Palestine

Obama Gets Feisty in Addressing Israeli, Palestinian Leaders
President Obama put his mean voice on in urging Israelis and Palestinians to sit down and negotiate for peace, but an argument that has spread across several millennia doesn’t appear to be even remotely close to ending in our lifetime.

King of Jordan Calls for Israel to Accept a Palestinian State
The latest development in the ongoing struggle for peace in the Middle East has King Abdullah II calling on the Israeli Prime Minister to endorse the creation of a Palestinian state.

Even the Pope Has Begun Calling for a Palestinian State
Last week, a taboo was broken when Israel’s nuclear weapons were referred to in public and now the Pope says "millions" died in the holocaust rather than "six million" – and those vicious slaps in the face are just too much for some to take.

T-Shirt Offensive to Palestinians Condemned by Israeli Military
T-shirts worn by members of the Israeli military were deemed offensive by military leadership, and labeled "tasteless" by the higher ups.

Clinton Declares U.S. will Vigorously Pursue Palestinian State
At the outset of her journey through the Middle East, Hillary Clinton left no doubt about the U.S. position in Gaza, stating that the inevitable pursuit of a two-state solution is inescapable.

United States Happy with Gaza Ceasefire, but Iran Wants More
The ceasefire in Gaza is a start, but U.N. and other Western leaders are pushing for something more stable even as Iran seeks direct communication between European leaders and Hamas.

Pro-Palestinians Gather at Obama’s Hawaii House to Protest
President-elect Barack Obama, due to be sworn into office on January 20, can’t escape a small group of protestors outside his Hawaii vacation home.

Palestine Israel Conflict Timeline
The Palestine-Israel conflict is one among the unresolved and bloodiest conflicts of the world. Several attempts were made to enforce peace but the conflict still festers. Read on to know about its history.

UN and Palestine
When the Israeli Cabinet decided on September 12, 2003 to remove the Palestinian leader, Mr. Yasser Arafat, it sent shock waves around the Arab World since the options suggested included assassinating Mr. Arafat or expelling him from the Palestinian territories.

U.S. aid to Palestinian Authority
For the first time in the history of U.S.-Palestinian relationship, the U.S. has directly given the Palestinian Authority chaired by Yassar Arafat, over $20 million on July 16, 2004. This is part of multi-million dollar package of aid to Palestinian communities to be used for repairing and maintaining roads, public buildings, and power, water and sewage lines damaged in years of fighting with Israel.

Peace at last between Israel and Palestine
At last there will be peace and Israel and Palestine will stop fighting each other. Under the stewardship of the United States, leaders of the two countries have decided to revive their stalled peace process.

'They've Killed Us. Me, Amal and Soso They've Gone to Heaven'
More than half of Gaza's 1.5 million inhabitants are children, so far 292 have been killed and 1,497 injured

Shell-shocked Children Who Are Drawn Into the Cult of the Martyr
Psychologists warn that trauma may have devastating consequences for Palestinian society

Fatah and Hamas in Unity Government Talks
Rival Palestinian factions to meet in Egyptian-led effort to end Gaza economic blockade

Palestinian Group Says Israelis Killed 68 Children in Gaza in Year
Military used 'disproportionate and excessive lethal force' says human rights group

Palestinian Driver Injures 17 Israeli Troops
East Jerusalem man shot dead after crashing car into patrol• Israel denounces incident as terror attack

Palestinian Soap in Hot Water Over Plo Plot
Matabb hopes for Ramadan reprieve after broadcaster halts its launch night

Palestinians to Propose Arab Military Force for Gaza
Foreign troops would be deployed to keep the peace in Gaza once Fatah and Hamas agree to a coalition government

'We Can Choose Our Destiny By Ourselves'
Recently released from an Israeli jail, Hussam Khader is a rousing advocate of Palestinian reform and empowerment

Israel Accelerates West Bank Settlements Despite Peace Talks
Despite continuing negotiations with Palestinians, construction of homes in Jewish settlements doubles

Gaza: Mahmoud Abbas Seeks Deal With Hamas
Palestinian president urges pro-western Arab governments to promote reconciliation with Hamas

Gaza's Children Suffer As Conflict Enters the Classroom
The Israeli blockade and years of fighting have taken their toll on Gaza's schools, where failure rates are rapidly rising

'Everyone is Thinking for Themselves'
In the cramped three-room home she shares with her 10 children, Etedal Zanati faces a daily battle to keep them fed and clothed. Rory McCarthy reports

Siege of Gaza Squeezes Life Out of the Land
Abid Razzaq Ouda faces intimidation by Palestinian militants, the Israeli authorities, and the economic blockade of Gaza. His future looks grim, reports Rory McCarthy

Sea Blockade Sees Dry Patch for Gaza's Fishermen
Gaza's fishing industry is drying up as high fuel costs and an Israeli navy blockade makes finding profitable catches almost impossible

Authors Launch Literary Festival in Cities of the West Bank
Roddy Doyle and David Hare amongst seventeen British, American, Indian and Arab authors participating in the inaugural Palestinian Festival of Literature

Mother and Her Four Children Killed During Israeli Incursion
Gaza death toll higher so far than previous three years, with 197 unarmed civilians killed

Mother and Her Four Children Killed During Israeli Raid
A Palestinian mother and her four children were killed today as they ate breakfast at home during an Israeli military attack in the Gaza Strip

Fuel Crisis Threatens Gaza Food Aid
More than a million people in the Gaza Strip have begun a fourth day with no deliveries of food by the UN

Palestinians Pledge Fuel for Aid Agency Amid Shortages
Fuel distributors in the Gaza Strip agree to provide emergency shipment to a UN agency that had warned it would have to halt food distribution

Fuel Shortage Forces Un to Halt Food Handouts in Gaza
Up to 800,000 Palestinians lose UN food handouts due to Israeli economic blockade

Fuel Shortage Forces Un to Halt Gaza Food Aid
UN is to halt food handouts for up to 800,000 Palestinians because of severe fuel shortage brought on by Israeli economic blockade

The Role of the Media in Dialogue between the Arabs and the West
Step one. In the midst of the war in Iraq, the battle against ‘Al-Qaeda’ and the on-going Israeli-Palestinian crisis, the Al-Babtain Foundation for Dialogue...

Israel Plans 100 Houses in West Bank Settlements
Plans by Israel's housing ministry draw swift criticism from Palestinian officials

Area C Strikes Fear Into the Heart of Palestinians As Homes Are Destroyed
Israelis defend rules that reject 94% of non-Jewish building applications

Israel-Palestine Dispute Moves on to Facebook
Jewish settlers campaign on Facebook against being identified as living in Palestine

'He Was Very Enthusiastic About Getting Married'
Palestinian believed to have carried out seminary attack worked as a minibus driver and was engaged

Peace Process in Peril After Seminary Bloodbath
Israel vows to maintain contact with Palestinian leaders but both sides recognize negotiations are faltering

'Guys Lay Dead, With Holy Books Around Them'
Medics dodge bullets as lone gunman, a Palestinian reportedly from East Jerusalem, kills eight young Jewish religious students in 10 minutes

For Palestinians, the Power of Mass Non-violence Would Be Undeniable
Jonathan Freedland: An unarmed resistance modeled on Martin Luther King's civil rights movement could be the way to wake the world

Freedom at a Price
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners have been released by Israel amid recent peace moves. But for many, freedom is just the start of their difficulties, writes Rory McCarthy in Beit Jala

Egyptian Troops Unable to Push Back Palestinians
Egyptian soldiers in riot gear using water cannon and rolls of barbed wire unable to stop hundreds of Palestinians from rushing into Egypt after a bulldozer tore down another section of the border fence

Gazans Foil Egyptian Moves to Close Border
Egyptian soldiers in riot gear deployed water cannon and rolls of barbed wire yesterday as they started to close the Gaza/Egypt border, turning back the thousands of Palestinians who have flooded across

Egyptian Troops Toughen Stance at Gaza Border
Egyptian troops continue to reassert control of border with Gaza by using water cannon and laying down barbed wire to block Palestinians

Palestinians Pour Into Egypt After Militants Blow Hole in Border Barrier
Tens of thousands take chance to stock up on supplies as Israeli closure of crossings deepens crisis

Palestinians Flood Into Egypt After Blowing Up Border Wall
Palestinians pour into Egypt from Gaza after militants blew up part of border wall in protest at Israeli blockade

Desperate Palestinians Explode Wall and Flood Into Egypt
Palestinians pour into Egypt from Gaza after militants blew up part of border wall in protest at Israeli blockade

This Brutal Siege of Gaza Can Only Breed Violence
Karen Koning AbuZayd: Palestinian suffering has reached new depths. Peace cannot be built by reducing 1.5m people to a state of abject destitution

Olmert Loses Rightwing Coalition Partner
Rightwing party walks out of ruling Israeli coalition in protest at a effort to start peace talks with Palestinians

Rightwingers Quit, Weakening Olmert Majority
A right wing party walked out of the ruling Israeli coalition yesterday in protest at a new effort to start peace talks with the Palestinians

19 Palestinians Killed in Raid on Gaza
Hamas leader's son among dead after Israeli incursion· Tanks and helicopters respond to rocket attacks

Blair 'optimistic' on Middle East Peace Deal
Tony Blair 'cautiously optimistic' that peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians will be struck by end of the year

Welcome, Mr President, to the Misery You've Created
Jonathan Steele: In eight years Palestinians have seen the bald eagle of enlightened US power degenerate into a phony, biased, cynical lame duck

Paris Donor Nations Pledge Billions for Palestinians
Palestinians today won a powerful signal of international and Arab support for an independent state, with billions of dollars of aid pledges to revive their economy and help boost renewed but still badly faltering peace negotiations with Israel.

