Two Palestinians suspected over the abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers which sparked this summer’s Gaza bloodshed have been killed in a shoot-out with Israeli forces, the army said today.

Israel yesterday launched air strikes across the Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian rockets fired after Egyptian- mediated talks failed to extend a 72-hour truce in the month-long war.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas meant to last at least three days and end nearly a month of fighting has come into effect in the Gaza Strip.

Israel withdrew most of its ground troops from the Gaza Strip yesterday in an apparent winding-down of the nearly month-long operation against Hamas that has left more than 1,800 Palestinians and 60 Israelis dead.

Israeli forces, backed by heavy tank fire and air strikes, have moved deeper into southern Gaza in search of a soldier apparently captured in a clash with Hamas militants earlier in the day.

Israeli forces, backed by heavy tank fire and air strikes, have moved deeper into southern Gaza in search of a soldier apparently captured in a clash with Hamas militants earlier in the day.

At least 100 Palestinians have been killed in fighting in Gaza today, according to a health official, as Israel escalated its military offensive in the coastal strip.

A strike on a Gaza park has killed 10 people, including nine children.

Hamas said it has agreed to a 24-hour humanitarian truce in the Gaza war ahead of a major Muslim holiday.

An Israeli soldier is missing following a deadly battle in the Gaza Strip, a defence official has said, while a medical chief in Gaza claims that Israeli air strikes hit a hospital yesterday.

Israel has denied claims by Hamas that they have kidnapped one of its soldiers in Gaza.

Israel uncovered more than a dozen cross-border tunnels and engaged in gun battles with Hamas militants today on the second day of its open-ended ground operation in Gaza, as the Palestinian death toll there topped 300.

Israel launched a large-scale ground offensive in the Gaza Strip yesterday, escalating a 10-day military operation to try to destroy Hamas’ weapons arsenal, rocket-firing abilities, and tunnels under the Palestinian territory’s border with Israel.

Israel has launched a large-scale ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, escalating a 10-day military operation to try to destroy Hamas’ weapons arsenal, rocket firing abilities and tunnels under the Palestinian territory’s border with Israel.

The Israeli military says it has resumed airstrikes on Gaza after Hamas militants violated a de-escalation brokered by Egypt.

Israel briefly deployed ground troops inside the Gaza Strip for the first time today as its military warned Gazans to evacuate as part of a widening offensive that has killed more than 160 Palestinians.

Israeli air strikes targeting Hamas in Gaza have hit a mosque as the Palestinian death toll topped 120 in an offensive that shows no signs of slowing down.

Rockets fired from Lebanon have struck Israel as long-range missile fire from Gaza continued against the country for a fourth day.

Israel dramatically escalated its aerial assault targeting hundreds of Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip yesterday.

The Israeli army has intensified its offensive on the Gaza Strip, striking Hamas sites and killing at least 14 people on the second day of a military operation.

The Israeli military has launched what could be a long-term offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, striking at least 50 sites in Gaza by air and sea.

President Barack Obama is urging Israelis and Palestinians to restrain themselves and put an end to acts of retribution in the recent round of violence.

Three Israeli suspects in the killing of a Palestinian teenager who was abducted and burned to death last week confessed to the crime and were re-enacting the incident for authorities, an official said, as the country’s leaders raced to contain a public uproar over the slaying.

Three Israeli suspects over the killing of a Palestinian teenager who was abducted and burned to death last week have confessed, an official said.

Islamic militant group Hamas has vowed revenge on Israel for the death of seven of its members in an airstrike early today.

The Israeli army has re-arrested 51 former Palestinian prisoners in a furious search for three missing teenagers believed to have been abducted in the West Bank.

Israel’s military says it has arrested around 80 Palestinians in the West Bank, including members of the militant group Hamas, as part of efforts to locate three teenagers believed abducted in the territory while hitch-hiking.

An Israeli soldier has been killed by a Lebanese army sniper as he drove along the border, the Israeli military said, drawing threats of retaliation.

Israeli warplanes today struck a target south of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Israel will halt its fire in Gaza for three hours to allow the territory’s besieged residents to stock up, the country’s military said today.

Four Palestinians firing mortars have been killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Israel has opened its border crossings with the Gaza Strip after closing them once again because of Palestinian rocket fire.