Israeli aircraft blasted suspected Palestinian weapons facilities and other militant targets throughout the Gaza Strip early today, at the launch of what the military said would be a “prolonged” offensive against Hamas militants for bombarding Israeli towns with rockets.

A suicide bomber targeting American forces exploded his vehicle near the heavily guarded main checkpoint to Baghdad International Airport today, Iraqi police said.

Two veiled women shot at a tour bus, and the fiance of one of the women blew himself up as he leaped off a bridge during a police chase today, wounding seven people in the second strike on tourists in less than a month.

IRAQI officials have found 41 bullet-riddled or beheaded bodies at two sites and they said yesterday they believe some of the corpses are Iraqi soldiers kidnapped and killed by insurgents.

Israeli military officials today identified Mahmoud Zahar, a surgeon and prominent Hamas hard-liner, as the new leader of the Islamic militant group in the Gaza Strip.

ISRAEL will invest hundreds of millions of euro in West Bank settlements even as it pulls out of the Gaza Strip and a few other settlements, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday.

Israel will invest hundreds of millions of pounds in West Bank settlements even as it pulls out of the Gaza Strip and a few other settlements, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today.

Abdel Aziz Rantissi was clearly one of those leading the battle against Israel, against Jews, co-ordinating actions between the various terrorist organisations in Gaza — and, since we failed to bring him to justice, we brought justice to him.

Israeli Jews burned bread in the streets and cleaned their homes today in last-minute preparations for the week-long Passover holiday, overshadowed by high security alerts and spreading poverty.

Egypt today offered to host a new meeting of Arab leaders, but the head of the Arab League said there were no immediate plans to do so following the collapse of the Arab summit two days before its scheduled opening.

US President George W Bush is the enemy of God and Islam, the new Hamas chief in Gaza said today, declaring that God’s war against the United States and Israel was ongoing.

HAMAS yesterday launched an ill-fated sea-borne attack on an Israeli beach-front settlement in Gaza.

THE US has been harshly criticised for scuppering a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin, calling the measure “one-sided” and saying it ignored the group’s bloody record of terrorism.

Israeli soldiers killed two armed Palestinians dressed in diving gear, who attempted to infiltrate a Gaza Strip settlement from the coast in the latest in a series of failed attempts to avenge Israel’s assassination of the Hamas spiritual leader.

Hamas leaders say they are not targeting the United States in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of their founder, but will hit back at Israel and target Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for death.

ABDEL AZIZ RANTISI, a hardliner who opposes even a temporary truce with Israel, was chosen as the new Hamas leader in Gaza last night.

ISRAEL will try to kill the entire leadership of Hamas after assassinating the founder of the Islamic militant group in a missile strike, security sources said in Jerusalem yesterday.

US soldiers fired shots to disperse a violent protest in an Iraqi town against Israel’s killing of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin.

Abdel Aziz Rantisi, a hardliner who opposes even a temporary truce with Israel, is emerging as a Hamas strongman in the Palestinian areas after the assassination of the group’s founder, Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

Israel has defied world condemnation of the assassination of Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, vowing to continue targeted attacks on terror group leaders.

Hours after Israel killed the spiritual leader of Hamas, the largely dormant Lebanese-Israeli front erupted in fighting today.

Anti-Israel demonstrations erupted across the Arab world today after Israel assassinated Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas, with a missile attack outside a Gaza City mosque.

Arabs universally condemned the assassination of the Palestinian militant leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, vowing revenge on Israelis.

Israeli forces killed Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the founder and spiritual leader of the violent Hamas movement, in a missile attack in Gaza early today, an attack that is expected to to escalate Palestinian-Israeli violence dramatically.

ISRAELI forces briefly raided the West Bank town of Bethlehem yesterday and dynamited the home of a Palestinian who blew up a Jerusalem bus. The move was far short of a large-scale reprisal customary after a deadly suicide attack.

A SENIOR Israeli official warned that the founder of the Islamic militant group Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, was “marked for death”.

Israel will kill the founder of Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, in retaliation for a suicide attack on border guards, Israel’s deputy defence minister said in the bluntest warning yet against leaders of the Islamic militant group.

Israel is set to resume targeted killings of top Hamas militants and levelled a blunt warning to the group’s elderly spiritual leader that he tops the list of those to be hunted and put to death.

A Lebanese boy was killed early today in an explosion near the border with Israel, hours after an Israeli soldier was killed in a cross-border shooting.

REBUFFING the incoming Palestinian Prime Minister, the leader of Hamas said yesterday the militant group will not disarm, agree to a truce or join the new Palestinian government.

A large-scale swap of prisoners with Lebanese guerrillas is closer than ever, Israeli premier Ariel Sharon said today.

Hamas is signalling it would stop attacks on Israelis in exchange for a halt of Israel’s military strikes, a senior Palestinian Authority official said today.

HAMAS leaders are "marked for death" and won't have a moment's rest, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned yesterday, after Israel failed in an attempt to kill the top echelon of Hamas with a 550-pound bomb dropped on a Gaza City apartment. Israel also closed the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Hamas leaders are “marked for death” and Israel will hunt them relentlessly, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was quoted as saying today

Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin and 10 other people were wounded today after Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a house in Gaza City.

Israeli helicopters fired missiles in a strike in Gaza City today.

Palestinian militants called off a two-month-old truce after Israel killed a Hamas leader with a volley of missiles yesterday, and tens of thousands of Hamas supporters marched in protest through the streets of Gaza City, vowing revenge.

The main Palestinian terror groups called off their eight-week-old ceasefire today after a Hamas leader was killed in an Israeli missile attack.

Israel has decided to target top Hamas leaders, including its founder and spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, officials said today.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's scandal-ridden campaign for re-election showed signs of recovery in opinion polls published yesterday following a weekend surge in Middle East violence.

The Hamas leader today warned his Islamic militant group might kidnap Israelis as ransom for Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli troops seized suspected Palestinian weapons-makers in the deepest incursion into Gaza City in two years today and surrounded the West Bank hideout of the alleged mastermind of a shooting attack on a kibbutz.

DESCRIBED by Israel as the Gaza Strip's "most brilliant and brutal terrorist," Salah Shehadeh spent more than a decade in Israeli and Palestinian jails, and for the last three years was often in hiding as he oversaw Hamas' frequent attacks.

Described by Israel as the Gaza Strip’s ‘‘most brilliant and brutal terrorist,’’ Salah Shehadeh spent more than a decade in Israeli and Palestinian jails, and for the last three years was often in hiding as he oversaw Hamas’ frequent attacks.