Israel’s government is to rule out contact with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and declare the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority a “hostile entity,” an Israeli government spokesman said today.

ISRAEL’S cabinet yesterday 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.

Israel branded the Palestinian government a “terrorist authority” today and halted the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money to it in reaction to Hamas taking control of the Palestinian parliament.

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.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s doctors came under criticism today for failing to divulge a brain disease discovered after an initial, mild stroke suffered by the prime minister and for prescribing drugs that may have been inappropriate for a patient suffering from it, possibly causing his second, massive stroke.

Ariel Sharon, who suffered a mild stroke less than a week ago, has cholesterol and blood pressure levels that are astonishingly normal for a man of his weight and age, his doctor said today after an Israeli newspaper revealed some of his medical records for the first time.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is renowned for his steel will, but there is one thing that just might be stronger than “the Bulldozer” - his appetite.

DESPITE suffering a mild stroke, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon does not have any major health problems and will be released from the hospital today.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon joked with aides and discussed affairs of state today after suffering a mild stroke, but his illness raised questions about his ability to lead the country if elected to a third term in March elections.

In a bold political gamble, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has decided to leave his Likud Party, form a new political movement and push for quick elections.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon is leaving the Likud party he founded 32 years ago to form a new movement, one of his top advisers said today.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today agreed to hold early elections, possibly as soon as February, kicking off a political campaign certain to freeze all moves to restart middle-east peace talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today that if Hamas militants participate in Palestinian legislative elections, Israel would not hold joint meetings with Palestinians, and would make it difficult for Hamas to campaign freely.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, who is trying to beat back a hard-line revolt in his Likud Party, faced a new challenge today, after an Israeli TV station reported that he violated campaign financing laws.

Israel today closed the vital Gaza-Egypt border crossing just days before completing its military pullout from the coastal strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is considering delaying the Gaza pullout until mid-August, after the completion of a three-week Jewish mourning period that marks the destruction of the two biblical temples, Israeli officials said today.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s moderate new government survived its first test today, winning a crucial parliamentary vote that had threatened to derail the planned Gaza withdrawal.

Yasser Arafat hovered on the brink of death in a Paris hospital tonight - being kept alive artificially while a cleric flew from the West Bank to be by his side.

AN Israeli air strike in the West Bank killed a militant leader as Palestinians complained that Israel had confiscated thousands of acres of their land for the most controversial segment of its separation barrier.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his allies sent conflicting signals today over whether they would honour a Likud Party referendum on a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, as a new poll showed opponents and supporters are virtually tied.

The Israeli Justice Ministry was today considering whether to indict Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for allegedly accepting bribes, forcing him to step down, after charges were brought against a close associate.