Palestinians Want Help More Than Handouts in Paris
· Donors' aid conference ready to pledge $5.6bn· Farmers say problems lie with politics not crops

Palestinians Demand Halt to Settlements As Peace Talks Begin
The first formal Middle East peace negotiations in seven years got off to a tense start today with the Palestinian Authority demanding a halt to Israeli plans to build settlements on disputed territory

Israel and Palestinians Commit to Peace Talks
Israel and the Palestinians will start immediate negotiations to address all outstanding issues and seek an agreement by the end of 2008, George Bush said today

Frantic Bid to Bridge Middle East Divide
The United States was making frantic efforts to close gaps between Israelis and Palestinians last night on the eve of an ambitious and high-risk gamble to "relaunch" final peace negotiations after seven years of bloodshed and stalemate

Peace is Possible
The Palestinian philosopher Sari Nusseibeh tells Ian Black that despite widespread pessimism surrounding talks in Annapolis a change of focus could go on to yield spectacular results

Israel and Palestine Fail to Agree Before Conference
A meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders has failed to produce a joint declaration for a Middle East summit due next week in the United States, after they could not resolve key differences

Peace is Possible
The Palestinian philosopher Sari Nusseibeh tells Ian Black that despite widespread pessimism surrounding talks in Annapolis a change of focus could go on to yield spectacular results

The Palestinian Path to Peace Does Not Go Via Annapolis
Jonathan Steele: World opinion is still on the side of the people of the occupied territories. But as long as they are divided, talks are futile

Palestinians Aim for Agreement With Israel Within Year
Negotiator sets out target before peace conference· Newspaper reports freeze on West Bank settlements

PLO Disputes Jerusalem Rail Plan
The Palestinians have begun legal action against two prominent French companies in an attempt to stop work on a contested light-railway project in Jerusalem.

Images That Shock
Leader: Gaza is a wound that is being left to fester. Fatah, Israel, the US and the international community have different motives for leaving half of the Palestinian people to rot in this prison, but they are all, for the moment, united in their attempt to isolate Hamas.

Amnesty Censures Palestinians
Amnesty International has slammed the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and the rival Fatah group for serious human rights abuses in the recent factional fighting in Gaza and the West Bank.

Fresh Violence Feared If Peace Talks Collapse
Failure at Annapolis will undermine Palestinian moderates, say analysts.

Israel Shaken By Troops' Tales of Brutality Against Palestinians
A psychologist blames assaults on civilians in the 1990s on soldiers' bad training, boredom and poor supervision.

US Warns Israel and Palestinians to Find Common Ground
Rice speaks to Abbas and Olmert before conference · Envoy says UN should consider leaving Quartet

UN Envoy Attacks Middle East Quartet 'failures'
The UN human rights envoy, John Dugard, has called on the UN to withdraw from the quartet of Middle East mediators unless the group addresses Palestinian human rights.

Abbas Lays Out Territorial Demand
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, insisted yesterday that Israel must give up 2,400 square miles of territory under its control for a Palestinian state, as he set out his demands before a US-sponsored peace conference next month.

Abbas Spells Out Land Demand
Palestinian president insists Israel gives up 2,400 square miles for a Palestinian state.

Fresh Violence Casts Shadow Over Middle East Peace Talks
The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, will meet today to map out their vision for a Middle East peace deal.

Divided and Voiceless
Sami Abdel-Shafi: Any progress in the Middle East must begin with building a peace among Palestinians.

A Borderless State is No Solution
Leader: Without pinning Israel to specifics, a putative state would be a Palestinian nightmare, leaving vital questions unanswered and no timetable for answering them.

Olmert Travels to Jericho for First Talks in Palestine in Seven Years
For the first time in seven years Israeli and Palestinian leaders met for talks in the Palestinian territories yesterday, the latest round in a wave of Middle East diplomacy.

Israel Frees 250 Jailed Palestinians
Releases aimed at bolstering support for Mahmoud Abbas after Hamas coup in Gaza Strip.

Give Blair Wider Responsibilty, Say Palestinians
Palestinian negotiators have called for Tony Blair to be given a broader role as the international community's Middle East envoy, overseeing both Israeli and Palestinian obligations.

Palestinians Call for Blair's Role to Include Policing Israeli Pledges
Palestinian negotiators have called for Tony Blair to be given a broader role as the international community's Middle East envoy, overseeing both Israeli and Palestinian obligations.

12 Palestinians Die in Israeli Military Raids
Israeli troops killed at least 12 Palestinians yesterday, among them a boy aged 12 as well as several militants, in the largest military raids in Gaza since Hamas seized full control of the territory.

Scepticism Hangs Over Blair's Appointment As Quartet Envoy
Former PM to help build Palestinian institutions - No formal role in finding permanent solution

'Disaster for Palestinians'
It is unlikely that Tony Blair will get a warm welcome in Gaza City or anywhere in the Palestinian territories if he is confirmed as the Quartet's new Middle East peace envoy.

From No 10 to the Middle East: Blair Gets a New Job
Support from Bush leads to role as international envoy helping Palestinians.

Israel Releases £300m in Tax Revenues to Palestinians
Funds to boost support for president in West Bank - Olmert offers concessions but 'no breakthrough'

Israel Reaches Out to Abbas on Palestine
Ehud Olmert said today he is willing to discuss the creation of a Palestinian state if the new government headed by president Mahmoud Abbas pledges to combat terrorism.

Western Powers Lift Gaza Embargo
Both the EU and the US promised to lift their boycott of the Palestinians today and pledged support to president Mahmoud Abbas and his new emergency government in the occupied West Bank.

Chaos at Gaza Crossing As Fatah Forces Flee
One Palestinian died and at least 10 others were wounded as Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire at the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza.

Trapped Families Caught in Gaza Firefight
One man was killed and 10 wounded when Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire at a main border crossing between Israel and Gaza yesterday.

Washington Rallies Behind Abbas With End to Palestinian Boycott
Emergency government meets in Ramallah - Immediate US aid for West Bank and Gaza

How Hamas Turned on Palestine's 'traitors'
It started as a well-planned settling of scores between rival political factions. But by the end of last week Palestinians seemed on the brink of civil war as two conflicting governments vowed to defeat each other.

Hamas Hints at Talks As Chaos Reigns in Divided Palestine
Islamists strengthen grip in Gaza but western governments, including US, side with Palestinian president in the West Bank.

Gaza Hospitals Turned Into Battlefields
With snipers on their rooftops and doctors and nurses afraid to come to work, Gaza's hospitals are finding themselves on the frontline in the Palestinians' increasingly bloody internal fight.

UN Was Pummelled Into Submission, Says Outgoing Middle East Special Envoy
Negotiators 'lost impartiality' says report - Palestinians also criticized over violence

Grenade Hits Palestinian Pm's Home
Prime Minister Ismail Haniya escapes unharmed in attack on Gaza home as factional fighting continues.

Fresh Gaza Violence Leaves Seven Dead
Seven Palestinians were killed in Gaza today during fighting between rival armed factions, including a gun battle inside a hospital, which left three dead and several more injured.

Thirteen Killed in Gaza Battles
At least 13 Palestinians were killed in Gaza yesterday during fighting between rival armed factions, including a gun battle inside a hospital that left three people dead and several injured.

Palestinian Civilian Shot Dead in Raid on Family Home
Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man and seriously injured his wife yesterday in a night-time raid on a house in Hebron.

Civil War Warning to Palestinians
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said yesterday that his people were on the brink of civil war as gunmen from the rival Hamas and Fatah factions fought each other in Gaza.

Saadeddin Malley
A Palestinian-American businessman based in Chicago...

Six-day War: View of Palestinian Living Near Nablus
Rory McCarthy speaks to soldiers, settlers, activists, Israeli Palestinians and refugees about how the war changed their lives.

