Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon today spoke confidently of winning a third term, and said he planned to use his next tenure “to make every effort to advance the peace process”.

The Palestinians took control of a border for the first time with the festive opening today of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt – a milestone on their rocky path to independence and a rare moment of joy for fenced-in Gazans.

The United Nations’ special envoy to the Middle East has said that 75% of the Palestinian population is now unemployed because of a state of economic paralysis caused by 19 months of violence.