A deputy Cabinet minister from Hamas was seized today by Fatah gunmen in the West Bank.

A militant commander affiliated with Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement was shot dead today.

A Palestinian teenager carrying a mortar shell and explosives was caught at an Israeli military checkpoint in the West Bank today, the Israeli army said.

Israeli troops raided a Palestinian military HQ early today and arrested 18 fugitives who had sought shelter there, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.

Israel’s largest raid in the West Bank for months entered its second day today, with tens of thousands of Palestinians confined to their Nablus homes as soldiers searched for suspected militants.

Israeli soldiers have killed a Palestinian militant in a clash along the Gaza-Israel border, the Israeli army and a Palestinian militant group said.

Fatah and Hamas gunmen battled each other at universities, a radio station and in streets across the Gaza Strip today with 17 people – including four children - dying before the factions’ leaders announced a cease-fire agreement.

A truce between warring Palestinian factions entered its third day today, marred by sporadic shootings.

Israeli troops killed two Palestinian gunmen in an exchange of fire in the West Bank early today, hospital officials and members of a local militia said.

Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen exchanged heavy fire in downtown Ramallah today, after undercover forces tried to arrest fugitives in the city’s vegetable market.

A Palestinian youth was killed in an Israeli airstrike today on a northern Gaza Strip refugee camp, Palestinian officials said.

Israeli soldiers searching for tunnels and explosives withdrew from the outskirts of Gaza City today, the army said, ending a five-day operation that Palestinians said left 20 people dead, and heavily damaged houses, streets and farmlands.

Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinian militants early today in the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank, Palestinian medics said.

Israeli leaders approved new incursions into the Gaza Strip, security officials said today, after the Hamas leader said he would not free an Israeli soldier whose capture by Palestinian militants led to a bloody 13-day confrontation.

Militants allied with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party said today they were holding a third Israeli captive.

Hundreds of Palestinian security men loyal to president Mahmoud Abbas went on a rampage against the Hamas-led government, riddling the parliament building and cabinet offices with bullets before setting them on fire in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip.

HUNDREDS of Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas went on a violent rampage against the Hamas-led government last night, riddling the parliament and Cabinet buildings with bullets to protest an attack against their comrades in the Gaza Strip by Hamas gunmen.

Israeli forces entered deep into the Gaza Strip early today for the first time since Israel’s summer withdrawal from the coastal area.

Israel today claimed a captured former Palestinian finance official admitted using foreign donor money to finance millions of dollars in arms purchases, on the direct orders from then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian intelligence officer and two other men during separate raids in the West Bank town of Jenin and a nearby village today, Palestinian security officials said.

Thousands of Hamas followers gathered to donate money and jewellery to their cash-strapped government, while a Western boycott stirred debate inside the militant group over whether to accept a state alongside Israel.

Palestinian gunmen briefly took over the Cabinet building in Ramallah today, protesting against the refusal of the new Hamas government to meet their demands for perks and promotions.

A group of Palestinian gunmen took over the Cabinet building in the West Bank city of Ramallah in protest against the Hamas government, a member of the group said.

Israeli artillery fire today hit two houses in the northern Gaza Strip, lightly injuring two people, Palestinian police said.

Israeli missiles slammed into a car in Gaza City today, killing two members of a Palestinian rocket squad in the second deadly air strike since the Islamic militant group Hamas assumed power last week.

An offshoot of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party has carried out its first suicide bombing against Israel since a February 2005 truce.

ISRAELI troops killed five Palestinians yesterday as plans were announced to pave new roads in the West Bank exclusively for Palestinians while Jewish settler vehicles keep to the existing network.

Israeli troops killed two Palestinians and seriously wounded a third today, the fifth day of an army sweep in the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank.

Two Palestinians armed with an explosives belt attacked the Erez checkpoint between Israel and Gaza before daybreak today, and were killed in an ensuing shootout with Israeli troops.

Israel’s acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today that Israel will give up territory and relinquish control over most of the West Bank’s Palestinians, while holding on to main settlement blocs.

ISRAELI airstrikes blasted two cars carrying Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza City last night, killing two people and wounding one other.

Masked gunmen today briefly took over a European Union office to protest at a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons deemed insulting to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, the latest in a wave of violent denunciations of the caricatures across the Islamic world.

Doctors are continuing to reduce Ariel Sharon’s anaesthetics today, a day after Israel’s prime minister took a small step towards recovery from a massive stroke.

Palestinian militants, angry at the jailing of their leader by the Palestinian police, today stole two bulldozers and rammed through a wall near the border with Egypt, hours after they blocked the official border crossing and took over government buildings.

Dozens of Palestinian gunmen firing in the air blocked access to the Gaza-Egypt border and took over four government buildings for several hours today.

Israel fired shells and missiles at the Gaza Strip today, hitting two offices of the militant Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.

Israeli troops shot and killed three Palestinian militants as they tried to flee a building in the West Bank town of Nablus today, including the local leader of a small radical faction.

An Israeli airstrike today killed two Palestinian militants in the northern Gaza Strip and a Palestinian man fatally stabbed an Israeli soldier in the West Bank, intensifying a new round of violence in the wake of a suicide bombing at an Israeli shopping centre this week.

An Israeli aircraft launched two missiles at a group of Palestinian militants gathered in the northern Gaza Strip today, wounding three of them, Palestinian security and health officials said.

Two Palestinian militant groups today threatened to call off a ceasefire with Israel if Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas persisted with an arrest campaign he launched after a suicide bombing killed five Israelis.

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a line of people waiting to enter a shopping centre in the northern Israeli town of Netanya, killing at least five people and wounding 35 others.

Defying a Palestinian Authority ban on public displays of weapons, about 1,000 militants brandishing assault rifles and rocket launchers marched through Gaza City today and vowed to hold on to their arms.

Two Palestinian militants were killed in an ambush today when their car was riddled with gunfire in the West Bank town of Jenin, Palestinian witnesses said.

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian militant in the West Bank town of Jenin, Palestinian and Israeli military officials said today.