Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza staged protests against US president George Bush’s visit today.

US President George Bush will try today to help broker an elusive agreement between Israel and the Palestinians ahead of peace talks planned for this week.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas lashed out at the Islamic militants of Hamas, accusing them of trying to build an “empire of darkness” in the Gaza Strip and pledging he would not negotiate with the “murderous terrorists”.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has invited the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders to attend a summit in Egypt, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said today.

Embattled Mahmoud Abbas got a major boost in his increasingly bellicose showdown with Hamas tonight, with a US diplomat saying he expects a crippling 15-month-old foreign aid embargo to be lifted once the Palestinian president appoints an emergency government without the Islamic militants.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas stepped in directly today in an attempt to stop bloody clashes between his Fatah and the Islamic Hamas that threatens to engulf his people in civil war and provoke a harsh Israeli response.

Lebanon’s prime minister today abruptly pulled out of an international gathering of world political and business leaders in Switzerland, reflecting tensions in his nation.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared today that months of coalition talks with the ruling Hamas have hit a “dead end” and his aides said he’s finished negotiating with the Islamic militants.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas put off an ultimatum to Hamas to accept a document that implies recognition of Israel, but he insisted that the Islamic militants, who head the Palestinian government, must accept the plan with no changes or face a referendum.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has given Hamas three more days to accept a document that implicitly recognises Israel before he makes good on an ultimatum to bring the issue to a national referendum, an official said today.

ISRAEL said yesterday it had destroyed most of the military positions of Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas along its northern border in the heaviest fighting since it ended its 18-year occupation of Southern Lebanon.

Heavy cross-border rocket and artillery exchanges erupted along the Lebanese-Israeli frontier yesterday, and Israeli warplanes struck deep inside Lebanon, blasting Palestinian guerrilla bases near Beirut and Syria’s border.

The militant Islamic Hamas today moved a step closer to taking control of the Palestinian government, calling a special session of parliament to approve its new Cabinet, sweeping aside objections from the Palestinian president over its refusal to recognise Israel.

Palestinian officials said today they would hold elections for a new leader to replace Yasser Arafat by January 10.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat flew to Paris for treatment of a serious illness today, breaking free from nearly three years of Israeli-imposed confinement at his battered compound, but leaving behind a people in disarray.

ISRAEL'S Supreme Court heard petitions from two human rights groups against the West Bank separation barrier yesterday 24 hours after the government said it would change the route to minimise hardship for Palestinians.

A senior Palestinian official said today that Yasser Arafat’s government was considering declaring a state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem if Israel tried to impose a boundary on the Palestinians.

AN adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon urged Washington yesterday not to meddle in Israeli politics in the latest show of displeasure over planned US talks with authors of a symbolic Middle East peace pact.

ISRAELI and Palestinian activists yesterday launched an unofficial peace treaty aimed at ending one of the world’s most intractable conflicts, backed by a gathering of Nobel peace prize winners including former President Jimmy Carter.

ISRAEL unveiled plans yesterday to build more than 600 homes in Jewish settlements, drawing fresh Palestinian condemnation a day after Israel approved an expansion of its security barrier in the West Bank.

A joint truce declaration by Palestinian militias, initially expected today, has been delayed, a Palestinian Cabinet minister said.

More than 100 Palestinians were arrested today when Israeli forces swept into the West Bank city of Hebron, the Israeli army said.

The US-backed road map to peace in the Middle East was in crisis tonight after a suicide bomber killed at least 17 on a Jerusalem bus and seven Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza City.

A number of Israeli rabbis today denounced Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s decision to knock down several tiny illegal West Bank outposts as part of the US-backed road map to peace.

Israeli troops began dismantling uninhabited West Bank settlements today, taking down a few of the dozens of outposts that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is obliged to remove under a US-backed peace plan.

Palestinian and Israeli leaders were sitting down for face-to-face peace talks with George Bush today, as the US president attempted to build on the diplomatic momentum from his Arab summit.

A second summit between the Israeli and Palestinian premiers was in doubt today after Yasser Arafat sent a strong message that he, not Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, is in charge of peace talks with Israel.

The Middle East peace process creaked back into life today following the Israeli government’s historic vote to recognise the Palestinian people’s right to a state.

PALESTINIAN leaders have put aside reservations to parts of the US-developed plan for peace with Israel and are ready to get started on it, Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas said yesterday, heeding an appeal by Secretary of State Colin Powell.

INCOMING Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas set out his list of Cabinet ministers, expecting quick approval to trigger the presentation of a US-backed peace plan, but opposition to some of his choices emerged yesterday.

Israel locked down the West Bank and Gaza Strip today ahead of its national election to keep out Palestinian attackers after a large-scale military incursion into Gaza and warnings that Palestinians may try to disrupt the voting with violence.

A planned conference on the future of the Palestinian Authority is to go ahead in London next week, despite the refusal of Israel to allow senior Palestinian representatives to travel, Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.

ISRAELI troops reoccupied Bethlehem yesterday after 11 bus passengers, including four youngsters, were killed in a Jerusalem suicide bombing.

ISRAEL’S defence minister has ordered a speedy investigation into recent killings of Palestinians, including at least eight civilians, by army fire, his office said yesterday.

Israel’s defence minister has ordered a rapid investigation into several recent killings of Palestinians by the army which have included at least eight civilians.

THE air strike which killed 15 Palestinians and obliterated a three-story building and destroyed or badly damaged several adjacent ones, came as Palestinian and Israeli political leaders were discussing ways to relieve tensions in the West Bank.

Fifteen people have been killed and more than 150 injured when an Israeli warplane blew up the house of a leading Hamas militant in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.

ISRAEL has proposed withdrawing troops from some Palestinian areas in the West Bank as a test case to see if Palestinian security can prevent attacks, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said yesterday.

Israel has proposed withdrawing troops from some Palestinian areas in the West Bank as a test case to see if Palestinian security can prevent attacks, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said today.

PALESTINIAN gunmen killed an Israeli officer in the Gaza Strip and Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian in the West Bank yesterday, ensuring tension remains high despite a resumption of talks between the sides.

The Palestinian Authority was in turmoil today, after two security chiefs defied dismissal orders, mounting a challenge to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Palestinians reacted angrily today to claims a picture of a baby dressed as a suicide bomber was taken from a wanted man’s home in the West Bank.

Israeli troops have moved into the West Bank town of Ramallah today, hours after Yasser Arafat named a new, streamlined Cabinet and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon was to meet US president George Bush in Washington.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was to meet leaders of his Fatah movement today after promising Palestinians new elections.