Just over a year after nine people were killed when Israeli marines stormed a pro-Palestinian flotilla, Greece imposed a ban on all Gaza-bound ships saying it feared for the safety of the activists who are now trying to find a way to set sail. Pro-Palestinian activists hoping to sail to Gaza this week fully expected their flotilla to be blocked by Israeli marines. Instead, to their shock, the mission was holed even before they put to sea -- by Greece.

Amnesty International on Friday called on the Israeli government and Hamas to co-operate fully with the committee of independent experts which the UN Human Rights Council voted to establish on 25 March.

The committee's task will involve monitoring domestic investigations into war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law alleged to have occurred during the 22-day conflict in Gaza and southern Israel between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009.

The international Quartet of Middle East peace mediators has urged Israel to freeze all settlement activity.

Speaking for the Quartet, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned Israel's announcement of plans to build new homes in disputed East Jerusalem. That move was criticised as undermining efforts to restart peace talks.

Speaking to the BBC, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated that hardening the tone with Israel had paid off, with talks now back in prospect. Mr Ban met Mrs Clinton and the other Quartet foreign ministers - new EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton and Russia's Sergei Lavrov - in Moscow.

In a strongly worded statement, the Quartet condemned Israel's announcement last week of planning permission for 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since 1967.

Author/Editor(s): Dr. Rema Hammami, Sinta Dewi, Inger Brodal, Lubna Madyeh, Khaled Mansour, Heba Qedwa, Vanessa Farr, Sana Asi, Anne-Marie Goetz, Hanny Cueva-Beteta, Heba Zayyan, Yolanda Iriarte, Jamil Rabah, Naema Abu Hmeid

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A volatile and disputed region in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Gaza Strip has suffered a long history of violence that has had a significant political, economic, social and psychological impact on the people who live there. In December, 2008, tensions boiled over into violence when Israel launched a military offensive that lasted for 23 days, breaking a delicate six-month truce between its country and Hamas.