An American man who was in Israel for a Jewish work and study programme shot a chef dead at a Red Sea hotel and then killed himself in a shoot-out with Israeli commandos, police said.

A young American opened fire at a hotel in the Red Sea resort city of Eilat today, killing one person before police shot him dead.

Thousands of frightened Israeli tourists were rushing back home from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula today, after car bombs ripped through two Egyptian beach resorts crowded with Israeli visitors.

Israel has broken off truce talks with the Palestinians after retaliating for an attack on a Jewish settlement which killed two people.