A Palestinian alleged to be responsible for the death of at 100 Israelis in suicide was killed when an Israeli tank shelled a house in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Israeli troops pulled out of the Bethlehem area early today, Palestinians said, boosting chances for a truce to end nearly 18 months of violence.

Israel was ready to pull its troops out of Bethlehem today if Palestinian gunfire stops, a senior official said.

Israel said tonight it had suspended a planned withdrawal from two West Bank towns after Palestinian gunmen fired on its soldiers.

Three Palestinians were killed today as Israeli tanks moved deeper into West Bank towns, tightening their grip on biblical Bethlehem and five other towns in the widest operation against the Palestinians in years.

Israeli tanks and troops have moved into Bethlehem in the West Bank.

Israeli-Palestinian violence was escalating again despite US appeals for calm, with six Palestinians and one Israeli dead in a series of incidents two days after the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister.

Three people have been injured in two simultaneous explosions in Jerusalem today.

Israeli forces have began pulling out of the Palestinian town of Beit Jalla.

Israel has agreed to withdraw its troops from the Palestinian town of Beit Jalla under a ceasefire deal brokered by the European Union.

Three Palestinians have been killed in heavy fighting in the Middle East.

There has been more fighting in the West Bank, despite the arrival of Israeli troops.

Israeli tanks rolled into a Palestinian village on the southern fringes of Jerusalem today, killing a Palestinian, in an effort to halt persistent gunfire raining on a nearby Jewish neighbourhood.

Israeli undercover troops shot dead a Palestinian militia leader in an ambush in Hebron today just hours after Israeli paratroopers took position at the entrance of another West Bank town in a warning to Palestinian gunmen.

Israeli troops and tanks took positions near the West Bank village of Beit Jalla today in an invasion-style operation, after a heavy exchange of fire between gunmen in the village and soldiers protecting a nearby Jewish neighbourhood.

Palestinians have thrown rocks and firebombs at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Angry Palestinians are screaming for revenge for eight Palestinians killed in an Israeli helicopter raid.

An explosion has destroyed the one-story Hebron office of Fatah, the party of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Sporadic gunfire was reported around Jerusalem last night as Israel continued to increase its presence around Palestinian areas in the West Bank.

At least 14 people were injured today when Israeli tanks fired on a Palestinian-controlled area outside Jerusalem.

Dozens of Palestinians have been wounded in the latest violence in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, hours after an Israeli helicopter gunship rocket killed a Palestinian militant.