Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who took over after Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke yesterday, is a seasoned operator and Sharon confidante who is comfortable in cut-throat local politics and in world capitals alike.

Israeli soldiers, tanks and military vehicles have taken up new positions in the West Bank, fuelling fears that a tentative ceasefire brokered by CIA director George Tenet has all but collapsed.

Israel has hit back after the suicide bomb that killed two Israeli soldiers, shelling Palestinian posts and further undermining the US-sponsored ceasefire.

A bomb exploded at a rail station in northern Israel tonight, killing at least one person and injuring five.