After a four-month lull in fighting, the two largest Palestinian militant groups are threatening to withdraw from a cease-fire, accusing Israel of violating the truce with continued military operations.

Israel was giving Mahmoud Abbas one last chance to enforce a ceasefire tonight and decided to resume security talks with the Palestinians – holding off a major military offensive.

YASSER ARAFAT was lying in a coma “between life and death” yesterday as a row brewed between Israelis and Palestinians over a likely burial site.

Thousands of Palestinians staged pro-Iraq rallies today to mark the first anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, calling on Iraqis to rise up against the United States in a holy war.

ISRAELI troops killed eight Palestinians yesterday in the deadliest raid in the Gaza Strip in more than a month, casting a shadow over a new American push to salvage a battered peace plan.

The Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers held a two-hour meeting today, kicking off 10 days of international diplomacy aimed at strengthening a fragile Middle East cease-fire and advancing the US-backed “road map” peace plan.

A joint truce declaration by Palestinian militias, initially expected today, has been delayed, a Palestinian Cabinet minister said.

The militant Islamic Jihad organisation has accepted a conditional three-month halt to attacks on Israelis, a leader of the group said today.

Israeli soldiers killed three Hamas activists and destroyed a house in a village south of Gaza City early today as Palestinian factions worked to wrap up details of a three-month halt to attacks against Israelis.

Top leaders of the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups have agreed to halt attacks against Israelis for three months, a Palestinian source said today.

An Islamic militant leader escaped arrest for the second time this month but was caught later by Palestinian security forces.