At least 12 people have been killed and around 15 injured when Palestinian militants raked Israeli troops and settlers with gunfire in a carefully orchestrated ambush in Hebron – a divided city long plagued by religious tensions and flashes of furious violence.

THE Israeli army withdrew its tanks and troops to the outskirts of Jenin yesterday, a day after tracking down and killing a senior Islamic Jihad militant in a lengthy gun battle at his hideout, officials said.

Two suspected suicide bombers died when their car exploded today just as Israeli police moved to stop the vehicle.

A senior member of the militant Islamic Jihad group was killed in an overnight army operation, Israeli security sources said today.

ISRAELI soldiers destroyed the houses of two suspected West Bank militants yesterday, after troops killed a child and two attackers in separate incidents in the Gaza Strip.