The Vatican has signed a treaty with Palestine, saying it hoped its legal recognition of the state would help stimulate peace with Israel and that the treaty itself would serve as a model for other Middle East countries.

The Palestinian foreign minister has accepted for the first time there is not enough support in the UN Security Council for recognition of a Palestinian state.

THE Palestinians and their allies called on UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon to monitor the Gaza war crimes investigations.

A PALESTINIAN militant shot and killed two Israeli security guards early yesterday at a factory along the divide between Israel and the West Bank, the military said.