Six-day War: View of Daniella Weiss, 62, Mayor of the Jewish Settlement of Kedumim
Rory McCarthy speaks to soldiers, settlers, activists, Israeli Palestinians and refugees about how the war changed their lives.

Six-day War: View of Senan Abdelqader, 44, Architect in Beit Safafa
Rory McCarthy speaks to soldiers, settlers, activists, Israeli Palestinians and refugees about how the war changed their lives.

Six-day War: View of Ahmad Shalabi, 51, Palestinian Refugee in Jordan
Rory McCarthy speaks to soldiers, settlers, activists, Israeli Palestinians and refugees about how the war changed their lives.

Six Days of War, 40 Years of Failure
The world was gripped by Israel's swift triumph in 1967. But today the bitter conflict with the Palestinians seems more intractable than ever.

Envoy Suggests Un Force for Gaza
Israel, the Palestinians and the UN should consider an international peacekeeping force in Gaza, the UN's new special envoy to the Middle East said today.

Abbas Appeals for Us Help
Palestinian president urges Washington to ask Israel to halt military escalation.

Resigned to Violence
The departure of the Palestinian interior minister shows just how little has been achieved in pacifying Gaza's streets, writes Rory McCarthy.

Palestinians 'routinely Tortured' in Israeli Jails
Palestinians detained by Israeli security forces are routinely tortured and ill-treated, according to a new report published by Israeli human rights groups yesterday. The ill-treatment, which includes beatings, sensory deprivation, back-bending, back-stretching and other forms of physical abuse, contravenes international law and Israeli law, the report says.

US Sets Targets for Israelis to Lift Restrictions and Palestinians to Improve Security
The United States has set deadlines for Israel to lift restrictions on the West Bank and Gaza, and for the Palestinians to prevent rocket fire at Israel, it emerged today.

Olmert Gives Cautious Welcome to Arab Peace Plan
Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, today gave a cautious welcome to the renewed Arab peace initiative and said it would be possible to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians within five years.

Olmert Says Peace Deal Possible Within Five Years
Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, yesterday cautiously welcomed the renewed Arab peace initiative and said it would be possible to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians within five years.

Time to Call the Bluff of the Land of Missed Opportunities
The Arab League should bypass Ehud Olmert and go directly to the Israeli people with its offer for a Palestinian settlement. By Jonathan Freedland

'I Try to Forget - But i Can't'
She was the 12-year-old girl filmed crying alongside her father and siblings as they lay dying - victims of an explosion at a family picnic. But what happened to Huda Ghalia next? Rory McCarthy meets the shy, teased girl who became a symbol of Palestinian despair.

Palestinian, 11, Says Army Used Her As Shield
The Israeli army is investigating whether its troops used two Palestinian children as human shields during a house search operation in the West Bank, after claims by the Israeli human rights organisation BTselem.

Israelis and Palestinians Unite in Protest at Barrier
Demonstrators mark two years of weekly activism - Show of solidarity fails to swing public opinion

Anti-wall Protests Hit Second Anniversary
Israelis and Palestinians will gather today for a demonstration to mark the two-year anniversary of their most high-profile joint campaign against Israel's barrier in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian Ministers Face Blanket Us Ban
Blow to unity cabinet in run up to three-way talks - Fatah and independents to be treated 'same as Hamas'

We Are Being Suffocated
The outside world has to grasp that Palestinian infighting is the product of an intolerable blockade. By Sami Abdel-Shafi

Rival Palestinian Factions Agree to Form Coalition Government
President Abbas proclaims new era after Mecca deal - Hamas and Fatah factions ordered to end clashes

Saudis Put Their Status on the Line in Bid to End Palestinian Crisis
King brings Hamas and Fatah to holy city of Mecca - Peace drive aims to halt growing Iranian influence

US Bid to Revive Peace Process Falters on Gaza Streets
17 die in clashes between rival Palestinian factions - Rice tries to strengthen Abbas presid

25 Killed in Gaza Violence As Factions Abandon Talks
Gun battles continued in Gaza yesterday after 25 people were killed in the worst Palestinian internecine violence since Hamas won legislative elections a year ago.

Disillusion Sets in Amid Poverty and Factional Conflict
Palestinians are turning their back on party elected on promise of reform.

Palestinian Leaders Fail to Agree to Unity Cabinet
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president last night failed to win acceptance for his plans for a national unity government from the Hamas leadership in Damascus. Mr Abbas has said that he is willing to give one final chance for a national unity government before he calls legislative and presidential elections.

Tehran Largest Donor in £500m Muslim Pledges to Palestinians
Iran has become the single biggest donor to the Palestinian Authority, replacing the European Union, according to a senior official in the Hamas government.

Surprise Gaza Talks Raise Hope for Peace
Meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders boosts prospects of full negotiations.

Old Allegiances Crumble in Battle for Palestinian Hearts and Minds
Anger and frustration drive territories towards faction-ridden chaos.

'We Are Facing the Hardest Christmas Yet'
Israeli road obstacles rise by 40% in a year, strangling the Palestinians, says UN.

Fighters Withdraw From Gaza Streets
Rival forces loyal to Hamas and Fatah withdrew from the streets of Gaza City today as a new Palestinian ceasefire tentatively held.

'This Looks Like Civil War' - Palestinians Battle on the Streets
Clashes between Hamas and Fatah leave 30 injured - Rival accused of trying to assassinate PM Haniyeh

Border Clash Prompts Claim of Assassination Attempt on Palestinian Pm Ismail Haniyeh
Violence between rival Palestinian groups continued today, after the ruling Hamas organisation accused forces allied to Fatah of trying to assassinate the Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh.

Saudi Plan Offers a Lifeline
World Briefing: Fearful that the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority could collapse under the weight of its violent contradictions, Israeli leaders are refocusing on the 2002 Saudi peace plan as a way of inducing the Palestinians back into substantive negotiations. By Simon Tisdall

UN Plea for Millions in Palestinian Aid Amid Fears of Economic Collapse
Half of population going short of food, agencies say - Senior officials warn of breakdown of government

Palestinians Use Human Shield to Halt Israeli Air Strike on Militants' Homes
Hundreds of neighbours join first successful action - Air force calls off missile attack to protect civilians

US-educated Professor Likely to Be Nominated Palestinian Leader
An American-educated professor has emerged as the most likely candidate to be nominated as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority to replace the existing Hamas premier, Ismail Haniyeh, in an attempt to break the political deadlock with Israel and the west.

Blair Urges White House to Shift Focus to Israel-palestine Conflict
· Palestinian peace process 'central to Iraq solution' · Syria and Iran also have a role to play, says PM

Billionaire Businessman Munib Al-masri Touted As Man to Lead Palestinian Authority Out of Crisis
The billionaire businessman Munib al-Masri is being touted as the man to lead the Palestinian Authority out of crisis. Conal Urquhart talks to him.

A Brutal Taste of the Future
The assault on Beit Hanoun is a terrifying example of what lies in store for Palestinians. By Sami Abdel-Shafi

Spanish Photographer Abducted at Gunpoint in Gaza City
A Spanish photographer working for the Associated Press agency was kidnapped in Gaza yesterday, the latest victim of lawlessness in the Palestinian territory.

Attempt at Palestinian Unification Fails
A Qatari initiative to broker agreement between the two main Palestinian political groups, possibly paving the way for a restoration of foreign aid to the beleaguered Palestinian government, has ended in failure, officials said today.

US Free Speech Row Grows As Author Says Jewish Complaints Stopped Launch Party
· Row over postscript on Palestinians' plight · British-born academic claims lectures cancelled

Palestinian Coalition Talks Fail As Rice Arrives for Visit
· Parties deadlocked over joint policy programme · US secretary of state aims to kickstart peace process

Eight Palestinians Die As Fatah and Hamas Fight on Streets of Gaza City
· Rivals trade gunfire after protest by unpaid officials · West Bank cabinet offices aflame as violence spreads

Breakthrough in Palestinian Government Talks
The Palestinian Authority has struck a deal on a unity government designed to lift sanctions on the Palestinian government and open new hopes of peace with Israel, it was announced today.

Palestinians Tell Blair: You Are Not Welcome Here
· Hundreds sign advert in advance of Ramallah visit · PM to meet Olmert and Abbas, but not Hamas

'We Know What We Want'
The Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, talks to Rory McCarthy about his hopes for a national unity government.

Adams to 'share Experience'
Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Féin, is due to fly to the Middle East today to meet Hamas representatives and lend his support to the search for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Freed Fox Pair Tell of Kidnap Torment Before Forced Conversion to Islam
· Journalists speak of relief after Gaza abduction · Palestinian PM denies captors linked to al-Qaida

Wife of Kidnapped Fox Journalist Appeals for Release
The wife of one of the Fox News journalists kidnapped in Gaza today appealed for their release and said they should not be punished for the suffering in Palestine. By Chris Tryhorn.

