Tension ran high at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan Monday after Israeli commandos shot dead five Palestinians, despite new steps to calm the Palestinian territories and revive peacemaking.

U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Calls For International Observers In Middle East 
Following an eight-day trip to the region, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights filed a report to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan expressing shock towards the gravity of the situation in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.

Israeli Army Claims Palestinian Bullets May Have Killed Boy  

In a highly controversial report published Monday, the Israeli army said it was possible that Palestinian, rather than Israeli, bullets killed a 12-year-boy whose death became a graphic and haunting symbol of the Palestinian Intifada

Philippines War Against MILF Continues 

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) accused the Philippines government of not being sincere in its attempts to bring peace in the Southern Philippines.