The Israeli army sealed off the West Bank early today ahead of the week-long Passover holiday, restricting the movement of Palestinians into Israel.

An Israeli Jew was convicted today of manslaughter for smuggling a Palestinian suicide bomber from the West Bank into Israel, where he carried out an attack that killed five Israelis.

A train derailed and overturned in central Israel today, police said, quoting preliminary reports from rescue services.

HAMAS edged toward recognition of Israel, a key international demand, in an agreement worked out by Hamas and Fatah leaders in an Israeli prison.

Hamas yesterday edged toward recognition of Israel, a key international demand, in an agreement worked out by Hamas and Fatah leaders in an Israeli prison, mentioning a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza while refusing to renounce violence.

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.

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.

A SUICIDE bomber blew himself up in a crowded pedestrian mall near Tel Aviv's old central bus station yesterday, and at least 20 people were wounded, police said.

An Israeli airstrike today killed two Palestinian militants in the northern Gaza Strip and a Palestinian man fatally stabbed an Israeli soldier in the West Bank, intensifying a new round of violence in the wake of a suicide bombing at an Israeli shopping centre this week.

A car exploded in the southern Gaza town of Rafah after this evening , wounding at least eight people, Palestinian medical officials said.

Two Palestinian militant groups today threatened to call off a ceasefire with Israel if Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas persisted with an arrest campaign he launched after a suicide bombing killed five Israelis.

ISRAEL yesterday clamped a closure on the West Bank and Gaza, banning virtually all Palestinians from Israel, in its first response to a suicide bombing that killed five Israelis outside a shopping centre.

Israel today arrested 15 militants and prohibited most Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza from entering Israel in response to a suicide bombing that killed five Israelis a day earlier.

Israel today clamped a closure on the West Bank and Gaza, banning virtually all Palestinians from Israel, in its first response to a suicide bombing that killed five Israelis outside a shopping centre.

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.

A suicide bomber has blown himself up at the entrance to a shopping mall in the northern Israeli town of Netanya, killing at least three people and wounding 35, seven critically.

Israeli forces today evacuated an old army base in the northern West Bank used last as a staging area for removing settlers and protesters from two settlements last month, but soldiers shot dead a young Palestinian who entered the base too quickly.

THOUSANDS of Israeli troops began taking up positions in southern Israel yesterday, preparing to thwart an attempt by thousands of opponents of the upcoming Gaza withdrawal to march into the Gaza settlements.

Less than a month before Israel begins pulling out of Gaza, almost every major issue about the territory’s future remains undecided.

Palestinian police and Hamas militants exchanged gunfire in a crowded Gaza City neighbourhood today, and at least nine people were wounded in some of the worst fighting among Palestinians in recent years. Palestinian security forces were placed on high alert throughout Gaza.

ISRAELI soldiers raided the home of a British citizen early yesterday as she and a group of Palestinians were socialising over music and coffee, and killed a wanted militant when he fled.

Israeli troops today sealed off a cluster of Gaza Strip settlements marked for evacuation in order to stop an influx of hard-line pullout opponents, in the government’s most sweeping measure yet to prepare for next month’s withdrawal from 25 settlements.

The Israeli government paid tribute to Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern today for his attempts to stop attacks on Jewish buildings in Dublin.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today said he had ordered his security forces to target the leaders of Islamic Jihad in the wake of a suicide bombing by the Palestinian militant group that killed three people in the Israeli seaside resort of Netanya.

Israeli forces raided the Palestinian town of Tulkarem today, killing a police officer who fired on troops hunting down Islamic Jihad militants responsible for a suicide bombing. A second police officer was critically wounded.

A SUICIDE bomber blew himself up near a crowded shopping mall in Israel yesterday, killing himself and two others.

A suicide bomber blew himself up near a crowded shopping mall in the seaside city of Netanya today, killing himself and two others. Police said about 30 people were injured, two seriously.

The West Bank town of Jericho and surrounding areas will be transferred to the control of Palestinians within the next few days – possibly as early as this evening – to be followed by the town of Tulkarem, a senior Israeli Defence Ministry official said today.

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.

Israeli police said today that reports of an explosion in the coastal town of Netanya were false.

A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up outside a train station in central Israel early today, killing himself and a security guard and injuring 10 bystanders.

Four accomplices in the deadliest ever Palestinian suicide bombing were given 29 consecutive life sentences each yesterday – one for each Israeli killed in last year’s blast at a seaside hotel.

ISRAELI troops with tanks and combat helicopters moved into a Gaza refugee camp yesterday, capturing a leading member of Islamic Jihad’s military wing and sparking a two-hour gun battle that wounded four Palestinians and one soldier.

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.

Islamic Jihad is to step up attacks in Israel as a show of support for Iraq, the militant group said today, a day after dispatching a suicide bomber who wounded 49 Israelis outside a packed cafe.

A MILITANT Palestinian group that claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Israel said yesterday it had sent a first batch of its suicide bombers to Baghdad to fight invading US and British forces.

A militant Palestinian group that claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Israel today vowed to send suicide bombers to Iraq to fight off US and British forces.

I REFER to the letter from Brian Flanagan (Irish Examiner, March 7) calling for a boycott of America and Israel.

Five Palestinians were killed today when Israeli soldiers swept through the West Bank town of Tulkarem.

The Israeli army is searching for a Palestinian teenager they fear has been recruited to carry out a suicide attack.

Israeli troops killed two armed Palestinians disguised as Israeli soldiers today as they tried to infiltrate a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip. A third attacker managed to escape.