Uneasy Truce Raises Yet More Questions
Will the truce hold? | So who won this round? | What will happen next? | Will the two sides go back to war? | Is there any long-term solution? | What impact will this war have on the Palestinians?

For Palestinians' Sake, Olmert Must Emerge With His People's Respect
Many outsiders would like to see Israel's prime minister ousted, but if he were his successor would be more hawkish still. By Jonathan Freedland

Palestinians Killed As Israeli Army Moves in
At least 21 Palestinians were killed yesterday when the Israeli army renewed its hostilities in the Gaza Strip. About 50 tanks and armoured vehicles entered northern Gaza and began demolishing buildings and trees at dawn.

Rice: Us Has Not Forgotten Palestinians
The United States has not forgotten the Palestinian people, despite the current crisis in Lebanon, the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, insisted today after meeting the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank.

Palestinians Agree Deal for Return of Abducted Soldier
Initiative depends on approval of Hamas leaders in Damascus.

Israel Steps Up Military Attacks in 'forgotten War' With Palestinians
Israeli forces killed 13 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank yesterday as the army began a new push into a refugee camp in central Gaza yesterday, clashing with gunmen and bulldozing farmland.

10 Dead After Fighting in Gaza
Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen fought throughout today in the biggest outbreak of violence since the abduction of an Israeli soldier almost two weeks ago.

Europe's Response to the Siege of Gaza is Shameful
The Palestinians have no partner for peace. They will only have one if Israel agrees to recognise Palestine's right to function. By Jonathan Steele

Palestinians End Talks on Israeli Hostage
Palestinians holding an Israeli soldier said this morning that they had ended negotiations on his fate after Israel ignored an ultimatum to begin releasing prisoners.

Olmert Rejects Palestinian Ultimatum
The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, rejected an ultimatum from the Palestinian captors of an Israeli soldier on Monday that ordered Israel to begin releasing prisoners or "bear all the consequences".

Camp Swelters With Little Power or Water
For the 58,000 residents of Nuseirat, a refugee camp south of Gaza City, life has got very much tougher over recent days as Israel squeezes ordinary Palestinians in an effort to win the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured a week ago by Palestinian militias and is thought to be held in a Gaza refugee camp.

Palestine 'ready to Trade' Captured Israeli Soldier
Secret talks over prisoners are 'close to deal' as negotiators race against time to prevent bloodbath.

Soldier's Capture Touches Nerve in a Military Society
When 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit was carried off by Palestinian militiamen into the maze of Gaza refugee camps his fate touched a nerve in a society where the military holds an almost mystical place.

Palestinians Hunt for Israeli Hostage
Palestinian security forces under the command of the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas were desperately searching today for the Israeli soldier kidnapped by militants the previous day, as the army massing on Gaza's border stood poised to invade.

A Wake Without a Body As Fears of Reprisal Grow
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict could catapult into a new and bloody downward spiral as the body of Muhammad Farwana remains in Israel where he died during Sunday's attack on Israeli positions.

Israeli Troops Gather at Gaza Borders As Palestinians Try to Find Hostage
· Olmert readies army for retaliatory strikes · Abbas urged to secure corporal's release

Middle East Relief Groups Join Red Cross
The Israeli and Palestinian humanitarian relief societies finally joined the international Red Cross and Red Crescent movements today, after a majority of delegates from close to 200 countries accepted a fiercely fought compromise.

Abbas and Olmert Set for Jordan Meeting
The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, will attend a meeting in Jordan this week, officials said today.

Two Children Among 11 Killed in Missile Strike on Gaza City
An Israeli air strike on a busy Gaza City street killed 11 people yesterday, including two young children and their father, after Palestinians who ran to help those wounded by the first missile were caught by the blast from a second rocket.

Sympathy Short-lived As Rockets Hit Sderot
Sympathy for Huda Ghalia had largely evaporated from the streets of Sderot yesterday after the Israeli town endured a weekend pounding by scores of Palestinian missiles, and the army attempted to cast doubt on its responsibility for wiping out most of the Palestinian child's family.

Death on the Beach: Seven Palestinians Killed As Israeli Shells Hit Family Picnic
A barrage of Israeli artillery shells rained down on a busy Gaza beach yesterday, killing seven Palestinians, three of them children.

Web of Betrayal, Blackmail and Sex That Killed Two Lovers Who Turned Informer
Palestinian confesses on video to helping Israel before he and lover are shot.

Punishment of Palestinians Will Create a Crucible of Trouble for the World
George Bush's policies helped build Hamas; now a dangerous linkage with Iran and Iraq threatens a mega-crisis...By David Hirst

Palestinian Delegation Attacked By Congressman
A New York congressman is declaring partial victory in his campaign to force the Palestinian delegation to the UN to leave the US.

Israeli Patience With Palestinians is 'limited'
Israel wants to work with the Palestinians to seek peace but cannot wait "forever" and will draw its own borders if necessary, the country's prime minister Ehud Olmert told a joint session of the US Congress today.

Assassination Attempt Ignites Gaza
Rival Palestinian factions clash in gun battles. An assassination attempt on the Palestinian intelligence chief ignited an already tense situation in Gaza yesterday, with gun...

Peretz Defends Wave of Attacks on Palestinians
· Israeli defence minister lauds 'war on terror' · Rights group condemns arbitrary arrests by army

Palestinians Married to Israelis Lose Court Battle for Residency
The Israeli high court upheld a law barring many Palestinians from living with their Israeli spouses in Israel.

US Opens the Door for Europe to Save Palestinians From Funding Disaster
· Change follows pressure from EU and Russia · Mechanism suggested for cash to bypass Hamas

EU Plans to Go It Alone With Aid for Palestinians
· Humanitarian crisis could deepen, report warns · Quartet seeks to bypass Hamas in providing funds

Norway Gives $20m to Cash-strapped Palestinians
Norway today pledged $20m (£11.2m) in aid to the Palestinians, but said none of it would go directly to the Hamas government.

Suicide Bomber Kills 8 in Tel Aviv
· Two Palestinian groups claim responsibility · Hamas describes the bombing as self-defence · Israel says it holds Hamas responsible for attack

Tehran Offers £30m for Palestinian Crisis
Iran has offered to donate more than £30m to the Palestinian Authority to help it deal with a budget crisis caused by the withdrawal of aid by western nations.

Gaza on Brink of Implosion As Aid Cut-off Starts to Bite
The end of Western funding and Israel's crossing closure sharpen Palestinian divisions, reports Conal Urquhart in Gaza City.

Kadima's Push for Separation Blurs the Old Political Dividing Lines Between Rival Cities
Kadima's plan to pull out of parts of the West Bank and separate from the Palestinians using the West Bank barrier has found favour - but not universal acceptance.

Israel's Colonisation of Palestine Blocking Peace, Says Jimmy Carter
· Actions will perpetuate violence across region · Future for West Bank and Gaza Strip 'dismal'

'It Was Like Beau Geste'
British monitors keeping an eye on jailed Palestinian militants in Jericho were on to a fairly cushy number - while it lasted, writes Ewen MacAskill.

Britain Accused After Day of Chaos and Kidnaps in Gaza
Violence as Israelis storm Palestinian prison after UK monitors pull out.

Israel-Palestine Conflict Engulfs Rogers's $1.7bn New York Project
Much will be at stake this morning when Lord Rogers appears at a summit of Jewish leaders to explain his connections to a British architects' group that opposes the barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, and supports a boycott of Israeli construction firms.

Lord Rogers Fights to Save Us Project in Jewish Row
One of Britain's leading architects was fighting for the survival of his billion dollar redesign of a New York convention centre yesterday after his connections to a Palestinian support group outraged Jewish organisations and local politicians.

EU to Pay £94.5m to Avert Collapse of Palestinian Authority
· Cash to fund utility bills, wages, health and schools · No direct payments after Hamas assumes power

Arab Democracy is Exposing the Blind Spot of Us Policy
The resurgent Palestinian rejectionism of Hamas can only be halted by checking the persistent rejectionism of Israel. By David Hirst

Palestine on Brink As Hamas Takes Over
The militant group's government is beseiged by threats of boycotts from home and abroad.

Africa's Forgotten Crises
In Africa everything is bigger. Since the second intifada began in 2000 approximately 4,480 Palestinians and Israelis have died ...By Simon Tisdall

Israel Excludes Palestinians From Fertile Valley
· Permit system seen as bid to annex West Bank land · Residents forced to leave area as farmers lose jobs

All Sides Now Look to the Past to Find a Way Forward
Paralysed by the shock result of the Palestinian election, all sides are now looking to the past to find a way forward. By Jonathan Freedland

US Urges Arab States to Fund Palestinians After Hamas Victory
· White House fears chaos if support is cut off · Danger of cash vacuum poses dilemma for west

Abbas Urges Continued Aid to Palestinians
The Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, today urged the international community today not to cut aid to his people following last week's election victory by Hamas.

