A TOP-LEVEL Hamas delegation will travel to Moscow next week for meetings with Russian officials, a Hamas official said yesterday, part of the militant group’s efforts to gain international legitimacy after sweeping a Palestinian parliamentary election.

ISRAELI troops killed five Palestinians yesterday as plans were announced to pave new roads in the West Bank exclusively for Palestinians while Jewish settler vehicles keep to the existing network.

Israeli troops killed two Palestinians and seriously wounded a third today, the fifth day of an army sweep in the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank.

The Fatah movement of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas made an unexpectedly strong showing against key rival Hamas in local elections in dozens of West Bank towns and villages, according to final results published today.

Israeli troops shot and killed an armed 17-year-old Palestinian in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus today, the army and a militant said.

Palestinian gunmen challenged the authority of their own leaders in a West Bank refugee camp yesterday, firing weapons and setting off a bomb as Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia delivered an emotional lecture on the need to end internal violence.

Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a sports club in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata this morning during a visit by Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, but Qureia wasn’t hurt, witnesses said.

International observers toured army roadblocks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip today and Palestinian officials complained Israel was not fully complying with promises to ease travel restrictions ahead of presidential elections to replace the late Yasser Arafat.

A senior official of the mainstream Palestinian Fatah party was shot dead in the Balata refugee camp, party officials said.

A senior official of the Palestinian Fatah party was shot dead in the Balata refugee camp tonight, party officials said.

Gunmen loyal to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat opened fire today on a conference of Arafat’s Fatah movement, in the latest sign of factional infighting among the Palestinian leadership.

Three missionaries, including an Irishman, were freed by Palestinian gunmen early today after being kidnapped in the West Bank and taken to a refugee camp.

AN Israeli air strike in the West Bank killed a militant leader as Palestinians complained that Israel had confiscated thousands of acres of their land for the most controversial segment of its separation barrier.

Israel is considering building thousands more homes in West Bank settlements, in line with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to keep large chunks of the territory while giving up the Gaza Strip, security officials said today.

A seven-year-old Palestinian boy was killed today during a firefight between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in a West Bank refugee camp, hospital officials said.

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

A Palestinian militant was killed when his estate car, packed with explosives, blew up in a West Bank refugee camp today, security officials said.

An explosion rocked the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, today, witnesses said.

Israeli troops killed five Palestinians early today during a shoot-out in the southern Gaza Strip, doctors in the local hospital said.

Troops at a West Bank checkpoint arrested a 10-year-old boy trying to smuggle a bomb into Israel.

Troops at a West Bank checkpoint arrested a 10-year-old boy trying to smuggle a bomb into Israel today.

Israel’s Supreme Court today ordered the government to suspend work for one week on a section of the West Bank separation barrier around eight Palestinian villages north-west of Jerusalem, an attorney said.

ISRAELI troops conducted a series of raids in the West Bank city of Nablus yesterday, arresting a Hamas leader and killing a five-year-old Palestinian boy, Palestinian witnesses said.

MASKED Palestinian gunmen killed two men suspected of being informers for Israel, then displayed their bodies in the central square of a West Bank refugee camp, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said.

A PALESTINIAN suicide bomber blew himself up at an Israeli train station during morning rush hour yesterday, killing a security guard and injuring 13 people, police and medics said.

Israeli troops blew up a suicide bomber’s home in the West Bank and thwarted a car bombing today, hours before Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to present his new hard-line government to parliament for approval.

PRIME Minister Ariel Sharon came under wall-to-wall criticism at home yesterday for the bungled 10-day siege of Yasser Arafat's compound, which was aborted under intense US pressure.

BOTH Israel and the Palestinians had allowed children to be killed with impunity throughout two years of conflict, according to an Amnesty International report released yesterday.

Both Israel and the Palestinians have allowed children to be killed with impunity throughout a two year period of conflict, according to an Amnesty International report released today.

Thousands of Palestinians, many defying military curfews, poured into West Bank and Gaza streets today to protest Israel’s assault on Yasser Arafat’s headquarters, and four demonstrators were killed by army fire.

The Israeli army detained about 400 Palestinian suspects for questioning today, as CIA chief George Tenet was due to arrive for talks with leaders from both sides.

Israeli tanks and soldiers have invaded the West Bank city of Nablus, knocking out the electricity supply in the east of the city.

A suicide bomber's mother says she wished her son luck shortly before he killed an Israeli toddler and her grandmother.

A suspected Palestinian suicide bomber has killed two Israelis in an attack at a promenade in the town of Rishon Letzion last night.

Israel was today considering its response to the suicide bombing that killed two people - the second such attack in two weeks.

Fighting spread today through the alleys of densely populated West Bank refugee camps, where Palestinian militants were reportedly handing out explosives-packed belts to people willing to strap them on and challenge Israeli soldiers.

Palestinian militants are reportedly handing out explosives-packed belts to residents willing to strap them on and challenge Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

Two Palestinian militia leaders were killed in fighting in the West Bank today, including the suspected mastermind of last week’s Passover suicide bombing that killed 26 people and triggered Israel’s military offensive.

Israeli soldiers have killed three Palestinian gunmen in the old city of Nablus as the week-old "anti-terror" offensive continues in the all the major cities on the Palestinian West Bank.

It was Mediterranean Night at the Seafood Market, a trendy Tel Aviv restaurant and night club where Irit Rahamim and her girlfriends were singing and dancing, a celebration on the eve of her wedding.

A Palestinian sniper opened fire on Israeli soldiers and civilian cars at an army checkpoint in the West Bank, killing 10 people, the army and hospital officials said.

Palestinian gunmen opened fire today on Israeli soldiers and civilian cars at an army checkpoint in the West Bank, killing nine people and wounding two seriously, a paramedic on the scene said.

An apparent suicide bomber has killed at least six people, including a year-old child and wounded more than 30 others in an ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood in Jerusalem.