The split between Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Yasser Arafat, which threatens to wreck Mideast peace hopes, widened tonight.

The militant Palestinian group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility today for a suicide bombing in central Israel that killed a 65-year-old woman and violated a week-long ceasefire.

An explosion in a house in an Israeli village killed two people today as police investigated the possibility that the blast was caused by a suicide bomber.