World Israel and its neighboring Arab states have labored through more than 50 years of religious distrust and political differences to secure a life of everlasting peace in the world's most unstable region.
Israeli soldiers square off with Palestinian protestors.
The Israeli army said two Israeli women were slightly wounded when stones were hurled at their car near Bethlehem. Tanks fired shells at a Palestinian outpost near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, where mortar bombs landed overnight, Israel Radio reported. A Palestinian military spokesman confirmed Israeli forces shot at a position of the Force-17 security unit. Witnesses said the explosions could be heard nearly three miles away in Gaza City. Check out our interactive on the roots of the Mideast peace conflict and the key players in the peace process.