The Fatah party of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has staged a massive rally in the Gaza Strip, the first such gathering in the territory since the Islamist Hamas group took control there in 2007.

When will the West hear what Palestinians say to each other in Arabic rather than the words aimed at the West’s ears, asks Boaz Modai

Thousands of Palestinians are gathering in Gaza today to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Hamas militant group.

Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal has arrived in the Gaza Strip for his first ever visit.

A ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s Hamas rulers brought an end to eight days of the fiercest fighting in years and possibly signalling a new era of relations between the bitter enemies.

Israel and Hamas continued to bombard each other today as attempts began to broker a cease-fire after six days of death and destruction.

An Israeli soldier has been injured in an explosion along the Gaza security fence, ahead of a scheduled visit by the ruler of Qatar to the Palestinian territory, Israel’s military said today.

The supreme leader of the Palestinian Islamic militant group Hamas is to step down, clearing the way for the movement to choose a new head for the first time in more than 15 years, senior officials said.

Palestinian officials say a high-profile meeting between the leaders of the rival Fatah and Hamas movements has been called off.

Foreign Affairs minister Micheál Martin has said the three Irish passports used by a group of operatives who allegedly assassinated a Hamas commander in Dubai had valid numbers, reversing his department's position of a day earlier.

Hamas claimed today one of its veteran fighters was killed by Israeli agents in Dubai last week.

Israel is poised to approve more West Bank settlement building today after key leaders defied US pressure and backed the controversial enclaves.

Arab doctors will meet in Jordan to probe rumours that former Palestinian president Yasser Arafat was poisoned, nearly five years after he died of what French medics called a massive brain haemorrhage.

Israel’s Security Cabinet will meet today to consider a possible prisoner exchange with Hamas, freeing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for a soldier captured in June 2007.

The Palestinian militant Hamas group will continue fighting against Israel if none of its demands for a ceasefire are met, an official from the group said today.

Hamas' top political chief refused to accept Israel's demands for a ceasefire today, insisting the siege of Gaza must be lifted before his group halts rocket attacks.

Israel rained bombs and leaflets on Gaza, pounding suspected rocket sites and tunnels used by Hamas militants and warning of a wider offensive despite frantic diplomacy to end the bloodshed.

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.

FORMER US president Jimmy Carter said yesterday that Hamas — the Islamic militant group that has called for the destruction of Israel — is prepared to accept the right of the Jewish state to “live as a neighbour next door in peace”.

The militant Islamic Hamas group will accept Israel's right to exist, providing the Palestinian people agree, former US president Jimmy Carter said today.

Former US president Jimmy Carter defied American and Israeli warnings and met the exiled leader of Hamas and the militant group’s deputy chief.

Former US President Jimmy Carter defied American and Israeli warnings today and met the exiled leader of Hamas and the militant group's deputy chief.

Gazans were driving into Egypt for the first time in large numbers today, after Hamas militants with bulldozers cleared a path for vehicles at the breached border.

Hamas marked the 20th anniversary of its founding with a huge rally today, sending a message of strength and defiance even as it is struggling to keep Gaza afloat.

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.

Exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal today apologised for mistakes made during last month’s bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip, saying they were individual acts that do not represent Fatah policies.

Embattled Mahmoud Abbas got a major boost in his increasingly bellicose showdown with Hamas tonight, with a US diplomat saying he expects a crippling 15-month-old foreign aid embargo to be lifted once the Palestinian president appoints an emergency government without the Islamic militants.

Al-Qaida’s number-two leader tonight criticised the Palestinian group Hamas for agreeing to respect past agreements with Israel as part of an accord to form a national unity government.

The supreme leader of Hamas has promised that the militant group will end missile attacks and other violence against Israel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today.

Russia will work for international support of the Palestinian Authority power-sharing arrangement and for the lifting of the crippling international aid blockade, the foreign minister said today.

A Middle East summit bringing together Israel’s prime minister and the Palestinian president with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is due to start today.

Disagreements among Israelis and Palestinians over the scope and goal of next week’s summit meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are leaving its prospects in doubt.

Rival Palestinian leaders have signed an agreement on a power-sharing government in Saudi-brokered talks.

Rival Palestinian leaders began crucial talks in the Saudi holy city of Mecca today, vowing to reach a power-sharing agreement to avert civil war between them, a key step toward resuming the peace process with Israel.

Rival Palestinian delegations met in the dark hours of the morning as they prepared for crucial talks in the Saudi holy city Macca today on ending their bloody street battles and resuming the peace process with Israel.

Saudi Arabia brought the two main Palestinian leaders to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, today for a last-ditch attempt to end their bloody conflict and complete a power-sharing agreement on a coalition government.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will finalise an agreement to share power with Hamas in meetings this week in Saudi Arabia, a senior Fatah official said today.

Hamas and Fatah gunmen fought in Gaza City’s beachfront neighbourhoods and around security compounds this morning, ignoring renewed truce appeals and Arab mediation efforts.

Fatah and Hamas clashed at Cabinet ministries, universities and security headquarters today in defiance of a truce that was to have calmed the seething Gaza Strip.

Fatah fighters stormed a Hamas-affiliated university yesterday — for the second time — hours before the two political factions grappling for control of the Palestinian government said they had agreed on a new ceasefire.

Fatah and Hamas gunmen battled each other at universities, a radio station and in streets across the Gaza Strip today with 17 people – including four children - dying before the factions’ leaders announced a cease-fire agreement.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with Hamas’ top leader in Saudi Arabia next week in another effort to negotiate a national unity government agreement, an aide to Abbas said today.

Dozens of masked gunmen claiming to be members of al-Qaida stormed an empty Gaza Strip beach resort this morning and blew up a reception hall, saying they were sending a message to a close ally of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’, witnesses said.

Palestinian factions today said they were starting a new round of talks to form a unity government after months of internal bickering that has flared into violence between rivals Hamas and Fatah.