Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today denied knowledge of an impending deal to swap Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants for the past two months.

The European Union today agreed to monitor a Gaza-Egypt border crossing that serves as the main gate to the world for Palestinians in the coastal strip as an EU delegation toured the area.

Israel’s internal security service chief warned today that as many as 200 Jewish settlers want to see Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dead because of his plan to dismantle settlements in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Israel's attorney general dropped a corruption probe into Ariel Sharon today, ending months of uncertainty over the prime minister's political future and boosting prospects of an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005.