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doctor.
• Senators had wanted to pass the bill before Friday's 70th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Europe in World War II. Up to a dozen senators were expected to attend the D-Day ceremonies in France.
• Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, had said Wednesday he was "cautiously optimistic" that a vote could be held Thursday.
• Sanders and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona were leading negotiations on the bill, holding two closed-door meetings Wednesday to iron out details.
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• JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel's housing ministry said Thursday it was advancing plans for nearly 1,500 new settlement housing units in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in response to the formation of a Palestinian unity government backed by the Islamic militant group Hamas.
• Housing Minister Uri Ariel said in a statement that the move was a "fitting Zionist response to the formation of a Palestinian terror government," adding that the housing plans were "just the beginning."
• Tenders were issued late Wednesday for about 900 housing units in the West Bank and about 560 units in east Jerusalem, territories that Israel captured in the 1967 war and which the Palestinians claim for their future state. The tenders represent the final governmental approval before construction can begin.
• Chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat said the settlement announcement is "a clear sign that Israel is moving toward a major escalation" and that the Palestinians were weighing their response to the announcement. The Palestinians have long viewed settlement construction on land they want for their future state as a major obstacle to resolving the decades-old conflict.
• The announcement of new settlement building was the first such move since the official end of nine months of U.S.-mediated Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in April. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro told Army Radio Thursday that the U.S. opposes the planned settlement construction.
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