At least 16 people have been killed and more than 150 injured by an Israeli airstrike in a crowded shopping area.

Israel knocked out Gaza’s only power plant and pounded dozens of other high-profile targets yesterday, while Egyptian mediators prepared a revised proposal for halting its war with Islamist guerrillas.

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

Israel and Hamas have launched new attacks in the raging Gaza war, despite each side offering different truces to temporarily halt nearly three weeks of fighting ahead of a major Muslim holiday.

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a 12-hour 'humanitarian window' in the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a five-hour United Nations-brokered “humanitarian” pause to their nine-day battle, offering the most encouraging sign yet that the fierce fighting could come to an end.

Israeli war planes intensified attacks across the Gaza Strip today, targeting senior Hamas leaders and bombing a coastal area where four Palestinian boys were killed.

A senior Israeli government official warned that Israel will strike Gaza even harder if Hamas does not accept a truce.

Hamas has rejected an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire with Israel, a senior official with the Palestinian militant group said today.

Palestinians, infuriated at a kidnap and killing they blame on far-right Jews, clashed with Israeli police in Jerusalem, while cross-border shelling in the Gaza Strip abated under Egyptian mediation.

Hamas has warned Israel against any retaliation over the deaths of three teenagers in the West Bank, threatening that “the gates of hell will open”.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has sworn in a unity government, taking a major step toward ending a territorial and political split with the rival Hamas militant group but also setting the stage for new friction with Israel.

Three Hamas fighters are reported killed after Israeli aircraft bombed what the military described as a “terror tunnel” in Gaza.

An Israeli missile ripped through a two-story home in a residential area of Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 11 civilians, including four young children and an 81-year-old woman, in the single deadliest attack of Israel’s offensive against Islamic militants.

Israel’s cabinet authorised the mobilisation of up to 75,000 reservists late last night, preparing the ground for a possible Gaza invasion after Palestinians fired a rocket toward Jerusalem for the first time in decades.

Gaza Strip militants vowed today that an Israeli soldier kidnapped five years ago would not “see the light” until Palestinian prisoners held by Israel were released.

ISRAELI and Palestinian officials floated a ceasefire yesterday to end an upsurge of violence in Gaza, as Israel warned of a still stronger response if rocket fire from the coastal strip continues.

Palestinian militants fired more than a dozen rockets at southern Israel today and Israeli warplanes killed four militants in the Gaza Strip in the most intense fighting since Israel's 2008-2009 offensive in the Hamas-ruled territory.

Dozens of furious Palestinians protested against the French foreign minister on a visit to the Gaza Strip today, pelting her motorcade with eggs and narrowly missing her with a lobbed shoe.

Israeli troops accidentally shot dead a 65-year-old Palestinian man during a pre-dawn raid to arrest a Hamas militant in the West Bank, Palestinian officials said.

Israeli forces pounded dozens of Hamas targets early today as the army kept up pressure on the Islamic militant group ahead of a crucial vote on whether to end Israel’s punishing three-week-long campaign against Gaza’s rulers.

The Palestinian militant Hamas group will continue fighting against Israel if none of its demands for a ceasefire are met, an official from the group said today.

A Palestinian driving a bulldozer went on a deadly rampage in Jerusalem today, killing at least three people and wounding 45 before he was shot dead by security officers.

Hamas militants drove two booby-trapped military vehicles into an Israeli border crossing with Gaza under the cover of morning fog today, detonating one and wounding 13 soldiers in one of Hamas’ most ambitious attempts to target Israelis since Israel’s pullout from Gaza in 2005.

Thousands of Palestinians, including journalists and rival politicians, marched through Gaza City today for the funeral of a TV cameraman killed while covering a Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

Gaza erupted in the worst day of violence in a month, with at least 20 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers dead, and putting Egyptian efforts to mediate a cease-fire in jeopardy.

US Vice President Dick Cheney began Easter Sunday with a prayer and the singing of “Amazing Grace” at a tiny chapel in Jerusalem, then launched into a day of talks about the Mideast peace process and the rising influence of Iran in the region.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has instructed the army to reduce airstrikes and raids into the Gaza Strip in response to a recent drop in rocket fire from the territory.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak indicated Israel might try to overthrow the Hamas regime in Gaza while Hamas leaders went into hiding after Israel threatened to hunt them down in the battle over daily rocket salvos from Gaza.

The Israeli Cabinet today voted overwhelmingly to release 90 Palestinian prisoners in an effort to shore up the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in his power struggle with Islamic Hamas militants.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says Israel is ready to discuss “fundamental issues” with Palestinians who are now governed by leaders accepted by the Jewish state and the West.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the entire Palestinian Cabinet today, a gesture of support for the team of moderates that replaced the Hamas government after the Islamic militants seized Gaza by force.

ISRAEL released more than 250 Palestinian prisoners yesterday, aiming to bolster embattled president, Mahmoud Abbas, in his power struggle with the Islamic militants of Hamas, which took control of Gaza by force last month.

The Israeli Cabinet today approved the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners, officials said, in the government's latest gesture of support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel and the Palestinian government of President Mahmoud Abbas have resumed security talks after a long break, both sides said today, a new sign of cooperation between Israel and Palestinian moderates after the Islamic militant Hamas took over Gaza.

Al-Qaida's deputy leader called on Muslims around the world to back Hamas with weapons, money and attacks on US and Israeli interests in a web audiotape today.

Beleaguered Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is considering calling presidential and legislative elections to strengthen his position, a top aide said today.

A new Palestinian Cabinet will be sworn in today in a move which Hamas claims is illegal.

Kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who has been held by Gaza militants since March, will be freed soon, Hamas officials announced today.

Hamas fighters overran one of the rival Fatah movement's most important Palestinians security installations in the Gaza Strip today.

Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he authorised the army to do whatever it takes to halt Palestinian rocket fire, but warned his Cabinet there was no quick solution.

Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas made a new push today to restore a cease-fire with Israel that collapsed under a barrage of Hamas rocket fire.

Hamas militants defied Israeli air strikes and threats to kill their top leaders, firing more rockets into Israel, as the Palestinian president arrived in Gaza in an effort to defuse the escalating conflict.