Merkel pushes Israel on settlements

At a conference with Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, in Berlin on Thursday, Merkel said "a stopping of the settlement [building] is very important".

"I made clear that the Federal Republic of Germany believes that progress on the issue of settlement building, a stop to settlement building, is an important building block and a condition for relaunching the Middle East peace process," she said.

Her comments came after Netanyahu held talks with George Mitchell, the US Middle East envoy, amid tension between Washington and Israel over the issue of settlements.