RAMALLAH, April 23 — Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas today called on Hamas to lay down arms and hand the management of Gaza to his Palestinian Authority (PA), part of efforts to answer international doubts over the authority’s role at a key moment for the region.

JERUSALEM, March 23 — Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in Palestine from their neighbouring communities, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said today.