The Palestinian parliament speaker, held by Israel, has been transferred from a military prison camp to a Jerusalem hospital after complaining of chest pains, the army said today.

Israeli leaders approved new incursions into the Gaza Strip, security officials said today, after the Hamas leader said he would not free an Israeli soldier whose capture by Palestinian militants led to a bloody 13-day confrontation.

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.

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 militant Islamic Hamas today moved a step closer to taking control of the Palestinian government, calling a special session of parliament to approve its new Cabinet, sweeping aside objections from the Palestinian president over its refusal to recognise Israel.

The Islamic militant Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian parliament elections, winning 76 seats in the 132-member parliament, election officials announced today.

Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar today said he was ready to maintain a ceasefire with Israel forged last February if Israel does likewise, but that the Islamic group will respond to Israeli attacks.

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.

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

Jubilant Palestinians fired guns in the air and sounded car horns today, after Israeli troops pulled out of the last of four abandoned Jewish West Bank settlements, completing the final phase of the withdrawal it began in Gaza last month.

ISRAELI right-wingers clashed yesterday with police who blocked thousands of protesters from marching on Gaza settlements and trying to disrupt Israel’s pullout from the occupied strip.

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.

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.

Palestinians fired three Qassam rockets at southern Israel today, hitting one home, while Israeli soldiers traded fire with a Palestinian fugitive hiding in a house in the northern West Bank, the Israeli army said.

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.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has approved the final route of a barrier around Jerusalem that will include the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank, officials said today.

Israeli troops killed an Islamic Jihad Palestinian militant early today in a raid on a village near the West Bank town of Jenin, the army said.

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.

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said today that fugitives within his Palestinian group would not sign pledges to halt attacks as that would negate the legitimacy of their right to fight the Israeli occupation.

Fathi Arafat, the brother of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and founder of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, died today. He was 67.

Outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell told Israel’s prime minister today that the United States wanted to take advantage of new opportunities in the Middle East, and that it supported Palestinian elections set for January 9.

Two armed Palestinians infiltrated a fog-shrouded Israeli army outpost in a Gaza Strip settlement today, killing at least three Israelis in a fierce gun battle before being shot dead.

A Palestinian suicide bomber riding a bike attacked an army patrol near a West Bank checkpoint today, wounding at least two people, the Israeli army said.

ISRAELI prime minister Ariel Sharon told senior cabinet ministers yesterday he wants to evacuate all Gaza settlements at one time instead of in three stages, reflecting a major shift in policy.

Gunmen loyal to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat opened fire today on a conference of Arafat’s Fatah movement, in the latest sign of factional infighting among the Palestinian leadership.

A large Israeli force backed by tanks moved into the West Bank town of Jericho today, as part of an operation to arrest Palestinian militants.

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

Israeli troops killed five Palestinians early today during a shoot-out in the southern Gaza Strip, doctors in the local hospital said.

Israeli forces backed by tanks and combat helicopters raided the West Bank town of Jenin today, sparking a gun battle that killed a Palestinian woman in her home.

ISRAELI security forces were placed on high alert in readiness for revenge attacks from Hamas as another member of the radical Islamic group was killed, the day after the death of 15 Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli troops swept into the West Bank town of Jenin today, arresting at least 15 Palestinians and trading gunfire with militants.

ISRAELI troops yesterday killed an armed Palestinian as he tried to flee and blew up two houses of suspected militants in a nearby West Bank village, the military said. It was the second West Bank raid in as many days after a relative lull.

ISRAEL limited access to Muslim worshippers to a disputed shrine for special prayers yesterday during the holy month of Ramadan, setting off an angry scuffle, while the US offered a $5 million reward in the investigation of a deadly bombing of a US convoy.

Palestinian gunmen ambushed an Israeli army patrol in a West Bank town tonight, killing three soldiers.

A Palestinian woman wrapped in explosives blew herself up in a beachfront restaurant popular with Arabs and Jews, killing 19 bystanders, including four children.

A young Palestinian woman blew herself up in a crowded beachfront restaurant today, killing herself and at least 19 bystanders, including three children.

ISRAEL yesterday rejected a truce from Yasser Arafat and instead demanded the Palestinian Authority crack down on militant groups.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, weakened by his power struggle with Yasser Arafat, addressed parliament today in a quest for support and told MPs he would not launch a crackdown on militants.

PALESTINIAN officials yesterday said they had resolved a dispute over 17 militants held at gunpoint in Yasser Arafat’s compound, and that the men would not be moving to Jericho as desired by Israel.

Israel said it would transfer two more West Bank cities to Palestinian control and close three roadblocks, as it moved ahead cautiously with a U.S.-backed peace plan.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today urged European leaders to cut off ties with Yasser Arafat, and a key Sharon aide said Israel would consider deporting the Palestinian leader if he continued trying to “scuttle the peace process”.

WITH sirens blaring, Palestinian police yesterday moved into the West Bank town of Bethlehem, the second area handed over by Israel under a US-backed Mideast peace plan.

Palestinian police marched in formation back into the West Bank town of Bethlehem today after Israeli troops pulled out as part of the US-backed road map to peace.