THE list of uncertainties bedeviling the Middle East has grown longer and deeper: Palestinian factions fighting each other in the streets, the relentless insurgency in Iraq, the rising political clout of Islamist militants in Egypt, political uncertainty in Syria and Lebanon.

A European Union official today said that the initial 20-person delegation of EU monitors for the Gaza-Egypt border crossing would be at their posts and operating for tomorrow’s historic opening.

PRODDED by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israel and the Palestinians agreed yesterday on details for opening the borders of the Gaza Strip and allowing freer movement for Palestinians elsewhere.

Israel and the Palestinians reached a deal on Gaza border crossings today, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced after personally overseeing a final round of all-night talks.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is having trouble imposing order in unruly Gaza, and he is cut off from his people by a wall of bodyguards.

ISRAEL and the Palestinian Authority yesterday said they feared al-Qaida terrorists will infiltrate Gaza through the Gaza-Egypt border.

Israel is to close the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt until further notice, officials said today, after proposing new arrangements that could include movement of Palestinians in and out of Gaza under the supervision of foreign inspectors without an Israeli presence.

Israel’s parliament easily approved handing responsibility over the Gaza-Egypt border to Egyptian soldiers, but the debate became part of a rift that could hold up further Mideast peacemaking – hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign to unseat Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Israeli deputy prime minister Shimon Peres said today the Palestinian government of Mahmoud Abbas is on the right track, despite last week’s Tel Aviv suicide bombing and other attempts by Palestinian militants to torpedo a fragile truce.

Israel’s defence minister warned yesterday that he will send large forces into Palestinian neighbourhoods if Israeli troops and settlers come under fire during the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this summer.

The Palestinians will deploy security forces along the Gaza-Israel frontier in coming days to prevent rocket fire and other attacks on Israeli towns, in the first act of security co-operation with Israel under Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, officials said today.

A tunnel filled with explosives detonated under the Israeli checkpoint on the Gaza-Egypt border near the town of Rafah today, the Israeli military said.

An Israeli army investigation found that troops apparently killed three Egyptian soldiers they mistook for Palestinian militants along the Gaza-Egypt border today.

ISRAELI troops backed by tanks, attack helicopters and bulldozers raided a Palestinian refugee camp early yesterday.

Israeli troops backed by tanks, attack helicopters and bulldozers raided a Palestinian refugee camp early today, exchanging fire with gunmen that killed at least four people, witnesses said. Two others died in the West Bank.