ISRAELI defence officials and political pundits rounded on deputy prime minister Shaul Mofaz yesterday after he threatened attacks against Iran, accusing him of exploiting war jitters to advance personal ambitions.

Israelis would vote Ehud Olmert out of office if elections were held now, polls indicated today, as the defiant prime minister defended his performance in the Lebanon war and lashed out at his critics.

ISRAEL’S defence minister advised the incoming Palestinian prime minister yesterday to fear for his life if Hamas militants start attacking Israel again.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz today said that the Islamic militant Hamas group’s prime minister-designate, Ismail Haniyeh, was not immune from an Israeli targeted killing.

ISRAEL has ratcheted up the pressure on the Palestinian Authority by threatening to cut all ties if a prime minister affiliated to Hamas is chosen after parliament is sworn in this weekend.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak thinks Hamas militants soon to head the Palestinian government will succumb to international pressure and renounce their violent campaign against Israel, Israel’s Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz quoted him as saying.

Israel’s compulsory military service is to be gradually reduced to two years from the current three years in a move that would save millions of pounds a year, defence minister Shaul Mofaz said today.

Israel will insist that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas keep his commitments to disarm militants, the Israeli defence minister said tonight.

Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz yesterday hinted that Israel is preparing for military action to stop Iran’s nuclear program, but said international diplomacy must be the first course of action.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has quit the Likud party to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, another aftershock from the political earthquake Sharon set off when he formed his new centrist party.

Likud’s governing body met today for the first time since Ariel Sharon’s defection, hoping to pick up the pieces of a shattered party even as the race to succeed him dissolved into a fury of backbiting.

Israeli warplanes struck in Lebanon today in what Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz described as the largest-scale Israeli response to cross-border attacks by Lebanese guerrillas since 2000.

Israeli aircraft early today bombarded open areas and roads in northern Gaza that the military said Palestinian militants used to launch rocket attacks on nearby southern Israel.

Israel slapped tough travel restrictions on the West Bank after Palestinian gunmen killed three young Israelis and wounded four others in a drive-by shooting at a crowded bus stop near Jewish settlements.

Israel has suspended its offensive in the Gaza Strip following a lull in rocket attacks by Palestinian militants, but is ready to continue the operation if the rocket fire resumes, officials said today.

The Fatah movement of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas made an unexpectedly strong showing against key rival Hamas in local elections in dozens of West Bank towns and villages, according to final results published today.

Israeli soldiers killed three militants during arrest raids in the West Bank early today as it pressed on with a major offensive against Palestinian militants, despite their pledges to stop firing rockets at Israel.

Israeli defence Minister Shaul Mofaz today said that he was “not satisfied” with a Palestinian militant leader’s call for a halt to rocket attacks on Israel.

Palestinians took control of border traffic for the first time ever today, allowing thousands to cross into Egypt from the Gaza Strip in a limited opening of the joint frontier.

The Israeli army will complete its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip on Monday, three days ahead of schedule, defence minister Shaul Mofaz said today.

Israel will complete its evacuation of the Gaza Strip around mid-September, defence minister Shaul Mofaz said today.

Israel’s top security chiefs are looking to tighten the already shortened Gaza Strip evacuation timetable, defence and government officials said today.

Israel will ask Washington for hundreds of millions of dollars to help foot the bill for next month’s €1.6bn evacuation of the Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank settlements, a senior Israeli official said today.

More than 40,000 soldiers and some 4,000 police are to be deployed in the Gaza Strip to carry out Israel’s evacuation, beginning in mid-August, Israel’s defence minister and police chief said today.

Palestinians fired three Qassam rockets at southern Israel today, hitting one home, while Israeli soldiers traded fire with a Palestinian fugitive hiding in a house in the northern West Bank, the Israeli army said.

Israel will target any Palestinians who fire mortars at Israeli communities, Israeli security chiefs decided today, signalling a further erosion of a shaky Mideast truce.

Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said today that Israel would not delay its planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip beyond its new mid-August start date, disputing settler hopes that the pull-out can be indefinitely postponed.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said today that Israel’s security will improve after Israel withdraws from the Gaza Strip this summer – but over time.

ISRAEL must withdraw from the Gaza Strip, no matter how well Islamic militants do in Palestinian parliament elections a month before the pullout, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said yesterday.

Israel must withdraw from the Gaza Strip, no matter how well Islamic militants do in Palestinian parliament elections a month before the pullout, Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said today.

Mohammed Daraghmeh, Ramallah

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said today that he is freezing the handover of West Bank towns to Palestinian security control because the Palestinians have failed to honour their promise to disarm militants.

ISRAELI Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz yesterday recommended delaying Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the strongest indication yet that the summer pullout will be pushed back as Israel tries to prepare for the operation.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz today agreed to a proposed three-week delay in this summer’s Gaza withdrawal, security officials said.

A Jewish settler leader in the Gaza Strip said today that settlers would comply with a Defence Ministry order to return army-issue weapons to the military, defusing a potentially serious problem ahead of this summer’s planned Israeli evacuation of the volatile territory.

Israel will not destroy homes in Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip during the withdrawal from the area this summer, security officials said.

Opponents of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan for a pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank made last-ditch efforts today to rally support for a vote that could halt the withdrawal.

ISRAEL will delay the handover of a third West Bank town, expected this week, to the Palestinians sources said yesterday.

ISRAEL is set to withdraw its troops from a second West Bank city today in a gesture to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after he won a commitment from militants to hold their fire against Israelis.

A PLANNED Israeli army pullback from cities in the occupied West Bank stalled yesterday when talks to turn over Jericho to Palestinian control broke down in a persisting dispute over army checkpoints.

The West Bank town of Jericho and surrounding areas will be transferred to the control of Palestinians within the next few days – possibly as early as this evening – to be followed by the town of Tulkarem, a senior Israeli Defence Ministry official said today.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has ordered a drastic cut in the the timetable for withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank this summer in an effort to hinder Jewish extremists bent on disrupting the pullout.

ISRAEL warned yesterday it has intelligence suggesting militants will try to disrupt its summit with Palestinians at an Egyptian Red Sea resort today.