Israel's Shooting of Young Girl Highlights International Hypocrisy, Say Palestinians
As the votes were counted in the Palestinian election and the scale of Hamas's landslide became apparent to the world, Aya al-Astal drifted away from her home and wandered towards the fence along the border between the Gaza strip and Israel.

INDIAN WARS IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM: From Wounded Knee to Palestine
The people of Palestine have spoken, just as the people of Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq have spoken, and they have delivered a common message: A stern repudiation of occupation and American influence.

Euphoria Turns to Shock As Palestinians Ask 'what Now?'
The West Bank city of Ramallah, Fatah's political headquarters, went to sleep on Wednesday night to the sound of celebratory gunfire as the party's young supporters drove through the streets cheering exit polls which suggested victory. By yesterday morning the euphoria had turned to shock as Palestinians tried to assess the effects of Hamas's victory.

The Palestinians' Democratic Choice Must Be Respected
The excuses given for refusing to deal with Hamas will not wash. This is a chance for Europe to have an independent role. By Jonathan Steele

Palestinian Elections
Leader: The right response to this result is to insist that Hamas make clear that it is committed to negotiations with Israel.

No Irish Model for Palestinians
The pathology and psychology of Hamas are radically different to the IRA, writes Henry McDonald.

Palestinian Pm and Cabinet Resign
The Palestinian prime minister and cabinet today resigned following what appeared to be a dramatic election win for Hamas.

Palestinians Go to the Polls
Palestinians were today going to the polls in the first Palestinian parliamentary election for a decade, with the vote expected to break the ruling Fatah movement's 40-year domination of the Palestinian cause.

World Dispatch
The stunning electoral rise of the Palestinian group Hamas is set to break the mould of Middle East peacemaking, writes Ian Black.

22 Injured in Tel Aviv Suicide Bombing
A Palestinian suicide bomber killed himself and injured 22 others yesterday when he detonated his explosives in a busy restaurant in Tel Aviv, six days before Palestinian elections.

Palestinian Director Hany Abu-assad
As the Palestinian director of a film that humanises two suicide bombers, Hany Abu-Assad was the most surprised winner of a gong at this week's Golden Globe awards. He talks to Dan Glaister.

15 Injured in Tel Aviv Suicide Bombing
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in Tel Aviv today, injuring at least 15 people and casting a shadow over the Palestinian parliamentary elections next week.

Suicide Bomber Hits Central Tel Aviv
A suicide bomber blew himself up in Tel Aviv today, injuring at least 15 people and casting a shadow over the Palestinian parliamentary elections next week. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged Israelis and Palestinians not to let terrorism acts such as the bombing...

Palestinians Allowed to Vote in East Jerusalem, But Israel Bars Hamas From Election
· Police arrest activists over campaigning allegations · Sharon has tracheotomy to help breathing

Palestinians at War As Blood Feuds Follow Israeli Pullout
Law and order has collapsed in Gaza ahead of elections this month. Powerful clans, suddenly without a common enemy to unite them, are killing each other and seeking to sweep aside the heirs of Arafat, condemned as weak and corrupt.

US Pressure Forces Israel to Relent and Allow Jerusalem's Palestinians a Vote in Election
Under pressure from Washington, Israel said yesterday that it would allow Arab residents of East Jerusalem to vote in Palestinian parliamentary elections this month - an issue which had threatened to derail the ballot.

Israel to Allow Palestinians in Jerusalem to Vote
The Israeli defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, said today that Israel will permit Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote in elections due later this month.

Two Egyptian Soldiers Killed After Palestinians Breach Border Wall With Bulldozer
Two Egyptian guards were shot dead at the border with Gaza yesterday after armed Palestinians made a hole in the border wall with a bulldozer.

Kidnap Briton to Go on Working for Palestinians
The British aid worker kidnapped with her parents in Gaza last week has vowed to stay on to help the Palestinian people despite her ordeal.

Muslims welcoming Third Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount
The best way to obtain ultimate peace is to let religious leaders discuss and negotiate. If there has to be a Palestinian state in Gaza and parts of the West Bank, the Muslims have to accept the erection of the Third Jewish Temple on Temple Mount.

Palestinians May Delay Poll Over Voting Ban
Israeli officials object to ballot boxes in East Jerusalem due to alleged involvement of Hamas in the election.

Election Revolt Against Fatah's 'old Guard' Splits Party in Two
The split, which mirrors events in Israel, is the culmination of a long running crisis in Fatah which is headed by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.

Sharon 'plans to Share Jerusalem With Palestinians'
· Leader forced to deny plan to make concessions · Netanyahu seizes on reports to bolster Likud

Israeli Missile Strike Kills Four Palestinians
Palestinian men loaded dead bodies on to a pick-up truck yesterday after an Israeli missile hit their car, killing four passengers and injuring a fifth.

Four Palestinians Killed in Israeli Air Strike
At least four Palestinians were killed and four others wounded today when their car was hit in an Israeli air strike, Palestinian hospital officials said.

The Observer Book Aid Appeal
In the third week of our appeal, Conal Urquhart reports on the Palestinian institute making sure children don't grow up illiterate.

Life Under Siege in a Divided City
Palestinian families driven from homes by settlers in 'cleansing' of Hebron in the West Bank.

Palestinians and Israelis Join Forces on Pitch
Israelis and Palestinians were last night preparing for a rare opportunity to defend something together, as they set about jointly trying to keep a football goalmouth safe from the rampaging stars of Barcelona football club.

Sharon Alters Political Landscape By Leaving Likud
· Polls show public support for breakaway party · Palestinians suspicious of PM's ultimate intentions

Palestinians Hope to Harvest Fruit of Withdrawal - If Israelis Don't Let It Rot
Commercial success of tomato and pepper crops could be scuppered by closed border.

In Praise of ... Yitzhak Rabin
Leader: Israel's gruff, bluff prime minister spent his life fighting Arabs from the 1948 war until the Palestinian intifada 30 years later. But he was also the first Israeli leader to have the courage to deal directly with the PLO.

Palestinians Say Israel Agrees to Ceasefire
Palestinian officials said yesterday that agreement had been reached with Israel to cease hostilities in the Gaza Strip.

Qur'an Competition Tests Participants' Memories
With senior militant leaders looking on, Palestinian officials opened an international competition yesterday testing participants' knowledge of the Qur'an.

The New Game of Sequential Unilateralism
In the new game of sequential unilateralism, the Palestinian leaders are being outplayed by Israel's prime minister.

Israeli High Court Bans Military Use of Palestinians As Human Shields
· Even 'volunteers' breach Geneva pact, judge rules · Human rights victory after three-year struggle

Abbas Told to Form New Government
The Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, was today ordered to form a new government amid concerns over mounting militant violence.

Glittering Sea is the Most Precious Treasure for Many in Regained Land
· Armed Palestinians raise flags over ruined towns · Attempts to destroy synagogues 'barbaric'

Jubilant Palestinians Return to Gaza
Palestinians arrived in empty Israeli settlements today and scaled walls into Egypt to join a chaotic celebration of the end of 38 years of Israeli military rule over the Gaza Strip. Palestinian police plans to bar crowds from the settlements quickly disintegrated as militant groups...

Palestinian Shot Dead at Gaza-egypt Border
Egyptian border guards shot and killed a Palestinian along the Gaza-Egypt border only hours after Israeli troops had left the area, Palestinian security officals said today.

Jubilant Palestinians Enter Gaza Settlements
Ecstatic crowds of Palestinians flooded into empty Jewish settlements today, setting abandoned synagogues on fire and looting ruined buildings in a celebration of the end of 38 years of Israeli military rule over the Gaza Strip.

Homes Razed in Mob Fury at Couple's 'affair'
The only brewery in the Palestinian territories escaped an attack yesterday by a mob that razed a dozen homes over an alleged affair between a Christian man whose family owns the beer factory and a Muslim woman from a neighbouring village who was then murdered by her own family.

In Gaza Love is in the Air, and Peace is Within Reach
A double wedding on the Gaza beachfront - of two brothers to two sisters - heralds a new dawn, but Palestinians remain cautious, report Sandra Jordan and Azmi Keshawi.

Soldiers Evict Gaza Settlers
· Anger and grief as Jews depart · Sharon calls evacuation 'heartbreaking' · Israeli gunman kills three Palestinians

Emotions Run High As Army Enforces Gaza Pullout
Thousands of Israeli troops moved into the Gaza settlements overnight for the start of a historic operation to remove the remaining Jewish families from their homes and transfer the territory to Palestinian control.

