complicate efforts to achieve a cease-fire on the eighth day of violence between Israel and Gaza.
At the scene of the bus bombing, police cordoned off the street as ambulances arrived. CNN's Sara Sidner said there is a hospital nearby. Sidner said the injured included people on the bus and people who were on the street.
[Updated 9:21 p.m. ET Tuesday]
[Updated 9:17 p.m. ET]
Massive strike right behind Shurouq building...multiple hits. Broke quiet of several hours #gaza
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benwedeman (@bencnn) November 20, 2012[Updated 5:14 p.m. ET Tuesday]
Ministry of health spokesman in #gaza tells cnn that casualties now 137 dead and more than 1,100 injured
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Arwa Damon (@arwaCNN) November 20, 2012U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem for more than two hours to discuss the ongoing violence between Israel and Hamas.
"They discussed efforts to de-escalate the situation and bring about a sustainable outcome that protects Israel's security and improves the lives of civilians in Gaza," according to a state department spokeswoman.
Clinton is headed next to Ramallah, to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and then to Cairo, where she will meet with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy.
FULL STORYEditor's note: CNN has crews in Israel, Gaza and around the region reporting on the latest attacks, talks and fallout from the upsurge in the Gaza-Israel conflict, which has lasted nearly a week. Here are some of their stories:
[Updated 8:40 a.m. ET Tuesday]
resident: leaflets dropped by #israel warn residents in some areas of #gaza close 2 border to leave immediately and go to #gaza city
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Arwa Damon (@arwaCNN) November 20, 2012Moments after we saw rocket fired from #gaza our Jerusalem bureau reported hearing sirens followed by a thud
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Arwa Damon (@arwaCNN) November 20, 2012Israel has completed its planning and is prepared to go ahead with a ground invasion into Gaza if necessary, the Israeli ambassador to the United States said Monday.
Michael Oren underscored that Israel would like to avoid a ground operation, but is ready to act if needed. The ambassador spoke to reporters at a briefing at Israel’s embassy in Washington.
FULL STORYPressure is mounting for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian violence that has left dozens dead and hundreds wounded, with the U.N chief flying to the region to appeal for a cease-fire.
Meanwhile, the head of Egyptian intelligence has given an Israeli delegation a letter for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu containing Hamas conditions for a cease-fire, a general in Egyptian intelligence told CNN. There was no immediate confirmation from Israel.
FULL STORYPresident Barack Obama called Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy on Saturday to discuss the ongoing violence in Gaza.
Egypt's intelligence chief is spearheading talks with Hamas and Israel to forge a stop to the three days of warring that has engulfed Gaza and the Jewish state and head off an Israeli ground offensive into the besieged Palestinian territory.
Obama praised Egypt's efforts to de-escalate the situation, and said he hoped they worked. He also expressed regret for the loss of civilian lives.
FULL STORYIsrael's Cabinet on Friday approved the activation of up to 75,000 reservists given the conflict, said the spokesman for the prime minister.
Israel's military said earlier in the day that 30,000 troops are being mobilized for a possible move into Gaza.
Rockets landed near Israel's two most populous cities as fighting between Israel and Hamas militants persisted with no immediate end in sight.
FULL STORY
Ahmed al-Ja'abari, head of Hamas' military wing, was killed Wednesday in Gaza by an Israeli "surgical" strike, the Israeli military announced.
A spokesman for the Hamas-run government in Gaza confirmed that al-Ja'abari was killed in an Israeli strike. "Israel is announcing the war in Gaza and Israel will carry the responsibility for killing Ahmed Jabri," Tahar Eanono said in a written message.
Militants in Gaza have been firing dozens of rockets into southern Israel, and Israel has struck back.
The Israeli military tweeted earlier today:
The IDF has begun a widespread campaign on terror sites & operatives in the #Gaza Strip, chief among them #Hamas & Islamic Jihad targets.
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IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 14, 2012[Update 12:44 p.m.] The Israeli military says more than 85 rockets from Gaza have hit Israel since yesterday. "In the past two days, Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip have dramatically escalated their attacks against Israel — firing an anti-tank missile at an IDF jeep as well as launching barrages of rockets at Israeli civilians," the Israel Defense Forces says.
The Palestinian official news agency WAFA posted this photo, saying it was taken in Gaza today after an Israeli strike. WAFA did not give an exact location. Israel has said it targeted a rocket-launching squad in Gaza.
This photo shows Israelis running for cover as a siren wailed in the city of Ashkelon in southern Israel, warning people of more rocket attacks coming in from Gaza, on Saturday night.
[Update 10:22 a.m.] Today's firing of warning shots into Syria - in response to apparent spillover violence from the internal conflict in Syria - marks the first time since 1973 that Israel has fired into Syria across the Golan Heights. After the Yom Kippur War, an international agreement was established between Syria and the Israel, mandated by the United Nations, establishing a demilitarized zone in the region.
Israel's move today came after the fourth time in ten days that the Syrian conflict spilled over into Israel, the Israeli military said.
The complaint Israel filed with the United Nations is the third in the past 10 days.
Syrian tanks entered the Golan Heights demilitarized zone last week and fired into Syria; bullets fired at the tanks in response struck an Israeli military vehicle in part of the Golan Heights that Israel claims as its own. Mortars also fell in part of the Golan that Israel considers its territory. No one was injured, the Israeli military said.
"“We interpret it as pinpoint leaks into Israel territory," said Avital Leibovich, spokeswoman for the Israeli military. "It’s totally internal conflict in Syria. We believe that Israel is not the target here. We are looking at either stray bullets or stray mortars."
[Posted 8:05 a.m.] Israel fired warning shots toward Syria today after a mortar shell hit an Israeli military post, the Israel Defense Forces said.
An Israeli airstrike east of Khanunis City in Gaza early Sunday left a 25-year-old man dead and another militant seriously injured, according to medical sources and the military wing of Hamas.
The two belonged to Hamas’ Izzedine al Qassam brigade, which three hours earlier fired mortars into Israel.
The airstrike reportedly occurred after an Israeli incursion into Palestinian territory.
Sudan remained defiant and angry Thursday after a fatal late-night bombing of a weapons factory in that east African country - a sophisticated attack a Sudanese official continued to blame on Israel.
"This cowardly act makes Sudan now a confrontation state," said the government's information minister, Ahmed Bilal Osman.
Israel has declined comment on that attack, including Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Two people were killed when warplanes struck the weapons factory around midnight Tuesday, according to Osman.
Sudan says Israel bombed a weapons factory overnight, killing two people.
Sudanese officials originally said the explosion took place inside the facility near a residential area in southern Khartoum. But by afternoon, officials announced that the blast came after four airplanes flew overhead. A resident told CNN he saw two planes and a flash of light coming from them, followed by the sounds of rockets being fired.
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