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.

Mahmoud Abbas’ bold bid for UN recognition of Palestinian statehood is doomed to fail but has won him admiration at home and re-energised international efforts to seek a negotiated settlement.

A Palestinian man has been shot dead in a clash with Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank.

Palestinian protesters have denounced US President Barack Obama for his opposition to their bid to win UN recognition of a Palestinian state.

A Palestinian driving a bulldozer went on a deadly rampage in Jerusalem today, killing at least three people and wounding 45 before he was shot dead by security officers.

Palestinian factions meeting in Yemen have ended five days of reconciliation talks without agreeing on who will control the Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops opened fire on a car today, killing four Palestinian militants, medical officials said.

Israel today insisted the massacre of eight students by a Palestinian gunman would not halt peace talks.

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up next to Israel’s fortified nuclear reactor, killing a woman and wounding 11 people in the first such attack in more than a year.

A Palestinian rocket exploded this morning next to a day-care centre crowded with toddlers in southern Israel, sparking anger and panic in the frequently targeted town of Sderot and bringing warnings of retribution from Israeli leaders.

US President George Bush, taking on a more active role in the Mideast conflict, is offering new financial support to embattled Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ government.

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.

Two dozen Fatah gunmen shooting guns in the air disrupted final high school exams in the West Bank today, after education officials rejected their demand to be allowed to take the tests in a separate room.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad today welcomed the appointment of Tony Blair as Mideast envoy.

Israeli troops imposed a curfew on Nablus and clashed with Fatah militants as the army’s activities moved from Gaza to the West Bank today.

Hundreds of Fatah gunmen today stormed Hamas-controlled institutions across the West Bank, seeking revenge for the Islamic group’s takeover of the Gaza Strip, while Hamas forces blew up the home of a prominent Fatah family and deployed at strategic locations to solidify their control of Gaza.

The kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston could be freed as early as today after the Islamic militant group Hamas made contact with his captors to try to secure his release.

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.

Clashes between Lebanese troops and Islamic militants spread today to Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp in the south, underlining the complexities the country faces in trying to defeat al Qaida-inspired fighters who are battling a continuing army onslaught in a northern camp.

A five-month ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza was threatened when Hamas called for retaliatory attacks after weekend army raids killed nine and moderates called for cutting contacts with Israel.

Palestinian militants from Hamas today called for a fresh wave of attacks against Israel after troops killed nine Palestinians in weekend fighting, straining a five-month old ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a powerful parliamentary panel today that the list of prisoners the Palestinians want freed in exchange for a captured Israeli soldier “creates expectations we cannot meet,” a meeting participant said.

Israeli troops raided a Palestinian military HQ early today and arrested 18 fugitives who had sought shelter there, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.

GUNFIGHTS between Hamas and Fatah gunmen erupted across the Gaza Strip yesterday, killing four people, wounding several others and destroying a days-old truce.

A truce between warring Palestinian factions entered its third day today, marred by sporadic shootings.

Israeli troops killed two Palestinian gunmen in an exchange of fire in the West Bank early today, hospital officials and members of a local militia said.

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.

Israel said today it had paid £50m (€76.2m) in frozen tax funds to the Palestinians and rescinded a contentious decision to authorise a new West Bank settlement, strengthening moderate president Mahmoud Abbas’ hand ahead of crucial weekend talks in Damascus with his Hamas rivals.

Renewed coalition negotiations between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements hit a new snag today, people close to the negotiations said, raising the possibility of a new round of political violence.

In a show of strength against Hamas, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement planned a large anniversary rally today, but Abbas aides said the moderate leader would also give coalition talks with the Islamic militant group another chance.

The Islamic militant group Hamas said today it would double the size of its paramilitary force in Gaza, defying President Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to outlaw the unit and raising the stakes in an increasingly bloody power struggle between the two rivals.

THOUSANDS of Palestinians carried bodies draped in yellow flags through pouring rain yesterday in a funeral procession for seven Fatah members killed by Hamas gunmen. Fatah said it was suspending talks with its rival until the assailants were brought to justice.

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak firmly condemned Israel’s raid into the West Bank today as he met with Israeli premier Ehud Olmert in a summit aimed reviving the long-stalled peace process.

Fierce gun battles raged in the streets of Gaza City today between forces of the rival Hamas and Fatah movements, killing at least four people in renewed factional violence that left a shaky truce in tatters.

Young schoolchildren screamed in horror today as Palestinian gunmen killed the nine-year-old son of a senior Palestinian intelligence officer in a drive-by shooting on a busy street, an unprecedented attack at a time of heightened tension between rival militias.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said he would be willing to sacrifice his job if the international community would lift economic sanctions that have crippled his Hamas-led government.

Arab foreign ministers will hold an emergency meeting this weekend to forge a response to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 50 people in the past few days, the head of the Arab League said today.

Tens of thousands of grieving Gazans, weeping in anguish and screaming for revenge, crammed into a cemetery today to bury 18 civilians killed by an errant Israeli artillery barrage that tore through a crowded residential neighbourhood.

Eighteen ambulances, flanked by Palestinian police cars, began the slow procession from hospital morgues in northern Gaza to the cemetery where 18 victims of an Israeli artillery attack were to be buried today.

Palestinian security forces blocked main Gaza Strip road junctions today, burning tyres and snarling traffic in protest at the Hamas government’s inability to pay their salaries.

Hamas militiamen withdrew from the streets of the Gaza Strip today and returned to their normal posts after the worst day of internal violence since Hamas took control of the Palestinian government in March.

President Mahmoud Abbas’ efforts to set up a Palestinian government acceptable to the West suffered a new setback when the prime minister from the Islamic militant Hamas group said he would not lead a coalition that recognised Israel.

President Mahmoud Abbas’ bumpy efforts to set up a Palestinian government acceptable to the West suffered a new setback today, after the prime minister from the Islamic militant group Hamas said he would not lead a coalition that recognises Israel.

EU foreign ministers in plan to signal strong support today for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ bid to form a national unity government.