Palestinian and Israeli officials today expressed widely different expectations for an upcoming summit between their leaders, reflecting the sharp differences that remain as the two sides try to end four years of hostilities and resume peace talks.

A top PLO decision-making body yesterday called on Palestinian militants to halt attacks against Israel, charging that the violence gives Israel an excuse to carry out military operations.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath today said the militant group Hamas could be willing to commit to a ceasefire if Israel did the same as part of renewed peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis.

The ruling Fatah movement chose interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas as its candidate for January’s presidential election last night, but Fatah rebels said they would challenge the decision.

The leading sponsors of the “road map” peace plan will send top officials to the West Bank next week in a renewed effort to revive the internationally-backed peace plan, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said today.

Yasser Arafat’s brain is working only partially because of haemorrhaging, and all his organs except for his heart and lungs “are not functioning well”, the Palestinian foreign minister said in Ramallah tonight.

Yasser Arafat will be buried at the battered West Bank headquarters that had been his virtual prison for the last three years, his aides decided after the deeply comatose Palestinian leader suffered another downturn.

A top Islamic cleric was due at Yasser Arafat’s hospital bedside in Paris today after the Palestinian leader’s coma deepened and his caretaker government chose a burial site.

Yasser Arafat hovered on the brink of death in a Paris hospital tonight - being kept alive artificially while a cleric flew from the West Bank to be by his side.

Comatose Yasser Arafat’s condition worsened today as Palestinian officials visited their critically ill leader, ignoring his wife’s angry objections.

The caretaker Palestinian leadership decided today to travel to Yasser Arafat’s bedside, reversing a decision to call off the trip after being lambasted by the ailing 75-year-old leader’s wife.

Palestinian leaders are to fly to Paris to consult with doctors about Yasser Arafat’s condition, a senior official said tonight.

An Israeli Cabinet minister said today it was ``clear'' Yasser Arafat was brain dead and was being kept on a life support machine.

HAVING ruled out leukaemia, French doctors were trying for a third day to determine what was causing the dramatic deterioration in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s health.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday that he would never let Yasser Arafat be buried in Jerusalem, but he will honour his commitment to allow the Palestinian leader to return to the West Bank when he is finished receiving medical treatment in France.

Having ruled out leukaemia, French doctors were trying for a third day to determine what was causing the dramatic deterioration in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s health.

THE international campaign to free abducted Irish aid worker Margaret Hassan gained pace yesterday as fears grew for her safety against the background of puzzling silence from her kidnappers.

The Government and Palestinian Authority today issued a joint appeal for the release of Dublin-born aid worker Margaret Hassan held hostage in Iraq.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has sent an official to Co Kerry to act as liaison officer to relatives of Margaret Hassan, the Irish-born aid worker kidnapped in Iraq this week.

Palestinian officials said today they are ready for a cease-fire with Israel as a first step toward reviving the stalled US-backed “road map” peace plan.

Israel accused the European Union of siding with Arabs in the Mideast conflict in harsh exchanges at a meeting in Dublin today intended to promote peace.

ISRAELI security forces were placed on high alert in readiness for revenge attacks from Hamas as another member of the radical Islamic group was killed, the day after the death of 15 Palestinians in Gaza.

Palestinian factions have failed to unite behind a comprehensive truce offer to Israel after militants refused to agree to it at a meeting in Cairo.

An Egyptian mediator working to secure a Mideast truce said today he received “positive” signals from Israel and called on Palestinian militant groups to come to take advantage of the new atmosphere.

PALESTINIANS yesterday vowed to defend Yasser Arafat with their lives as Israel came under fierce international criticism for its threat to “remove” the Palestinian leader.

Israel insisted today it will eventually “remove” Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as an obstacle to peace, despite international condemnation.

Israel planned to release several hundred Palestinian prisoners today, but Palestinians – complaining that the list is not long enough – cancelled a summit and called for US intervention to prevent a crisis in peace efforts.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will not be allowed to meet Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas if he refuses to meet veteran leader Yasser Arafat, a Palestinian official said today.

THREE Palestinians disguised as Israeli military sneaked into an army post yesterday and killed four soldiers before being killed by troops — the first major attack on Israelis since last week’s Mideast summit.

Three Palestinians disguised as Israeli soldiers sneaked into an army post today, gunning down four Israelis before they themselves were killed by troops - the first deadly attack since last week’s Middle East summit.

The Israeli military has begun easing restrictions on the Palestinians, the first concrete results of a meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers designed to smooth the path toward implementing a US-backed peace plan.

SEVEN Palestinians were killed yesterday five in a mysterious explosion and two by Israeli army fire, while Yasser Arafat affirmed in a letter to Britain’s prime minister Tony Blair that he will honour a pledge to appoint a prime minister.

Two Israelis were killed in the West Bank today after the government spurned a Palestinian offer to halt attacks on civilians as the first stage of a gradual truce.

YASSER ARAFAT is considering appointing a prime minister to share the running of day-to-day government affairs once a Palestinian State is declared after a planned January election.

Yasser Arafat is considering appointing a prime minister to share the running of day-to-day government affairs once a Palestinian state is declared after a planned January election.

Yasser Arafat will run for re-election, snubbing a call from President Bush for a new Palestinian leadership as part of a deal for provisional statehood.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed a possible interim Palestinian state and other peace ideas with Arab leaders in Washington as US officials cautiously welcomed a promise by the Palestinians’ new security chief to curb attacks on Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to meet key Cabinet ministers today to decide whether to allow Yasser Arafat to attend this week’s crucial Arab summit in Beirut.

A Palestinian gunman opened fire at a Tel Aviv restaurant early today, killing three people and wounding 31, four seriously, before he was shot dead, police said, the latest in a spiral of attacks and counterattacks by Palestinians and Israeli forces.

Yasser Arafat called off what would have been his first visit to Syria in eight years today, after getting a last-minute request from Damascus to stay away.

Senior Palestine Authority official Nabil Shaath today said a Middle East report submitted by a group headed by former US senator and Northern Ireland peace broker, George Mitchell, was ‘‘a model of courage and wisdom’’.

Israel and the Palestinians have made good progress in drawing the borders of a future Palestinian state, say negotiators.