MIDEAST: Under the Bombing, A Girl Child Called Hope

Ghalia Hussein's husband refused to evacuate their Rafah home near the Israeli border amid heavy bombardment during the recent 22-day siege. Struck by a missile at the top of their stairs, he bled to death while ambulances attempted to reach him. He left Ghalia three children, a destroyed home, and no income to speak of.

MIDEAST: Trapped Between the Wall and the Green Line

"They started smashing down doors at 2am last Wednesday before moving through homes and destroying property," says the mayor of Jayyus, Muhammed Taher Shamasni.

MIDEAST: The Ball Could be in Israel's Court

Israel's outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rode roughshod over those who piously argue that sport and politics ought not to play in the same arena.

Q&A: 'Hamas Won't Give In To Blackmail' *

At the eleventh hour, just as a permanent ceasefire painfully mediated by the Egyptians after weeks of intensive shuttle diplomacy was about to take effect, Israel suddenly changed its preconditions for a settlement with Hamas.

EGYPT: Israel Ditches the Go-Between

Senior Egyptian officials have indicated that the new demands raised by Israel for ceasefire could affect the peace negotiations between Israel and Hamas being brokered by Egypt.

MIDEAST: Border Politics Slows Aid to Gaza

Egyptian authorities are continuing to prevent humanitarian aid from crossing the border into the Gaza Strip, according to local sources.

IRAQ: Doctors in Hiding Treat as They Can

Seventy percent of Iraq's doctors are reported to have fled the war-torn country in the face of death threats and kidnappings. Those who remain live in fear, often in conditions close to house arrest.

MIDEAST: Hamas Offered a Bullet to Bite

Israel's outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert is risking a crisis of confidence with Egypt by insisting that a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas precede any Egyptian-mediated ceasefire arrangement to end the Gaza war.

IRAQ: Still Homeless in Baghdad

"We only want a normal life," says Um Qasim, sitting in a bombed out building in Baghdad. She and others around have been saying that for years.

MIDEAST: Israel Braces for Wave of Lawsuits

Israel is bracing for a wave of lawsuits accusing the Jewish state of substantial human rights violations during its 22-day military assault on Gaza which left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead and nearly 5,000 wounded, more than half of them civilian.

MIDEAST: Hamas Pushed to the Wall Over Ceasefire

Israel is toughening its negotiating stance with Hamas as the two try to hammer out a permanent ceasefire agreement.

MIDEAST: Waiting to See Who Blinks First

An indiscreet whisper following a hastily scribbled note around the Israeli cabinet table exposed the deepening political stand-off in the wake of last week's inconclusive elections.

MIDEAST: News Coverage Throws Up Arab Rifts

Coverage of Israel's recent war on the Gaza Strip by regional news stations has reflected longstanding political divisions within the Arab world. Qatar-based Al- Jazeera's reporting drew a particularly angry response from Egypt.

ISRAEL: Call Livni or Netanyahu? Go With Peres

Who wins a tie? That was U.S. President Barack Obama's dilemma Wednesday on whom to congratulate as the winner of Israel's general election.

IRAQ: The River Too Tells the Story

There is less water now in the Tigris, and it is less clean. The river has fewer fish, and rising fuel and other costs mean they are more costly to catch. It's not, as Hamza Majit finds, a good time to be a fisher.

MIDEAST: Extremism Dominates Israeli Polls

"The peace process is based on three false basic assumptions," said Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Israel's extreme right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, which will dictate the formation and political course of the next Israeli government.

ISRAEL: Wary Netanyahu in Driving Seat

Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Livni clung precariously to a narrow lead over her right-wing rival Benjamin Netanyahu as vote counting neared conclusion from Israel's Tuesday general election. Both would-be prime ministers continue to claim victory: "I won," read the headline of the country's biggest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronot, alongside the photos of the two.

ISRAEL: Advantage Netanyahu After Uncertain Poll

Israeli voters went into their polling booths Tuesday uncertain about the government they wanted to lead them over the next four years, only to emerge from their vote even more uncertain about their country's future.

ISRAEL: Many Candidates, No Leaders

Along the ironic lines of "Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Forum", the old Broadway musical about democracy in ancient times, something "funny" happened to Israelis on their way to the polling stations.

MIDEAST: Hamas Is Not Going Away

Despite intensive efforts by Israel, the international community and a number of Arab leaders to weaken and destroy Hamas through economic, punitive and military action, the Islamist organisation continues to be a force to reckon with.

MIDEAST: Israel Heads Right

And then there were four.