Despite spending the last 17 years behind bars, the world’s first celebrity terrorist is back in the spotlight with a new trial. Conall Ó Fátharta reports on the life and crimes of Carlos the Jackal.

Israeli aircraft and ground forces struck Gaza today, killing three Hamas militants and three civilians in a surge of fighting sparked by a Palestinian rocket attack on an Israeli school bus the day before.

A Palestinian driving a bulldozer went on a deadly rampage in Jerusalem today, killing at least three people and wounding 45 before he was shot dead by security officers.

George Habash, a long-time rival of Yasser Arafat who led the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s second-largest faction which pioneered aeroplane hijackings, died today in Jordan. He was 81.

One Palestinian youth was killed today when Israeli troops raided a West Bank refugee camp before dawn, Palestinian residents said.

A group representing Israeli victims of Palestinian violence is mounting a court challenge against the planned release on Friday of 256 prisoners.

Israel will release from prison this week a confidant of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Palestinian newspaper reported today.

Palestinian gunmen waged a street battle outside the residence of President Mahmoud Abbas today, only hours after rival factions Fatah and Hamas reached a ceasefire in a bid to end days of bloody fighting.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has called for an early election to end his violent clash with Hamas, in a gamble that banks on the support of Palestinians as he seeks to weaken the Islamic militants, avoid civil war and continue peace overtures with Israel.

Israel and Hezbollah sharply intensified fighting with punishing airstrikes, scores of rocket attacks and brutal ground fighting – an apparent bid to inflict maximum mutual damage in the few days remaining before a draft UN cease-fire resolution takes hold.

An Israeli court today charged four Palestinian militants over the assassination of a Cabinet minister, two months after snatching the men in a brazen military raid on a Palestinian jail in the West Bank.

Hamas says it has completed the formation of its government without bring in moderate parties, a step that looked likely to only increase the chances of international isolation.

Hamas today announced the formation of its Cabinet, a government that excludes other Palestinian factions and increases the chance that it will be isolated by Israel and the US.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday toured the devastated Jericho prison where Israel spirited away six prisoners, denouncing the raid as an ”unforgivable crime".

Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said today that six Palestinians grabbed from a West Bank prison will be charged and tried by Israel, despite Palestinian claims that the arrests were illegal.

Israeli officials said today that they are determined to put Palestinian prisoners seized from a West Bank jail on trial for the killing of an Israeli Cabinet minister, but will first have to overcome some legal hurdles.

ISRAELI forces smashed into a West Bank jail with tanks and bulldozers yesterday, seizing a Palestinian militant leader.

Israeli forces driving bulldozers and firing tank shells burst into a Palestinian prison in the West Bank town of Jericho today and pulled out dozens of inmates in their underwear in a raid targeting a group of prisoners linked to the killing an Israeli Cabinet minister.

Palestinian gunmen today broke into the offices of the German television network ARD in Gaza City, a Palestinian journalist working for the network said.

Palestinian gunmen today abducted two South Korean journalists and two other people from a Gaza City hotel frequented by foreigners, security officials and witnesses said.

Israeli forces burst into a jail today in the West Bank town of Jericho, demanding the surrender of prisoners, including the mastermind of the killing of an Israeli cabinet minister.

Israeli forces burst into a jail in the West Bank town of Jericho today, demanding the surrender of prisoners, including the mastermind of the killing of an Israeli cabinet minister.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas today asked Hamas to form the next Palestinian government as quickly as possible, offering his help and encouragement to the Islamic militants.

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.

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.

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.

Israeli aircraft blasted suspected Palestinian weapons facilities and other militant targets throughout the Gaza Strip early today, at the launch of what the military said would be a “prolonged” offensive against Hamas militants for bombarding Israeli towns with rockets.

A three-year-old boy was killed and nine other people wounded in the northern Gaza Strip today when rockets fired by militants misfired and landed in Palestinian areas, rescue workers said.

PALESTINIANS voted for local governments in dozens of towns and villages across the West Bank and Gaza Strip yesterday — a contest that is expected to boost the Islamic militant group Hamas and could foreshadow results of parliamentary elections in July.

Palestinians voted for local governments in dozens of towns and villages across the West Bank and Gaza Strip today – a contest that is expected to boost the Islamic militant group Hamas and could foreshadow results of parliamentary elections in July.

THE Vatican’s description of Pope John Paul II as “serenely” fading away contrasted starkly with the last time he faced death.

Israel has stopped targeting Palestinian militants for death, security officials said early today.

Interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas received a warm welcome in his first public campaign rally, generating some excitement for the low-key politician’s effort to succeed Yasser Arafat.

ISRAELI troops yesterday destroyed the homes of a teenaged suicide bomber and two men who dispatched him to a crowded Tel Aviv market where he killed three Israelis and wounded 32.

A PALESTINIAN teenager with 11 pounds of explosives strapped to his body blew himself up in a crowded Tel Aviv outdoor market yesterday, killing three Israelis and wounding 32 in the first such attack since Yasser Arafat left the region for medical treatment last week.

A Palestinian teenager with 11 pounds of explosives strapped to his body blew himself up in a crowded Tel Aviv outdoor market today, killing three Israelis and wounding 32 in the first such attack since Yasser Arafat left the region for medical treatment last week.

Israeli warplanes fired at least four missiles at a Palestinian base near Beirut today, an official with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command has said.

THE Israeli army shot dead six Palestinians yesterday and an Israeli special forces officer was killed in a fierce all-night gunfight during a raid on Palestinian militants.

Four Palestinians, including a university professor and his teenage son, and an elite Israeli commando were killed today in a fierce night-time gun battle in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus.

The Palestinian leadership today tried to rally world opinion after President George Bush backed the Israeli premier’s move to hang on to territory seized in war.

A Palestinian teenager approached a crowded West Bank checkpoint wearing a suicide bomb vest today in what Israel said was an attempt to kill soldiers.

PALESTINIANS yesterday failed to reach agreement on any truce offer to Israel, even a conditional one, after three days of talks mired in arguments, delegates said.

Palestinians today failed to reach agreement on a truce offer to Israel after three days of talks mired in arguments, delegates said.

A VIDEO of an Israeli missile strike in a Gaza refugee camp shows people running in a nearby alley, and the army said yesterday it is investigating whether this could explain the high number of casualties reported by the Palestinians.