Sprawled across a hemispherical mound where the Judaean Hills meet the desert, ancient Herodium lies deep inside the occupied West Bank but has borne up a treasure trove of finds for Israeli archaeologists.

Thirty-one Nobel Peace Prize winners urged world leaders Thursday to devote more attention to an estimated 37 million children who live in conflict-affected countries and cannot go to school.

Syria must choose between `peace or belligerence` in its dealings with Israel, and between relations with Iran or the Jewish state, Israeli President Shimon Peres said Wednesday.

`They cannot escape the choice... they are under the impression that they can do both,` the former prime minister and Nobel peace prize winner said during a visit to London.

An Israeli legal watchdog demanded on Wednesday that authorities end the closure of the Gaza Strip, claiming it violates international prohibitions against collective punishment.

`We demand the immediate reversal of all restrictions on the transfer of fuel, cooking gas and humanitarian products into the Gaza Strip,` Gisha said in a letter to the Israeli military.

At least 1,000 people took to the streets of the Jordanian capital on Wednesday to protest Israel`s blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Waving Jordanian flags, demonstrators marched peacefully from the headquarters of the opposition Islamic Action Front (IAF) party to the parliament building in Amman`s city centre.

Syria must choose between `peace or belligerence` in its dealings with Israel, and between relations with Iran or the Jewish state, President Shimon Peres said Wednesday.

`They cannot escape the choice... they are under the impression that they can do both,` the former prime minister and Nobel peace prize winner said during a visit to London.

Syria must choose between `peace or belligerence` in its dealings with Israel, and between relations with Iran or the Jewish state, President Shimon Peres said Wednesday.

`They cannot escape the choice... they are under the impression that they can do both,` the former prime minister and Nobel peace prize winner said during a visit to London.

Israeli security forces on Wednesday tore down a tent in which a Jerusalem Palestinian family had been living since being evicted from their nearby house earlier this month.

Israeli security forces on Wednesday tore down a tent in which a Jerusalem Palestinian family had been living since being evicted from their nearby house earlier this month.

About 100 Jewish settlers on Wednesday defied a High Court order to evacuate a house in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron, vowing to fight any attempt to move them out by force.

They also rallied support from religious and right-wing politicians and from fellow hardline settlers across the Israeli-occupied West Bank to resist Sunday`s order.