Israeli airstrikes hit more than 20 targets today in the Gaza Strip, as militant rocket fire continued towards Israel following the collapse of a three-day truce aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hamas.

The Israeli military has resumed strikes on targets “across Gaza” in response to rocket fire from the territory.

There has been renewed rocket fire on Israel after a three-day truce expired today and negotiations in Cairo on a new border deal for the coastal strip hit a deadlock.

Israeli forces, backed by heavy tank fire and air strikes, have moved deeper into southern Gaza in search of a soldier apparently captured in a clash with Hamas militants earlier in the day.

Israeli forces, backed by heavy tank fire and air strikes, have moved deeper into southern Gaza in search of a soldier apparently captured in a clash with Hamas militants earlier in the day.

Israeli aircraft have struck 30 houses in the Gaza Strip, killing a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group and two of his sons.

Thousands of Israeli soldiers backed by tanks have entered the Gaza Strip, escalating a 10-day campaign of heavy air bombardment to try to destroy Hamas' arsenal, rocket-firing abilities and the tunnels militants use to infiltrate the Jewish state.

It may be too much to hope that Israel will realise that the margin of the UN vote — 138 to 9 — enhancing Palestine’s status reflects the world view on how badly they have behaved towards the displaced people trapped in their sphere of control.

Israel has handed over the remains of 91 Palestinian militants, including suicide bombers, to the West Bank government in an effort to persuade President Mahmoud Abbas to renew peace talks.

A Palestinian protester in Gaza has reportedly died from Israeli army gunfire as thousands took part in an annual protest against Israeli land policy.

Israeli security forces in riot gear have confronted Palestinian demonstrators along Israel’s frontiers on an annual protest day.

IRAN is suspected of conducting secret experiments whose sole purpose is to develop nuclear arms, the UN nuclear atomic energy agency said yesterday for the first time.

THE Palestinians have secured eight Security Council “yes” votes for their UN membership bid, just one short of the nine they need, the Palestinian foreign minister said.

The United Nations is being asked to recognise a new independent state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.

Turkey is preparing to challenge Israel’s blockade on Gaza at the International Court of Justice, turning up the tension between the once close allies.

Israel’s interior minister has given final authorisation to build 1,600 apartments in disputed east Jerusalem and will approve 2,700 more in days, officials said today.

A confidential diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks shows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supporting the notion of land swaps with the Palestinians.

A second round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks ended today without visible progress on the divisive issue of Jewish settlement construction, but the leaders did discuss a range of disputes standing in the way of a permanent deal.

The US prepared today to plunge into a new round of Middle East peacemaking, bringing Israeli and Palestinian leaders together for face-to-face talks for the first time in nearly two years.

The expulsion of activists detained during the storming of an aid flotilla heading for the Gaza Strip was under way today.

PRO-PALESTINIAN activists sent another boat to challenge Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip yesterday and Egypt declared it was temporarily opening a crossing into the Palestinian territory after a raid on an aid flotilla that ended with Israeli soldiers killing nine activists.

ISRAEL said yesterday it plans to build nearly 700 new apartments in east Jerusalem, drawing tough criticism from both the Palestinians and the United States, which denounced it as an obstacle to peacemaking.

Israel said today that it planned to build nearly 700 new apartments in east Jerusalem, drawing tough criticism from both the Palestinians and the US, which denounced it as an obstacle to peacemaking.

Israel rejected UN calls to open an independent inquiry into its conduct in last winter’s Gaza Strip war and said it would launch a diplomatic offensive to block any attempt to bring its soldiers before an international war crimes tribunal.

Israel said today it would not conduct an independent inquiry into its conduct in the Gaza Strip war, rejecting a key recommendation from an explosive UN report that accused the Jewish state of war crimes.

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

US president Barack Obama challenged Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank and pushed Palestinians for progress, deepening his involvement in the Middle East peace process.

PALESTINIAN president Mahmoud Abbas has met with US president Barack Obama urging stronger US pressure on Israel to halt settlement building even as the Jewish state rebuffed Washington’s latest appeal.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel will continue to build homes in existing West Bank settlements, defying US calls to halt settlement growth.

AN axe-wielding Palestinian militant went on a rampage yesterday in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, killing an Israeli 13-year-old boy and wounding a seven-year-old boy before fleeing.

A TOTAL of $4.481 billion (€3.5bn) was pledged by international donors yesterday to help the Palestinian economy and rebuild Gaza after Israel’s three-week offensive.

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.

IN his letter (January 23) Martin Stern accuses me of having incorrectly asserted that Hamas was not responsible for breaking the recent ceasefire that resulted in the bloody Israeli assault on Gaza.

Israeli officials say troops will leave the Gaza Strip before tomorrow’s inauguration of Barack Obama as the new US president.

Palestinian militants fired a volley of rockets into Israel today threatening to reignite violence just hours after a ceasefire had been called.

Egypt was preparing to meet representatives of Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority today in an attempt to halt the fighting in Gaza.

France and Egypt announced an initiative to stop the fighting in Gaza early today as Israel agreed to a “humanitarian corridor” for vital supplies.

Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni declared victory today in the Kadima Party leadership race by a narrow margin of 431 votes.

Israel today freed nearly 200 jailed Palestinians in a goodwill gesture made hours before US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice's latest peace mission to the region.

BRITISH prime minister Gordon Brown demanded that Israel cease settlement construction and promised more money to jump-start the battered Palestinian economy.

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 militants fired 50 rockets and mortars toward Israel yesterday, who responded with airstrikes in Gaza, just hours before a truce was to take effect, illustrating how fragile the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas would be.

ISRAEL’S prime minister Ehud Olmert sought to assure Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas yesterday that peace talks would not be affected by a corruption scandal that could force the Israeli leader from office.

Hamas militants drove two booby-trapped military vehicles into an Israeli border crossing with Gaza under the cover of morning fog today, detonating one and wounding 13 soldiers in one of Hamas’ most ambitious attempts to target Israelis since Israel’s pullout from Gaza in 2005.