FROM a hideout in Gaza, the head of the Hamas government called for reconciliation between bitterly divided Palestinian factions and expressed hope for better relations with the US.

President Obama's new Middle East envoy today called for the Western-backed Palestinian government to take an active role in cementing the shaky Gaza truce.

Israeli troops advanced into Gaza suburbs for the first time early today, residents said, hours after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Islamic militants that they face an “iron fist” unless they agree to Israeli terms for an end to war in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli warplanes blasted targets all over Gaza early today, including a mosque and a TV station, after a day of intensive airstrikes that killed more than 200 Palestinians.

HAMAS released 17 jailed members of the rival Fatah faction yesterday, describing the men for the first time as political prisoners and saying it set them free as a goodwill gesture before Palestinian unity talks.

Israel is to allow a pro-Palestinian activist group to sail two boats carrying humanitarian supplies into the Gaza Strip, after earlier hinting it would block the shipment from reaching the coastal territory.

Dozens of Palestinians handed out sweets and waved yellow Hezbollah flags to celebrate what they saw as a major victory in Israel’s return of five Lebanese prisoners.

Reconciliation talks between rival Palestinian factions will continue tomorrow, as Hamas' top leaders seek approval for the final draft of a Yemeni-sponsored agreement, Yemen's foreign minister said tonight.

Six Palestinian militants, including the son of a hardline Hamas leader, were killed in an Israeli air strike today.

A series of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killed four Hamas militants early today, raising the Palestinian death toll in the past day to 15, including a baby.

Shopkeepers in Egypt were quick to raise their prices when suddenly confronted by hordes of eager Palestinian customers today.

THE leader of the militant Hamas government in Gaza said today President George W Bush’s visit to the region proved his bias towards Israel and hit Palestinian hopes for their own state.

The leader of the militant Hamas government in Gaza said today that President Bush’s visit to the region proved his bias toward Israel and hit Palestinian hopes for their own state.

TENS of thousands of Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip demonstrated yesterday against the Middle East peace conference in the US, while the Islamic militant group’s leader insisted it was “doomed to failure”.

Palestinian militants Hamas stepped up their verbal attacks on President Mahmoud Abbas today on the eve of the US Middle East conference, saying his policies had failed and undermined prospects for statehood and unity.

The militant Hamas group’s top leaders in Gaza and Syria warned the moderate Palestinian president not to “fall into the trap” of a forthcoming US-sponsored peace conference with Israel.

Rival Palestinian Islamic groups Hamas and Fatah called on their members to fight back after 11 militants were killed in a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a new government without Hamas and outlawed the Hamas militia, deepening the crisis between the two sides after the Islamic group seized control of Gaza in a quick military victory last week.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in an emergency Cabinet today and outlawed the militia forces of the Islamic Hamas movement, deepening the violent rupture in Palestinian society.

Hamas today challenged the legitimacy of the emergency government that is to be sworn in by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas later in the day.

On its first day of full rule in Gaza, the Islamic militant Hamas today announced that it was granting amnesty to senior Fatah leaders, signalling that it is seeking conciliation with the defeated forces of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas officials say a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the house of Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, causing damage but no injuries.

The Palestinian government headquarters came under fire while the Cabinet was meeting inside today, forcing the ministers to flee the building and deepening an especially brutal wave of factional violence.

Gunmen opened fire tonight on the house of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, security officials said tonight.

Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh insisted today that his Hamas movement’s 6,000-strong militia be recognised as a branch of the Palestinian security forces.

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.

An Israeli aircraft fired a missile tonight that exploded close to the house of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in the Shati refugee camp next to Gaza City, Palestinian security officials said.

Israeli aircraft demolished two money exchange shops in Gaza used to channel funds to Hamas militants, the military said tonight.

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.

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.

Hamas gunmen opened fire on forces of the rival Fatah yesterday, injuring at least six people throughout the Gaza Strip.

Hamas gunmen opened fire today on forces of the rival Fatah, injuring at least six people throughout the Gaza Strip.

A senior British diplomat today met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to discuss the fate of a BBC journalist kidnapped by Palestinian militants.

Palestinian officials are trying to persuade the kidnappers of a long-held BBC journalist that they are mistaken in using Islamic justifications for their actions, an aide to the Palestinian prime minister said tonight.

Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh today said he was working “quietly, but actively” to release kidnapped British reporter Alan Johnston.

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

Holding photographs of relatives held in Israeli jails, several thousand people gathered outside the Red Cross office in Gaza City today to call for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

A senior British diplomat and BBC officials met Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas and moderate President Mahmoud Abbas today to push for the release of a BBC journalist kidnapped three weeks ago.

The new Hamas-Fatah coalition was to set to clear a final formal hurdle today, approval by the parliament, before taking on the challenge of persuading a sceptical world to end a crippling year-long boycott of the Palestinian government.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas today presented the list of ministers in his new Cabinet to President Mahmoud Abbas, concluding the formation of a new coalition.

The rival Hamas and Fatah movements wrapped up months of tortuous coalition talks, saying they would present a national unity government to parliament for approval this weekend.

Political rivals Hamas and Fatah will present a national unity government to the Palestinian parliament for approval on Saturday, capping months of stop-and-go negotiations interspersed by periods of deadly factional fighting, officials from both sides said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today gave Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh an extra two weeks to put together the new unity government between the rival Fatah and Hamas parties.

Israel today clamped down on the West Bank city of Nablus for the second time in a week, confining tens of thousands of people to their homes as troops moved searched for militants.