Itamar Rabinovich, chief negotiator for Israel during the Yitzhak Rabin government (1992-5), wrote a book about the failed negotiations with Syria.

Four influential ministers in Ariel Sharon’s Likud Party said tonight they would resign from the government if the prime minister did not agree within two weeks to hold a national referendum on his Gaza withdrawal plan.

ISRAEL declared its hospitals off-limits yesterday to the 2,800 Palestinians on hunger strike in Israeli prisons, saying they could be treated in makeshift facilities behind bars if taken ill.

Israeli Cabinet ministers are joining Jewish settlers in urging their leaders to rethink their agreement to a US-sponsored truce with the Palestinians, following a string of Palestinian gun and mortar attacks.