At least 12 people were killed today when an Israeli warplane blew up the house of a leading Hamas militant in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.

ISRAELI Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said yesterday that the army was prepared to withdraw from two West Bank towns occupied for more than a month as long as Palestinian security forces were ready to take over and prevent attacks against Israel.

Israel’s foreign minister said today that the army was prepared to withdraw from two West Bank towns occupied more than a month ago.

ISRAEL shut down the office of a leading Palestinian moderate yesterday as top officials from the two sides met for a second day, bringing out contrasting trends in the 21-month conflict.

A Hamas activist has been killed in the West Bank.