Settlers Defiant As Gaza Evictions Begin
Israeli troops today began handing out eviction notices in Gaza settlements, as the process of removing settlers from Jewish enclaves on Palestinian territory got under way.

Troops Enter Gaza Settlements
Israeli troops encountered resistance today when they handed eviction notices to Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip as the historic removal of Jewish enclaves from Palestinian territory began.

Gaza Missiles and Airstrikes Shatter Ceasefire
The five-month Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire was in tatters last night after Israel responded to missile attacks from Gaza with airstrikes that killed six Hamas militants.

Palestinian Civilians Have Been Killed
Palestinian civilians have been killed by the army with impunity. Chris Mcgreal

Straw Tells Palestinians: You Hold Key to Peace, Not the Israelis
The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, told Palestinian leaders in Ramallah yesterday that the creation of a Palestinian state was in their own hands, whatever the intentions of the Israeli government.

Jerusalem Orders Palestinian Homes to Be Razed
Jerusalem's city council has ordered one of the largest mass demolitions in the city's recent history, with plans to raze the homes of about 1,000 Palestinians in a neighbourhood claimed by Jewish settlers. The council says about 90 buildings served with demolition orders were built...

Grief of Mother Over Gaza Pullout
The cemetery at Gush Katif is a sensitive problem. A mother faces the agony of leaving her dead son behind when, this summer, she and her family are forced to leave their homes on Palestinian land.

Both Palestinians and Israelis Will Benefit From a Boycott
The racist and colonial policies echo apartheid, and call for a similar response. Ronnie Kasrils and Victoria Brittain

Pressure Grows on Palestinian Leader to Delay Parliamentary Elections
Mahmoud Abbas under growing pressure to postpone parliamentary elections scheduled for July, despite threats from Hamas to call off four-month ceasefire if he does so.

From Prison to Power in the West Bank
Wajia Nazal has spent the past three years in Israeli military detention without trial for membership of Hamas. But next week he will be appointed, in absentia, as Qalqilya's mayor after his party won all 15 seats on the town council in Palestinian local elections.

Peace canal deal for thirsty Middle East
Ministers from Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority will today sign an agreement to pave the way for the construction of a canal that will link the Red Sea to the Dead Sea.

Nye Said. Ideas, Not Armies, Eventu
The Israeli army yesterday suspended the officer of a unit that shot dead two Palestinian boys protesting against a barrier fence at the West Bank village Beit Lakia.

Guns of Gaza Stay Loaded But Silent As Talks Go on
· Palestinian militants keep ceasefire as they await peace deal
· Pressure for jobs and end to corruption grows in run up to polls

US Dressing Down for Sharon
Bush insists he will not permit settlement blocking off a Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Palestinians Take Control of West Bank City
Checkpoint comes down in Jericho, but troops remain.

Abbas Says He Expects Full Ceasefire By Armed Groups
Palestinian leader calls for talks to start on statehood.

Palestinian Leader Expects Militia Ceasefire
The Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, said today that he expects Palestinian militant groups to declare a formal ceasefire next week in Cairo, ending their four-year intifada against Israel.

Israel and Palestine Condemn Bombing
Abbas says suicide attack on nightclub was bid to sabotage peace process.

New Palestinian Cabinet Approved
The Palestinian parliament today approved a 24-member cabinet, dominated by professional appointees, in what analysts have described as a significant government reform.

Cabinet Crisis Threat to Abbas
The Palestinian government was facing collapse yesterday after Ahmed Qureia, the prime minister, failed again to win parliament's approval for a cabinet denounced by MPs as tainted by corruption and incompetence.

MPs Force Qureia to Purge Ministers
Palestinian MPs have forced the prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, to make sweeping changes to his cabinet, criticised for being dominated by corrupt and incompetent ministers too closely associated with the late Yasser Arafat.

500 Prisoners Freed, But Palestinians Await the Rest
Relatives greet latest step on road to peace with wary relief.

Sharon Firm on West Bank Sites
Israel will not give up the main Jewish settlements on the West Bank as part of a final peace deal with the Palestinians, the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, said yesterday.

Israelis and Palestinians Share Hope and Fear Side By Side in Jerusalem
Pilgrims and shopkeepers cautious on future.

Handshake Halts the Violence
Ariel Sharon announced an unqualified end to all Israeli military attacks on the Palestinians yesterday as part of a historic ceasefire that formally ends more than four years of brutal intifada, suicide bombings and the destruction of occupied towns.

Sharon and Abbas Agree Ceasefire
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, today pledged to end violence, agreeing a ceasefire after more than four years of bloody intifada.

Deal to End Palestinian Uprising
Israel and the Palestinians are to announce a deal to end more than four years of bloody intifada that has claimed 5,000 lives.

Middle East Truce Announced
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed a truce to end more than four years of fighting, both sides confirmed today.

Palestinians Threaten to End Truce
Hamas and seven other Palestinian groups threatened yesterday to call off a truce and return to "all-out martyrdom attacks" - suicide bombings - unless Israel commits itself to ending army raids and killings in the occupied territories.

Girl's Killing Puts Truce at Risk
The killing of a 10-year-old Palestinian girl, shot dead in the playground of her school in southern Gaza yesterday, threatened to undermine a tentative truce after Hamas blamed the Israeli army and retaliated by firing mortars into a Jewish settlement.

Security to Be Handed Over in West Bank Towns
Israel says it is prepared to transfer responsibility for security in several West Bank towns to the new Palestinian leadership this week in the latest measure aimed at securing a permanent ceasefire.

Israelis Use Barrier and 55-year-old Law to Quietly Seize Palestinians' Land
The Israeli government has quietly seized thousands of acres of Palestinian-owned land in and around east Jerusalem after a secret cabinet decision to use a 55-year-old law against Arabs separated from farms and orchards by the vast "security barrier".

Abbas Stresses Need for Swift Ceasefire
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has appealed to Israel to agree swiftly to a joint ceasefire that would halt more than four years of bloodshed, warning that delay could undermine its chances of success.

US envoy to meet Abbas for truce talks on ceasefire
William Burns to discuss appeal by new Palestinian leadership for American support in securing Israeli respect for a ceasefire.

Rising UK anti-semitism blamed on media
Britain suffered the sharpest rise in anti-semitic attacks of any country last year, and British press coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a leading cause, according to an Israeli government report.

Baptism of Fire
The new Palestinian president is already facing pressures brought about by Israel and militant attacks, writes Ian Black.

Palestine: New Meaning Behind the Same Old Violence
Peter Beaumont on the impossible balancing act faced by the new Palestinian chief, Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinians Pour Cold Water on Blair Conference
Tony Blair is being forced to rethink the agenda for his proposed Middle East conference in London after Palestinians questioned its worth and accused him of being pro-Israeli.

Hamas Hints at Ceasefire As the Palestinians Vote
As Palestinians go to the polls today to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat, senior members of Hamas have revealed to The Observer that a long-term ceasefire may well follow.

Abbas Views Sharon As Partner in Peace Talks
The favourite to win the Palestinian presidential election, Mahmoud Abbas, yesterday declared that he hoped peace negotiations with Israel could resume soon after the winner is declared on Monday.

Palestinian Aid Groups' Accounts Closed
Two British organisations set up to help the Palestinian people have had their bank accounts abruptly closed without explanation, the Guardian has learned. Neither is proscribed by the government, and both claim that their targeting is political.

Israel Stops Palestinians Voting in Jerusalem
Israel was accused yesterday of undermining the election of a Palestinian Authority president by allowing only a few thousand Palestinians to vote in East Jerusalem.

Arafat Ally Backs 'negotiations'
The front-running candidate to succeed Yasser Arafat as leader of the Palestinians pledged a commitment to 'the path of negotiation' in the opening speech of his campaign yesterday.

Blair Bowed to Israel, Say Palestinians
Palestinian officials attacked Tony Blair's planned conference on the conflict with Israel yesterday, saying it was much less than originally promised.

Barghouti Exits Presidential Race
· Jailed leader comes out in support of Abbas
· Palestinian guerrillas kill four Israeli soldiers.

Palestinian Poll Race Tight
Two of the first opinion polls since nominations closed for the Palestinian presidential election show a tight race between the establishment candidate, Mahmoud Abbas, and the imprisoned military commander, Marwan Barghouti. A third poll gives Mr Abbas a clear lead.

Barghouti's Natural Constituents Show Doubts
Images of Mr Barghouti, shackled and defiant after his conviction, helped make him the most popular Palestinian leader after the late Yasser Arafat. Yesterday, however, the most popular candidate among the young men in Ramallah was the former prime minister Mahmoud Abbas.

