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.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has ordered a review of the route of the country’s separation barrier with the West Bank to better consider Palestinians concerns, it was reported today.

Amid tight security and a sea of green and yellow flags, Palestinians cast ballots today in their first parliamentary election in a decade – a cliffhanger vote on whether to pursue peace or confrontation with Israel.

The dominant Fatah movement called off primary elections in two West Bank towns today due to disagreements over voter eligibility, party officials said.

Israeli aircraft unleashed a barrage of missiles at targets in the Gaza Strip early today and troops fired live artillery shells into the area for the first time, pushing forward with an offensive despite a pledge by Islamic militants to halt their recent rocket attacks against Israel.

The first Palestinian-Israeli summit in four months failed to advance peace prospects or solidify a shaky truce, leaving main issues unresolved and both sides disappointed.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that Israel would hand over two more West Bank towns and consider releasing more prisoners if the Palestinians take step to end violence, officials said today.

Israel has agreed to hand over the West Bank town of Jenin to the Palestinians before withdrawing from four nearby West Bank settlements and the Gaza Strip this summer, the Palestinian Interior Ministry said today.

The Palestinian parliament election, now set for July 17, should be delayed, a top Palestinian official said in an interview published today, a sign of growing unease in the ruling Fatah party with electoral gains made by the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling Fatah movement fended off a strong challenge by the Islamic militant group Hamas in local elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip today, with Fatah winning 56% and Hamas with 33% of the vote.

The militant Hamas group won municipal elections in the West Bank town of Qalqiliya and appeared headed for victory in two key Gaza Strip towns, poll results showed today, giving the Islamists new momentum ahead of parliamentary elections this summer.

PALESTINIANS voted for local governments in dozens of towns and villages across the West Bank and Gaza Strip yesterday — a contest that is expected to boost the Islamic militant group Hamas and could foreshadow results of parliamentary elections in July.

Palestinians voted for local governments in dozens of towns and villages across the West Bank and Gaza Strip today – a contest that is expected to boost the Islamic militant group Hamas and could foreshadow results of parliamentary elections in July.

Israel will hand the West Bank town of Jericho over to Palestinian security control tomorrow, boosting cooperation as moves were underway to get militants to agree a formal truce with Israel.

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.

Israel has agreed to remove major roadblocks as part of its withdrawal from five West Bank towns in coming weeks – the most tangible improvement in the lives of ordinary Palestinians as a result of a fledgling truce.

Israeli Cabinet ministers today approved the release of 900 Palestinian prisoners – 500 of them next week – and a withdrawal from the West Bank town of Jericho.

Mark Lavie, Jerusalem

Israeli gunfire killed a 10-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl today, prompting militants to fire several rounds of mortar shells at Jewish settlements and endangering an unofficial ceasefire between the two sides.

Tens of thousands of Jewish settlers and their supporters protested outside parliament against the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank today.

Israel prepared today to start handing control of West Bank towns to Palestinian police, in a huge step to ease four years of bloodshed, confrontation and tension.

Israel will transfer security control over several West Bank towns to the Palestinians in coming days, Israel’s defence minister said today, hours after he met with a Palestinian negotiator to work out the details of Israel’s troop redeployment.

Cartographers have begun moving the planned route of the West Bank separation barrier closer to Israel in line with an Israeli court ruling that the government must reduce hardship for Palestinian residents.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon struggled to keep his fragile coalition intact today after the Cabinet approved his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip by 2005.

Israeli troops raided the West Bank town of Qalqiliya early today, killing three Palestinians and seriously wounding a fourth man.

Thousands of Palestinians staged protests against Israel’s West Bank barrier today just two days before the start of world court hearings on the legality of the structure.

Israeli troops shot and killed two suspected Palestinian militants in the West Bank today, a day after Palestinians in Gaza buried seven people killed in a deadly air attack.

ISRAELI warplanes flattened the home of senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar with a half-ton bomb yesterday, wounding him and killing his eldest son and a bodyguard, in retaliation for two Hamas suicide bombings that killed 15 Israelis a day earlier.

A suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus packed with Jewish worshippers returning from the Western Wall in Jerusalem, killing at least 18 people, including five children.

The expected handover of two West Bank towns to Palestinian control has been postponed after the two sides failed to agree on the transfer of security control.

Israel has agreed to hand four more West Bank towns to Palestinian control, a Palestinian official said tonight.

ISRAEL is proposing a troop pullout from two more Palestinian towns in the wake of meetings between the two sides' leaders and US President George W Bush, officials said yesterday.

ISRAELI and Palestinian commanders shook hands yesterday, bulldozers dismantled checkpoints and Palestinian traffic flowed freely in the Gaza Strip — significant steps toward ending 33 months of bloody fighting.

Palestinian gunmen firing across the West Bank line killed a seven-year-old Israeli girl and wounded another, just minutes after the Palestinian prime minister finished a meeting with leaders of militant groups, failing to persuade them to stop attacks.

ISRAELI and Palestinian leaders postponed a summit on a new Mideast peace plan, and Israeli troops killed a 16-year-old Palestinian and critically wounded two children during confrontations yesterday in the West Bank.

Israeli troops today captured two Palestinian militants responsible for last week’s suicide bombing at a train station near Tel Aviv.

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.

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.

An eight-year-old boy was among three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces overnight in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military today demolished the home of a Palestinian militant in the Gaza Strip, killing an elderly woman inside, witnesses said.

A 55-YEAR-OLD Palestinian woman was killed yesterday and her son injured in an explosion at the West Bank farm of a fugitive Islamic militant.

A 55-year-old Palestinian woman was killed today and her son injured in an explosion at the West Bank farm of a fugitive Islamic militant.

ISRAEL yesterday enforced a "total ban" on Palestinian travel in much of the West Bank and sealed off a chunk of the Gaza Strip with tanks in response to Palestinian attacks on Israelis that killed 13 people over 24 hours.