THE parents of an American protester crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip got their first chance yesterday to hear from the man who drove the vehicle that killed her.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sketched out a plan how the US might cope with a nuclear Iran — by arming its allies in the Gulf and extending a “defence umbrella” over the region.

Israeli warplanes pressing one of Israel’s deadliest assaults ever on Palestinian militants widened their sights today, dropping bombs on smuggling tunnels that are a major weapons pipeline for the Gaza Strip’s Islamic Hamas rulers.

Israeli leaders have been discussing a comprehensive Saudi peace plan and debating how to respond to it, Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak said today.

Israel began cutting deliveries in vital fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip today, following through on a promise to step up pressure on Gaza’s Hamas rulers in response to months of Palestinian rocket attacks.

Gunmen planned to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when he went to the West Bank in August to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a security chief reportedly told Israel’s Cabinet today.

Gunmen planned to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when he went to the West Bank in August to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a security chief reportedly told Israel’s Cabinet today.

Israeli troops backed by tanks and bulldozers crossed into southern Gaza to strike at Palestinian militants today, a day after Israel’s defence minister said a broad operation inside the territory was inevitable.

Hezbollah possesses sophisticated weapons that could be used to target Israel, a retired Lebanese army general said today, a day after the militant group’s leader promised that Israel would face a “big surprise” if it invaded Lebanon.

A former prime minister and a political newcomer who both pledge to bring down Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s government will face each other in a run-off after an inconclusive vote for leadership of Israel’s Labour Party.

Israel’s army received approval today to broaden its ground operations against Gaza Strip militants who have been barraging Israeli border towns with deadly rocket fire, but no large-scale incursion is in the works, military officials said.

Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he authorised the army to do whatever it takes to halt Palestinian rocket fire, but warned his Cabinet there was no quick solution.

Israel’s attorney general has told President Moshe Katsav to move out of his official residence in Jerusalem while he takes a leave of absence to fight off accusations that he committed rape and other crimes.

Israel and Syria have reached understandings on a future peace deal between the two countries following a series of secret talks between its representatives, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported today.

DUTCH giants Ajax’s faltering title hopes were dealt another blow on Saturday but Eredivisie leaders PSV Eindhoven got back on track for a third successive crown with three points against ADO Den Haag.

Israeli helicopter gunships, tanks and ground troops tightened their grip today on a northern Gaza town they overran yesterday, killing two Palestinians in Israel’s biggest push in months to stop militant rocket fire.

Hezbollah fired an enormous barrage of rockets at towns across northern Israel today, killing 10 people in the worst attack on Israel since the violence began on July 12, rescue services said.

The European Union said today that Israel misinterpreted the outcome of the Middle East conference in Rome and that the fighting in Lebanon should cease immediately.

Israeli warplanes dropped 23 tons of bombs on a bunker in south Beirut where the army believed senior Hezbollah leaders were hiding, a senior army official said today, but the guerrilla group denied the site was a bunker or that its leadership had been hurt.

Israel struck a Lebanese army base outside Beirut and flattened a house near the border, killing at least 10 people in a new wave of bombings.

Israeli forces today took over an area of northern Gaza that used to be home to three Jewish settlements, creating a temporary buffer zone meant to prevent Palestinian militants from firing rockets at Israeli towns and cities.

Israel’s Security Cabinet today approved a deeper military incursion into the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants fired a rocket at a major Israeli city.

Israeli aircraft missed their target in Gaza for the second time in two days, hitting a house and killing two Palestinian civilians, intensifying international criticism of the army’s policy of striking militants from the air.

Israel will give the Palestinians until the end of the year to prove they are willing to negotiate a final peace deal, and will unilaterally set its final borders with them by 2008 if they don’t, according to a close associate of prime minister Ehud Olmert.

Israel’s Cabinet today approved an immediate freeze on the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority, in a first response to Hamas militants’ takeover of the Palestinian parliament.

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.

The Hamas militant group won local elections in the West Bank’s largest cities, according to preliminary results released today, dealing a harsh blow to the ruling Fatah party just six weeks ahead of a parliamentary poll.

Ariel Sharon’s new centrist party is widening its lead and would crush political rivals in March elections, a poll indicated today.

A leading member of Israel’s Labour Party, Haim Ramon, today became the first politician in his faction to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s new political list.

Israel’s Labour Party tonight voted to pull out of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s coalition government, virtually assuring early general elections in March.

Fiery union leader Amir Peretz won a stunning victory today over elder statesman Shimon Peres in the race to lead Israel’s Labour Party – a vote that could bring down Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s shaky coalition and propel the country into early elections.

Hamas said today that the Islamic militant group would not renew an informal nine-month-old truce, which expires at the end of the year, after Israel killed one of its leading activists in an airstrike in Gaza.

Hamas, the largest Palestinian militant group said today it would not go back to all-out war against Israel, even after Israeli missiles killed one of its top gunmen.

The Israeli army will complete its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip on Monday, three days ahead of schedule, defence minister Shaul Mofaz said today.

Israeli forces raided the Palestinian town of Tulkarem today, killing a police officer who fired on troops hunting down Islamic Jihad militants responsible for a suicide bombing. A second police officer was critically wounded.

Ariel Sharon will demand a crackdown on militants and Mahmoud Abbas will push for wide-ranging moves to ease the burdens of occupation when the Israeli and Palestinian leaders meet for their first summit since declaring a truce in February.

A top PLO decision-making body yesterday called on Palestinian militants to halt attacks against Israel, charging that the violence gives Israel an excuse to carry out military operations.

In a sign of the fierce opposition that could accompany Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, a Jewish settler leader has made a public call for his followers to break the law when fighting against the evacuation.

Israel’s Labour Party voted today to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s ruling coalition, a move that makes it easier for the Israeli leader to implement his Gaza withdrawal plan.

Israel’s Labour Party was expecting a call from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to help carry out his Gaza pull-out next year, after Sharon’s Likud Party, in a crucial vote, approved bringing its traditional rival back into the government.

A senior Islamic cleric rushed to Yasser Arafat’s hospital bedside in Paris today to be with him in the “final phase” of his life, a spokeswoman for the Palestinian leader said.

Israel’s Cabinet has given strong support to a key element of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw from Gaza and four West Bank settlements, setting up what is expected to be a fiery parliamentary debate and vote on the controversial programme, starting today.

Israel’s army will soon begin using cannabis to treat soldiers suffering from combat stress, the military said yesterday.

Israel’s Cabinet today approved the extension of a law banning Palestinians who marry Israeli Arabs from living in Israel.