Heads of the historic churches in Jerusalem have welcomed the Palestine-Israel Ecumenical Forum launched in Jordan last week. They want to work with those of all faiths and none to achieve a breakthrough in the deadly stalemate.

Christian Aid has this week urged Gordon Brown, who becomes British Prime Minister next week, not to make the same mistakes in the Middle East as Tony Blair.

The Vatican has expressed 'regret' following a decision by an Israeli delegation to cancel a meeting to discuss the church's financial and legal status in the Holy Land.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is launching an international, inter-church advocacy initiative for peace in Israel and Palestine.

The mayor of Jerusalem has suspended renovations near a compound housing the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the municipality is to submit new plans for a walkway leading to the holy site - writes Annette Young from Jerusalem for Ecumenical News International (ENI).

Middle East Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan has urged Palestinians to "use brains, sanity, dialogue and non-violence and not arms to deal with differences".

Describing the past six months as "a disaster for Palestinians and indeed the whole Middle East," the leading Lutheran bishop in Jerusalem has urged US Christians to join their Middle East brothers and sisters and say they are "fed up" with stigmatization, bloodshed, hatred and occupation affecting both Israelis and Palestinians.

Nearly 40 leaders from a broad coalition of US Christian denominations have sent a letter to President George W. Bush asking that he "make Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, in the context of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace initiative" a priority for his administration.