Amram Mitzna, an unknown on the Israeli political stage a few months ago, was today facing the task of rallying his fractured Labour Party after winning the leadership election on a peace platform.

ISRAEL’S Labour Party held a ballot of its members yesterday to pick a new leader.

Israel’s Labour Party members tonight chose a relative newcomer to politics, former general Amram Mitzna, as their leader to challenge Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Likud in January elections, an exit poll showed.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU was approved as Israel's foreign minister yesterday, bringing him into the Cabinet of the man he seeks to succeed as prime minister, Ariel Sharon.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s broad-based coalition crumbled yesterday as ministers from the moderate Labour Party pulled the plug on the 20-month coalition which had united bitter political rivals in a common front against the Palestinian uprising.

A snap election loomed in Israel tonight after the defence minister submitted his resignation, a major step toward taking his Labour Party out of the coalition government.

Israel and the Palestinians today said they had reservations about a new US peace plan, as Washington launched its most ambitious mediation mission in months.

The leader of Israel’s Labour party has threatened to quit the coalition government over resistance to his plans to dismantle illegal Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.

Israeli soldiers dragged die-hard Jewish settlers off a West Bank hilltop today and dismantled mobile homes at the illegal outpost.

ISRAELI soldiers blew up three buildings in Yasser Arafat compound yesterday, rocking the office where he was holed up and sending huge clouds of smoke into the air.

ISRAELI helicopters attacked a factory in the Gaza Strip early yesterday after Palestinians blew up an Israeli tank and killed two soldiers.

Israeli helicopters attacked a factory in the Gaza Strip early today after Palestinians blew up an Israeli tank and killed two soldiers.

ISRAEL’S defence minister has ordered a speedy investigation into recent killings of Palestinians, including at least eight civilians, by army fire, his office said yesterday.

Israel’s defence minister has ordered a rapid investigation into several recent killings of Palestinians by the army which have included at least eight civilians.

Israeli tanks backed by helicopters hunted militants in the Jenin refugee camp today, returning to the scene of April’s fierce fighting.

Israeli and Palestinian security officials have reached agreement on an Israeli troop withdrawal in the Gaza Strip and Bethlehem.

ISRAELI security forces arrested 16 suspected Palestinian militants yesterday ahead of a fresh round of talks aimed at securing an Israeli troop withdrawal from some Palestinian areas.

ISRAEL is urging US officials not to delay a military strike against Iraq's Saddam Hussein, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday.

An Israeli government official today accused Egypt of trying to meddle in politics – bringing into the open a rift over Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s overtures to the Israeli left and his harsh criticism of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

ISRAELI forces killed two Palestinian militants yesterday, including one wanted for plotting a suicide bombing, as they were returning to their hiding place in a West Bank cave.

ISRAEL yesterday enforced a "total ban" on Palestinian travel in much of the West Bank and sealed off a chunk of the Gaza Strip with tanks in response to Palestinian attacks on Israelis that killed 13 people over 24 hours.

Israel today enforced a ‘‘total ban’’ on Palestinian travel in much of the West Bank and sealed off a chunk of the Gaza Strip with tanks in response to Palestinian attacks on Israelis that killed 13 people over 24 hours.

Israeli tanks moved into Gaza City early today in the first operation there since a bombing attack killed a Hamas leader and 14 other Palestinians in a mission that drew harsh world criticism.

A Palestinian alleged to be responsible for the death of at 100 Israelis in suicide was killed when an Israeli tank shelled a house in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer vowed to dismantle 20 illegal settlements in the West Bank, even if he has to send in troops to remove the settlers by force.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has attacked US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice for condemning his Authority.

Israeli troops have moved into the West Bank town of Ramallah today, hours after Yasser Arafat named a new, streamlined Cabinet and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon was to meet US president George Bush in Washington.

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s right-wing Likud party has voted to reject the creation of a Palestinian state - a major defeat for Sharon.

Israel's defence minister says a deal has been agreed with the Palestinians to end the 36-day stand-off at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.

The outlines of an agreement to resolve the 35-day standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem were taking shape today, but the sides remained at odds on several issues including how many of the wanted Palestinians inside the Christian shrine would be deported.

America’s vice president Dick Cheney was today visiting Israel to throw his weight behind a US peace plan, after another day of Middle East bloodshed.

Palestinians have cancelled a planned meeting with Israeli security officials.

Israel has asked for advance notice from the United States in case Washington attacks Iraq as part of its war on terrorism.

A Palestinian suicide bomber detonated explosives today as an elite anti-terrorist unit closed in on his hide-out in a West Bank village, police said. The assailant was killed and two Israeli commandos were hurt.

Israeli troops are set to withdraw from areas around the West Bank city of Qalqilya today, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Sunday.

Islamic militant leaders were yesterday summoned by the Palestinian Authority and warned there would be a tough response if they did not stop attacks on Israelis.

Israeli troops today captured a Palestinian in the West Bank who was on his way to carry out a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, according to the Defence Ministry.

The president of Israel has not ruled out retaliation against terrorists two days after the deadliest bomb explosion in Israel in five years.

Israelis and Palestinians were today waiting to see if eight months of violence would wind down after prime minister Ariel Sharon called for a ceasefire - but rejected a plea to halt building work on West Bank Jewish settlements.

The home of a West Bank security chief was attacked by an Israeli tank today after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon defended his decision to use war planes against Palestinian targets.

Israeli helicopters shelled Palestinian police headquarters in two West Bank towns today despite pleas by the US and Russia to end the bloodshed.

Israeli army field commanders were today given permission to send troops into Palestinian areas without waiting for a go-ahead from superiors, after the first large-scale incursion into a West Bank town in seven months of fighting.

Israel's new defence minister has came under fire from Palestinian snipers.

A former ally of outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced today that he is seeking the leadership of the Labour Party.