Middle East Upheaval As Sharon Provokes Crisis
Jailed Palestinian reverses decision not to challenge for Arafat succession.

Soldiers 'did Not Force Violinist to Play'
An Israeli army investigation has concluded that a Palestinian filmed playing his violin at an army checkpoint, prompting outrage among Israelis who said it diminished the Holocaust, was not forced to do so by soldiers.

Conductor Brings Harmony to Arabs
Daniel Barenboim, the acclaimed Israeli conductor, yesterday unveiled his latest initiative to help the Middle East peace process - a music kindergarten for Palestinian refugee children.

Barghouti Pulls Out of Fatah Race
The popular Palestinian militant Marwan Barghouti backed away from challenging for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority last night after days of speculation that he would run for the post left open by the death of Yasser Arafat.

Abbas Pledge to End Violence
Mahmoud Abbas, who has emerged as the principal Palestinian leader following the death of Yasser Arafat, yesterday said he intends to bring a complete and unconditional end to Palestinian violence.

Press Review: What They Said About Palestinian Elections
... Palestinian elections. "Less than two weeks after the passing away of Yasser Arafat, a new impetus has been injected into peace efforts - and the results have been surprising at times and remarkable at others," said Arab News on Monday.

Shooting Protest As Palestinians Set Poll Date
Critics denounce favourite to succeed Arafat at mourning tent.

Palestinians Confront Life After Arafat
Jason Burke reports from Ramallah on the many challenges now facing the Palestinian leadership - including a January election.

'A New Opportunity for Peace'
Bush and Blair promise to back Palestinian state - but new leadership must build democracy.

Arafat's Final Journey
Palestinian leader's body to be flown to West Bank for burial.

There is Little to Suggest Sharon Will Seize This Chance
There is little to suggest Sharon will seize this chance. There are two basic scenarios for what will happen to the Palestinians in the post-Arafat era: the optimistic and the pessimistic.

Arafat Begins Final Journey
· Egypt prepares funeral
· Palestinians mourn Arafat's death
· World leaders pay tribute

Palestinians Mourn Arafat's Death
· World leaders pay tribute
· Caretaker president sworn in
· Israeli troops on high alert

A Tragedy and an Opportunity
Arafat proved that attempts to fix the Palestinian leadership will fail. In the days when Britain was being forced to give up one colony after another, the phrase "father of the nation" was much in vogue.

Three Killed By Tel Aviv Bomber
At least three people were killed and many more injured yesterday when a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded food market in Tel Aviv. The attack - the first of its kind in the city since the beginning of the year - was condemned by the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat,...

Four Dead in Tel Aviv Blast
A Palestinian with five kilos of explosives strapped to his body blew himself up in a crowded outdoor market in Tel Aviv today, killing three Israelis and wounding 32 in the first such attack since Yasser Arafat left the region for medical treatment last week. The Popular Front for the...

Palestinians Look to Life After Arafat
Hospital statement fails to prevent war of succession.

Frail Arafat in French Hospital
Unable to walk, Palestinian leader begins treatment.

I'm Backing Sharon
Yesterday's emphatic win for the Israeli prime minister offers renewed hope to progressives and the Palestinians.

14 Die As Gaza Debate Opens
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has opened a controversial parliamentary debate on the withdrawal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza strip, hours after a major Israeli army raid on the Khan Younis refugee camp today left 14 Palestinians dead and 72 wounded. "This is a fateful hour...

Army Pulls Back From Gaza Leaving 100 Palestinians Dead
The Israeli army last night began withdrawing from Palestinian areas of the northern Gaza strip, winding down the largest assault on the territory in recent years and leaving more than 100 Palestinians dead and widespread destruction of homes. Palestinians looked on as the 200 tanks and...

Officer Suspended Over Gaza Shooting
The Israeli army yesterday suspended an officer who is accused of firing up to 20 bullets into a 13-year-old Palestinian as she lay on the ground after having been shot from an army outpost. Another schoolgirl died yesterday after being shot while sitting at her school desk. The...

Is It the End of the Road for Arafat?
Imprisoned in his compound, facing assassination and internationally isolated, the Palestinian leader says he has been in worse trouble.

Dead Palestinian Girl 'riddled With Bullets'
The Israeli army has begun investigating the death of a 13-year-old Palestinian girl said to have been shot dead by soldiers then riddled with bullets by their commander. On television and in newspapers soldiers claimed that the officer shot her in the head and emptied a magazine of...

Row Erupts As Top Sharon Aide Says There Will Be No Palestinian State
Ariel Sharon's chief aide caused a political storm yesterday by claiming that the real purpose of the Israeli prime minister's "disengagement plan" was to freeze the peace process and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, all with the blessing of the US. Dov Weisglass, Mr...

Two Girls, Two Shots to the Head
Palestinian 15-year-olds among growing number of children hit by Israeli snipers during 'Days of Penitence'.

Palestinian Gunmen Free Cnn Journalist
Palestinian gunmen yesterday released a CNN journalist abducted in Gaza City apparently to pressure members of an Arab minority group not to serve in the Israeli army. Riad Ali, an Arab Israeli who is a member of the Druze minority, was snatched on Monday by gunmen who stopped a car...

Palestinians Threaten Revenge for Rocket Attack
Palestinians threaten revenge for rocket attack on militants in Gaza.

The Death and Disorientation of the Children of Gaza
In their homes, in the street, in UN-run schools, Palestinian youth are not safe from Israeli bullets

Britain in Split With Us on West Bank Homes
A significant gap opened up between the British and US governments on Middle East policy yesterday when Downing Street expressed its continued opposition to any expansion of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian West Bank. Fuelling the controversy, the Israeli government announced plans...

US Deal 'wrecks Middle East Peace'
The US was yesterday accused by Palestinian leaders of destroying hopes for peace in the Middle East by giving its covert support to Israel's expansion of controversial settlements in the West Bank. American officials are privately admitting they have abandoned their demands that Israel...

Palestinian Collaborators Killed in Hospital
Two Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel were executed by gunmen in their hospital beds yesterday, soon after being wounded in a grenade attack on a prison. A third alleged informant was fatally injured in the blast. Palestinian militants tossed the grenade into a wing of...

Arafat 'ruining His People' Says Protege
Former protege accuses leader of 'sitting on the corpses of Palestinians' and warns of massive demonstrations unless reforms begin.

Alarm at Us Drift Over Middle East
UK report reveals fears for future of Palestinians.

Moment of Crisis Nears for Arafat
Violence, demonstrations and kidnappings in Gaza as Palestinians express their anger at authority - and prime minister tries to resign.

Palestinians Await Verdict on Barrier
International court to rule on legality of 'anti-terror' construction.

West Bank Lynching
Palestinian militants execute man in public for spying for Israel's security forces.

Chris Mcgreal: Sharon Surrenders to the Will of the People
Little more than a year ago the Israeli Labour opposition offered to join Ariel Sharon's government if he agreed to dismantle just one settlement, to show that the Jewish towns dotted across the Palestinian territories were not untouchable in the pursuit of peace.

Another Child Dies As Rafah Mourns
According to Palestinians, Rawan Mohammed Abu Zaed, aged three and a half, was the 11th child to be killed by Israeli Defence Force since Operation Rainbow began last week.

Bulldozers Crush Hope in Rafah Camp
Palestinians scramble to safety as Israeli attack flattens homes.

'There Were Rockets, Shells. It Was War. Then Bulldozers Destroyed Everything'
Chris McGreal in Rafah reports on Palestinians preparing to flee Israel's onslaught. Um Hisham Qishta stood at the spot where she cradled a dying Israeli soldier in her arms a few days ago and said she was going nowhere.

American U-turn on Talks With Palestinians
The Bush administration yesterday attempted further damage control in the Middle East, ending a months-long boycott of the Palestinian leadership to offer surprise talks with the prime minister. President Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, will meet Ahmed Qureia, commonly...

Sharon Vows to Control West Bank Settlements
Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, vowed to hang on to the five biggest Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank "for eternity" yesterday, hoping to assuage far-right critics of his plan to disengage from the Palestinians, in advance of his visit to Washington. "Only Israeli political...

Sharon Seeks Us Backing to Go It Alone
Bush expected to reward pledge to withdraw settlers by allowing Israel to unilaterally set borders of emasculated Palestinian state.

Jonathan Cook @ Beit Fagi: E-mail
Yesterday a procession of pilgrims made their way up the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives from the Palestinian village of Eizariya.

Palestinians Urge Restraint Not Revenge
Arafat echoes call by politicians and intellectuals.

Britain Steps Up Aid to Palestinians
Britain has embarked on a new initiative to kick-start the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The government is working behind the scenes to help the Palestinian Authority reform its security apparatus in the West Bank and Gaza, a key demand of Israel and its main ally, the US...

