Cardinal Sean Brady today led a delegation of prominent clergymen to Israel.

Israeli troops backed by tanks and bulldozers crossed into southern Gaza to strike at Palestinian militants today, a day after Israel’s defence minister said a broad operation inside the territory was inevitable.

Israeli troops imposed a curfew on Nablus and clashed with Fatah militants as the army’s activities moved from Gaza to the West Bank today.

Two Palestinian militants were killed in the West Bank this morning after a shootout with Israeli troops in Kafr Dan, a village near Jenin, residents said.

Israel today clamped down on the West Bank city of Nablus for the second time in a week, confining tens of thousands of people to their homes as troops moved searched for militants.

Gunmen targeted three senior Hamas officials in the West Bank, kidnapping one, torching the car of a second and shooting in the air as a third emerged from a mosque, officials said today.

Israeli aircraft struck three times in southern Gaza, killing five militants, after a day of internal Palestinian unrest with public service workers and security forces clamouring to be paid.

Israeli forces crossed into the Gaza Strip early today in a raid that captured a local Hamas militant leader and left his brother dead near a Gaza border town, Palestinian witnesses and officials said.

FINTAN LANE is at it again, talking about the “mass murder of more than 1,000 Lebanese men, women and children during nearly 3,000 sorties by the Israeli air force” (Irish Examiner letters, August 21)

Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinian militants during an arrest raid today.

Israeli forces rounded up dozens of Palestinian Cabinet ministers and MPs from Hamas today, increasing pressure on the Islamic militants to release a captured Israeli soldier.

Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired three home-made rockets into Israel today, hours after Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert pledged to push forward with airstrikes against the militants despite a recent string of civilian casualties.

ISRAEL’S high court has narrowly upheld a controversial law that bars West Bank Palestinians from living with spouses and children who are Arab citizens of Israel.

Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian intelligence officer and two other men during separate raids in the West Bank town of Jenin and a nearby village today, Palestinian security officials said.

Palestinians were lining up at petrol stations for a few more gallons before fuel runs out. Their government couldn’t pay the bill, and so the Israeli petrol company cut off supplies, a direct result of economic sanctions aimed at the Hamas-led regime.

Dozens of Hamas gunmen today rushed to the aid of a Cabinet minister after he was confronted by angry gunmen, sparking a shoot-out that left three people wounded in the latest explosion of infighting in the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s security chiefs have met to discuss the Jewish state’s response to a suicide bombing at a packed Tel Aviv fast-food restaurant during the Passover holiday that killed nine people and injured dozens.

THE Palestinians’ new Hamas leaders called yesterday’s suicide bomb in Tel Aviv a legitimate response to Israeli “aggression”.

A SUICIDE bomber blew himself up at a fast food restaurant in a bustling commercial area of Tel Aviv during the Jewish holiday of Passover yesterday, killing himself and nine people and wounding dozens in the deadliest Palestinian attack in more than a year.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a fast food restaurant in a bustling commercial area of Tel Aviv during the Jewish holiday of Passover today, killing himself and eight people and wounding 49 in the deadliest Palestinian attack in more than a year.

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv today which killed seven people and wounded at least 49.

Two Israeli army raids in West Bank towns early today left three Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers injured, according to the army and Palestinian security officials.

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up today as Israeli troops conducted an arrest raid in the West Bank town of Jenin, Israeli military officials said.

Palestinian leaders anxiously followed reports on Ariel Sharon’s deteriorating health tonight, fearing the prime minister’s departure from the political scene could worsen turmoil in the West Bank and Gaza and perhaps even derail this month’s elections there.

HAMAS supporters yesterday celebrated a landslide election victory in major West Bank towns, the strongest sign yet of the Islamic militant group’s growing political appeal ahead of January 25 parliament elections.

The Hamas militant group won local elections in the West Bank’s largest cities, according to preliminary results released today, dealing a harsh blow to the ruling Fatah party just six weeks ahead of a parliamentary poll.

The Hamas militant group won local elections in the West Bank’s largest cities, according to preliminary results released today, dealing a harsh blow to the ruling Fatah party just six weeks ahead of a parliamentary poll.

A PALESTINIAN suicide bomber blew himself up yesterday among shoppers waiting to enter a shopping mall in the central Israeli town of Netanya, killing at least five bystanders and wounding more than 30.

A suicide bomber blew himself up in a line of people waiting to enter a shopping centre in the northern Israeli town of Netanya, killing at least five people and wounding 35 others.

Two Palestinian militants were killed in an ambush today when their car was riddled with gunfire in the West Bank town of Jenin, Palestinian witnesses said.

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian militant in the West Bank town of Jenin, Palestinian and Israeli military officials said today.

A PALESTINIAN couple whose son died after being shot by Israeli soldiers donated his organs yesterday to three Israeli patients desperately waiting for transplants.

Hamas militants who had vowed not to renew a de facto truce with Israel backed off today, saying they would extend it if Israel “stops its aggression” and releases Palestinian prisoners.

HAMAS said yesterday that the Islamic militant group would not renew an informal nine-month-old truce after Israel killed one of its leading activists in an airstrike.

Hamas said today that the Islamic militant group would not renew an informal nine-month-old truce, which expires at the end of the year, after Israel killed one of its leading activists in an airstrike in Gaza.

Hamas, the largest Palestinian militant group said today it would not go back to all-out war against Israel, even after Israeli missiles killed one of its top gunmen.

Israeli missiles hit a car in the Gaza Strip, killing two top militants, drawing threats of reprisals and further compromising Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas ’ efforts to restore calm and take control of the volatile seaside territory.

Israel’s prime minister Ariel Sharon lashed out against terrorism and praised the world for taking on Syria and Iran, as rebels in his own party continued moves to force him out of office.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has demanded Palestinian action against terror, singled out Syria and Iran as its sponsors and – referring to recent UN actions – said the international community is standing up to “extremist countries” for the first time.

ISRAELI troops yesterday fired missiles at the Gaza Strip and raided a West Bank town, killing two Islamic Jihad militants and arresting one of the group’s top leaders in retaliation for a suicide bombing that killed five Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today he would not meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas unless the Palestinian Authority takes steps to stop militants from attacking Israelis.

PALESTINIAN gunmen killed three Israelis in a drive-by shooting yesterday and Israeli troops shot dead a senior Palestinian militant in an eruption of violence in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli soldiers killed three militants during arrest raids in the West Bank early today as it pressed on with a major offensive against Palestinian militants, despite their pledges to stop firing rockets at Israel.

WAVING the flags of rival armed factions, Palestinians poured into four abandoned West Bank Jewish settlements yesterday after Israel completed its evacuation under a plan to “disengage” from conflict.