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.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told donors that Palestinians “have no interest” in peace with Israel and suggested that efforts at Mideast peace under his administration would languish, according to comments captured on newly released video of his private remarks to wealthy donors.

Israel’s prime minister today declared his country would retain parts of the West Bank forever – a statement sure to provoke Palestinians and complicate the year-old peace mission of a visiting US envoy.

THE UN Human Rights Council voted yesterday to endorse a Gaza war crimes report and send it to the Security Council, possibly setting up international prosecution of Israelis and Palestinians for war crimes.

US ENVOY George Mitchell began a new swing through the Mideast yesterday with a call for a rapid resumption of peace talks, as the White House tried to push Israel to halt settlement construction in the West Bank.

Top Hamas fugitives lobbed grenades and fired automatic weapons today to push back Palestinian security forces storming their hideout, leaving six dead in the bloodiest clash since the Palestinian president launched a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank two years ago.

Israeli aircraft struck Hamas security compounds across Gaza today in an unprecedented series of simultaneous strikes, killing 155 people and wounding many more, reports said citing medical officials.

Israel today targeted Hamas security compounds through the Gaza Strip, causing widespread panic and 'many casualties'.

Israeli prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni today abandoned her efforts to form a new coalition government and said she would recommend early parliamentary elections.

Mahmoud Darwish, the world’s most recognised Palestinian poet, whose prose gave voice to the Palestinian experience of exile and infighting, died today in Houston, Texas. He was 67.

US President George Bush has called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and told him he is willing to get involved in Mideast peace talks, a senior Palestinian official said today.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today told US President George Bush that now was the time to resume Mideast peace talks.

Hundreds of Hamas fighters firing rockets and mortar shells captured the headquarters of the Fatah-allied security forces in northern Gaza, scoring a key victory in the bloody battle for control of the seaside strip.

Israel’s army received approval today to broaden its ground operations against Gaza Strip militants who have been barraging Israeli border towns with deadly rocket fire, but no large-scale incursion is in the works, military officials said.

Israeli aircraft demolished two money exchange shops in Gaza used to channel funds to Hamas militants, the military said tonight.

Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas made a new push today to restore a cease-fire with Israel that collapsed under a barrage of Hamas rocket fire.

The new Hamas-Fatah coalition was to set to clear a final formal hurdle today, approval by the parliament, before taking on the challenge of persuading a sceptical world to end a crippling year-long boycott of the Palestinian government.

The rival Hamas and Fatah movements wrapped up months of tortuous coalition talks, saying they would present a national unity government to parliament for approval this weekend.

EGYPT has sent a large shipment of weapons through Israeli territory to shore up forces loyal to the embattled Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli security officials said yesterday — an extraordinary show of support by both countries for his efforts to renew peacemaking with Israel.

PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh yesterday agreed that Fatah and Hamas would form a coalition government — a move that the Palestinians hope could lead to the easing of crippling international sanctions.

Israel will not allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to leave the Gaza Strip, part of the closure clamped on the territory after the abduction of an Israeli soldier, military officials said today.

Hundreds of Palestinian security men loyal to president Mahmoud Abbas went on a rampage against the Hamas-led government, riddling the parliament building and cabinet offices with bullets before setting them on fire in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas says it has completed the formation of its government without bring in moderate parties, a step that looked likely to only increase the chances of international isolation.

Hamas today announced the formation of its Cabinet, a government that excludes other Palestinian factions and increases the chance that it will be isolated by Israel and the US.

Israel will determine its border with the West Bank in the absence of negotiations with the Palestinians – and then it will build a wall and move all settlers to the Israeli side, acting prime minister Ehud Olmert said today.

Two Palestinian militant groups today threatened to call off a ceasefire with Israel if Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas persisted with an arrest campaign he launched after a suicide bombing killed five Israelis.

Israeli forces have killed three Palestinian militants in a West Bank raid linked to a suicide bombing attack. The incident threatened to scuttle a fresh truce and fuel a new round of violence.

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have agreed to end their recent rocket attacks on Israel, and Israel has agreed to stop its retaliatory air and artillery strikes, Palestinian officials said today.

A meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been postponed for several weeks, Palestinian official Nabil Abu Rdeneh said today.

Israel has completed preparations for the ailing Yasser Arafat to be buried in the Gaza Strip, outlining plans to allow West Bank Palestinians to cross through Israel for the funeral and permitting enemy Arab leaders to attend, security officials said today.

AS Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was fighting for his life in a French hospital last night after slipping into a coma, a senior official said some of his powers had been handed to his prime minister.

A PALESTINIAN teenager with 11 pounds of explosives strapped to his body blew himself up in a crowded Tel Aviv outdoor market yesterday, killing three Israelis and wounding 32 in the first such attack since Yasser Arafat left the region for medical treatment last week.

A Palestinian teenager with 11 pounds of explosives strapped to his body blew himself up in a crowded Tel Aviv outdoor market today, killing three Israelis and wounding 32 in the first such attack since Yasser Arafat left the region for medical treatment last week.

Having ruled out leukaemia, French doctors were trying for a third day to determine what was causing the dramatic deterioration in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s health.

Physicians specialising in the treatment of leukaemia were examining ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat today to determine whether he suffers from the blood disorder, Palestinian sources said.

THE ailing Yasser Arafat will be flown to Paris for treatment, one of his doctors said yesterday after the Palestinian leader spent most of the day sleeping, was confused at times and unable to hold down food.

Ailing Yasser Arafat performed Muslim prayers before dawn today, but his condition remains serious and a team of doctors flying in from Arab countries will decide whether he needs to be transferred from his compound to a hospital.

Yasser Arafat was in a serious condition today after collapsing and briefly losing consciousness, as his persistent two-week illness took a sudden turn for the worse.

Religious leader Yasser Arafat is in a stable condition after collapsing this evening.

SPECULATION mounted yesterday that Yasser Arafat is more seriously ill than the Palestinian leadership has admitted.

Speculation mounted today that Yasser Arafat is more seriously ill than the Palestinian leadership has admitted.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia told Yasser Arafat yesterday he would remain in his post, but only in a temporary caretaker capacity, Cabinet ministers said

BACKING down in the face of violent protests, Yasser Arafat asked the ousted Palestinian chief of security to return to his job yesterday, placing him in command of his cousin, Palestinian officials said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia refused to withdraw his resignation letter today, and called on Yasser Arafat to “appoint the right men to the right posts” in the security branches.