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 rounded up more than 30 Hamas leaders in the West Bank including a Cabinet minister, taking its conflict with Hamas over daily Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza to a new level.

Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today warned Israel it would be uprooted if the Jewish state attacked Lebanon in the coming summer.

Israel rounded up more than 30 Hamas leaders in the West Bank today, including a Cabinet minister, taking its conflict with Hamas over daily Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza to a new level.

Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas made a new push today to restore a cease-fire with Israel that collapsed under a barrage of Hamas rocket fire.

Hamas militants defied Israeli air strikes and threats to kill their top leaders, firing more rockets into Israel, as the Palestinian president arrived in Gaza in an effort to defuse the escalating conflict.

Israel's deputy defence minister today threatened to target Hamas' political leaders, calling them "terrorists in suits" after a Hamas rocket attack killed an Israeli woman.

Israeli warplanes sent missiles slamming into a car carrying Hamas militants and a consignment of weapons before dawn in Gaza today.

Hamas militants fired rockets into Israel today as they battled their rivals from Fatah in the streets of the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he did not believe there was "any option" but to strike Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas after they attacked Israel, according to minutes of his war inquiry testimony released today.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert remained defiant today, hoping to beat a rising wave of calls to step down after a report criticising his handling of last year’s war with Lebanon.

Allies and opponents today clamoured for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s resignation after scathing criticism from an official commission of his performance during last year’s Lebanon war.

A government probe in last summer's war in Lebanon accused the country's wartime leaders of "very severe failures" in their handling of the conflict, dealing a harsh blow that was sure to fuel new calls for embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced calls for his resignation in the wake of harsh findings of an official inquiry into the shortcomings of his leadership during last summer’s costly, but inconclusive, war in Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today warned that Israel would be forced to act if Palestinian militants on Gaza continue to fire rockets at Israel - though he hoped to avert a new conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was to meet military commanders today to hear options on how to respond to the first rocket barrage by Hamas militants since the two sides reached a truce in Gaza five months ago.

Talks are being held today by Israeli and Palestinian leaders today in a bid to determine the future of a ceasefire in Gaza.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet on Sunday, an aide to the Israeli leader confirmed today - keeping their promise to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to hold regular talks.

ISRAEL formally declared last year’s fighting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah guerrillas a war yesterday, but it is searching for a name for the 34-day conflict.

Israel’s defence minister today accused Syria of allowing the rearmament of Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and said Israel has the right to act “forcefully” against the Shiite militia to counter the threat.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz discussed closer military co-operation with Nato today during a visit to the headquarters of the Western alliance.

Warring Hamas and Fatah factions in Gaza have tonight declared a ceasefire.

The young Palestinian suicide bomber who blew up a bakery in an Israeli resort today, killing himself and three other people, was unemployed, despondent over the death of a newborn daughter and driven to avenge his best friend’s killing by Israeli troops, relatives said.

Israeli Minister for Defence Amir Peretz denounced the Palestinian suicide bombing as an “escalation” that threatened a recent cease-fire, and promised to take all “necessary” steps to prevent similar attacks.

The new commander of the Israeli army will be reserve general Gabi Ashkenazi, the government said today.

Israel said today it had paid £50m (€76.2m) in frozen tax funds to the Palestinians and rescinded a contentious decision to authorise a new West Bank settlement, strengthening moderate president Mahmoud Abbas’ hand ahead of crucial weekend talks in Damascus with his Hamas rivals.

Israel prime minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister Amir Peretz faced new calls to resign today after Israel’s army chief stepped down, succumbing to widespread outrage over the handling of last summer’s inconclusive war in Lebanon.

Israel’s outgoing army chief today promised an “orderly transition” for his successor, the army said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today rejected US plans to establish a provisional Palestinian state in temporary borders, a key part of the “road map” peace plan.

Israeli defense minister Amir Peretz, leader of Israel’s Labour Party, has chosen Arab MP Raleb Majadele to be a cabinet minister, Israeli media reported today.

Former Israel Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who announced his return to politics this week, enjoys a wide lead over the Labour Party’s current leader and would win the party’s leadership race if elections were held today, according to a poll published in an Israeli newspaper today.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced his much-anticipated return to politics, saying he will run for the leadership of the Labour Party, a first step towards trying for Israel’s highest office again.

Israel failed to achieve all its objectives in its summer war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, the Israeli army chief admitted today, but he rejected calls to resign as a result.

Israel’s Defence Minister Amir Peretz said today he has asked the army to dismantle some of the checkpoints that have severely disrupted Palestinian travel in the West Bank, part of a package of goodwill gestures Israel hopes will boost the moderate Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas militants today burst into the Rafah border terminal, sparking a gunbattle with guards before taking control of the crossing.

Hamas militants, angry that Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was prevented from returning to Gaza from Egypt, burst into the Rafah crossing today, sparking a gunbattle with the guards at the border terminal.

Israelis and Palestinians tonight threatened to scrap a truce that has largely ended five months of Gaza violence, with Palestinian militants insisting it must also apply to the West Bank and Israeli leaders complaining that Gaza rocket squads are still active.

Talks today between Israeli officials and a top Egyptian mediator failed to bring the release of an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas-linked militants last June any closer, an Israeli official said.

The Egyptian official negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap plans to deliver to Israel today a Hamas demand that Israel free 1,400 detainees in exchange for a soldier held since June, Palestinian officials said.

A 64-year-old grandmother became the oldest Palestinian suicide bomber when she blew herself up near Israeli troops.

Israel today promised a punishing response to the first deadly Palestinian rocket attack on the Israeli town of Sderot since the Gaza Strip evacuation last year, even as Palestinian leaders and international envoys pursued diplomatic efforts to spur deadlocked peacemaking.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said he would be willing to sacrifice his job if the international community would lift economic sanctions that have crippled his Hamas-led government.

Israel will keep targeting Palestinian rocket squads in Gaza despite the risk of inadvertently hitting civilians, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.

Israeli tank shells ripped through a residential neighbourhood in the northern Gaza Strip early today, killing at least 18 members of an extended family, including 10 children, as they slept, health officials said.