Two Palestinian men were shot dead today in the northern West Bank, one in a gun battle with Israeli troops, the other allegedly shot by a Jewish settler in an olive grove.

A PALESTINIAN suicide bomber blew himself up yesterday in a Jerusalem cafe popular with police, in juring four Israelis but killing only himself, officers said.

The Palestinian governor of Nablus is calling on residents of other towns to ignore a 40-day Israeli army curfew, following two days of defiance that restored a semblance of normal life in his city.

IN a carefully planned attack, Palestinian militants dressed as Israeli soldiers ambushed a bus near a Jewish West Bank settlement, then fired on its passengers as they scrambled to escape.

Seven people were killed and 25 injured today when Palestinians detonated a roadside bomb near an armoured bus and then sprayed automatic fire at passengers as they tried to flee, police said.

Israel’s Security Cabinet has endorsed a plan to gradually reoccupy Palestinian land until attacks on Israelis stop, a major shift in its strategy after an especially bloody week in the 21-month-old conflict.

Five Israelis, among them three brothers aged five, 12 and 16, were gunned down when at least one Palestinian seized a house in a Jewish West Bank settlement. Troops stormed the house and killed the attacker, as the house went up in flames.

Gunfire was reported in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Itamar, near the Palestinian city of Nablus, tonight, settlers said. Israel TV said two people were seriously wounded.

Two Jewish settlers were killed and four wounded when Palestinians opened fire on mobile homes in the West Bank early today.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convened top Cabinet ministers today to discuss options after six Israelis, including three teenagers and a toddler, were killed in Palestinian attacks in two days.

Israeli troops left the West Bank city of Hebron today, ending the latest of a series of brief incursions into Palestinian territory.

The bodies of two 14-year-old Israeli boys believed to have been stoned to death by Palestinians were found today in a cave near Bethlehem.

An Israeli was killed at a West Bank settlement today in an attack security forces blamed on Palestinians as the Palestinian Authority accused Israel of escalating the conflict with the killing of a Palestinian baby.