Gunmen Evict Family at Dawn From Home in King David's City
Israeli settlers use force to take over homes belonging to Palestinians in east Jerusalem.

Palestinian Pm Urges Action to End Conflict
Qureia warns UK that time is running out for peace process.

Wounded Palestinian Boy's Family Plead for Peace
Chris McGreal in Gaza reports on a family's battle to hold on to their home despite the shooting of a son.

Palestinians Turn on Each Other in West Bank
Palestinian factions turn on each other in West Bank city.

Palestinians Shocked at Use of Suicide Mother
Hamas has defied widespread criticism among Palestinians for using a young mother as a suicide bomber by publishing photographs of Reem Riyashi and her two small children posing with weapons. Mrs Riyashi, 22, blew herself up and killed four Israelis at a Gaza border crossing a fortnight...

Simon Jeffery on an Extreme Peace Mission
A team of Israeli and Palestinian peace campaigners have achieved their goal of scaling a previously unclimbed Antarctic mountain. Simon Jeffery reports.

Israeli Army Kills Eight Palestinians in Raid on Gaza Camp
An Israeli army raid in southern Gaza yesterday left eight Palestinians dead in the worst outbreak of violence in two months.

Palestinians Attack Egyptian Foreign Minister at Holy Site
Palestinians vented their frustration for the perceived lack of support by Arab countries in their quest for nationhood by attacking the Egyptian foreign minister when he arrived to pray at Islam's third holiest site in Jerusalem yesterday. The confrontation began when one of Ahmed...

A Regional Peace Forecast
Palestinians and Israelis are weary of conflict but in Iraq it could be just beginning, writes Brian Whitaker.

'We're Air Force Pilots, Not Mafia. We Don't Take Revenge'
Israel's F-16 and Black Hawk refuseniks say why they could not obey illegal orders and kill innocent Palestinians.

Bitter Harvest in West Bank's Olive Groves
Jewish settlers wreck fruit of centuries of toil to force out Palestinian villagers.

Arafat Resumes Security Control
Israel rejects president's deal with PM as 'a sad day for Palestinian reforms' as Washington insists he must cede his strongest grip on power.

Permits Ordered for Palestinians
The Israeli military has ordered thousands of Palestinians living near the steel and concrete "security fence" through the West Bank to obtain special permits to live in their own homes. Palestinian officials said the order breached a pledge by Israel to the UN security council a...

Palestinians Bomb Us Convoy
Attack on envoys a 'political disaster'.

Israeli Pm Sneers at Watershed Peace Bid With Palestinians
Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has dismissed a draft peace agreement drawn up by leftwing Israeli politicians and Palestinian leaders as the "greatest historic mistake" since the Oslo peace accords a decade ago. But supporters of the new "Geneva accords", while acknowledging that...

Sharon Attacks Palestinian Solidarity
Until Hamas is drawn into a political role there can be no peace. Not long after Bush's big speech last summer, in which he called for two states, Israeli and Palestinian, living side by side in peace, important negotiations began.

Bomber kills 20 in holiday horror
· Palestinian woman launches suicide attack on crowded Haifa restaurant
· Israel hits back with missile strikes on Gaza after Yom Kippur atrocity

3,000 Dead Yet Peace Remains Elusive
It is three years since the intifada reignited in Israel. Chris McGreal reports on how the violence has affected ordinary people, and a desire among both Israelis and Palestinians to see the other side suffer.

Scholar Edward Said Dies
Edward Said - scholar, literary critic and the most eloquent supporter of the Palestinian cause - died in New York yesterday after a long battle against leukaemia. He was 67. Born in 1935 in Jerusalem, then part of British-ruled Palestine, he spent almost all his adult life in the United...

UN Surges to Arafat's Defence
The UN demanded that Israel drop its threat to remove the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, by an overwhelmingly majority yesterday, thus isolating Israel and the US. The general assembly voted 133-4 the day after President Bush blamed Mr Arafat for undermining the current round of peace...

US Vetoes Un Call to Protect Arafat
The United States last night vetoed a United Nations resolution demanding that Israel neither harm nor expel the Palestinian authority president, Yasser Arafat. The US veto flew in the face of the security council, which voted overwhelmingly in favour of the motion. Eleven members gave...

Enough of War, Enough of Bloodshed
Israelis and Palestinians are ready to do a peace deal - what a pity their leaders are not. In a week of grim anniversaries, today's should stand out as a rare light in the dark. It was on September 13 1993 that Bill Clinton stood on the White House lawn, held out his big, bear arms and pushed Yitzhak Rabin...

Cornered: but will he end up as exiled martyr or deal maker?
Expulsion would prove a gift to the Palestinian president, critics warn Israeli hardliners. Most of Ariel Sharon's ministers went into last night's emergency cabinet meeting, called in the wake of the suicide bombers' latest carnage, clear about who they blame and what they want to do with him.

The road to peace seems to stretch for generations
At almost every break for coffee and a smoke during a two-day London conference, which ended last night, the participants, Israeli and Palestinian journalists, reached for their mobiles, anxious for the news from the Middle East.

Seasoned politico who can stand his ground
The single issue dominating discussion about the man tipped to be the next Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, is whether Yasser Arafat will be pulling his strings.

Arafat's Nominee Sets Out His Demands
Yasser Arafat's nominee for prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, demanded guarantees from Washington and Europe yesterday that they will force a major shift in Israel's treatment of the Palestinians before he accepts the post.

Ridiculed and betrayed: why Abbas blames Arafat
Prime minister felt undermined in struggle with Israel. Mahmoud Abbas threatened to quit so often during his four months as Palestinian prime minister that when he finally dispatched a resignation letter to Yasser Arafat at the weekend it was widely assumed to be a tactical move to strengthen his hand and hang on to power.

Arafat Backs New Palestine Leader
Yasser Arafat last night nominated the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Ahmed Qureia, to be prime minister and oversee a crumbling peace process further jeopardised by pledges by Ariel Sharon and Hamas to destroy each other.

Road map to peace in crisis as Palestinian leader quits
The Middle East peace process appeared on the brink of collapse last night as Israeli and Palestinian hardliners readied themselves for bitter violence in the days to come.

Back Me or Lose Me, Warns Abbas
The Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, yesterday told parliament to back him in a power struggle with Yasser Arafat or sack his government.

Day of Decision in Abbas Feud With Arafat
America and Britain fight to save Palestinian PM facing key debate.

Israeli assassins kill hopes of peace for Palestinians
Two Palestinians were killed and others wounded yesterday in the latest Israeli assassination attack on Hamas members in the Gaza Strip. The men died after an Apache helicopter gunship fired four missiles at a van on a road between two refugee camps in central Gaza.

Palestinian Pm Fights for Political Survival
Abbas may stake his future on vote of confidence in parliament as Arafat backs his attempts to revive ceasefire.

Children's author faces Jewish wrath
Tale of boy's life in West Bank prompts pressure groups to call for withdrawal. Jewish pressure groups are calling on a publisher to withdraw a children's book about a Palestinian boy growing up amid the intifada on the West Bank.

Palestinian Suicide Bomber Kills 20 and Shatters Peace Process
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew apart a bus in the heart of Jerusalem last night as it carried religious Jews from a visit to the Wailing Wall, killing at least 20 people, including children, wounding more than 100 and inflicting the most serious blow yet to the six-week-old ceasefire...

Palestinians Expect Checkpoint Deal to Clinch Israeli Pullout From Four West Bank Cities
A deal for Israel to pull troops out of four West Bank cities is expected to be finalised today in a move to bolster a six-week-old ceasefire threatened by renewed violence. Negotiations ran into trouble in the early hours yesterday amid disagreements over Israel's attempt to maintain...

Peace Talks Held Up By Roadblocks
Efforts to keep the Middle East road map peace process on track hit a snag last night when an agreement to transfer control of four West Bank cities to the Palestinian Authority fell apart at the last minute. Despite vigorous US pressure to ensure that the recent increase in violence does...

US Irons Out Wrinkles in the Road Map
Israel will hand control of two West Bank cities to the Palestinian Authority today after a flurry of negotiations and American pressure on both sides to prevent the collapse of the six week-old ceasefire. Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, has also agreed to let the authority's president,...

Rabbi Yitzhak Kolitz
Powerful conservative mediator in Israel's religious quandaries. Many of the flock of the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Yitzhak Kolitz, who has died aged 81, are descended from European Jews who emigrated to Ottoman Palestine before the predominantly secular Zionist influx of the 20th century.

Addition and Long Division
The readers' editor on... fact, figures and terms of reference in the Middle East. The Guardian's coverage of the Middle East has been questioned on two particular points this week. One is its reporting of the release by Israel of 339 Palestinian prisoners (the Israeli figure as I write is 334).

A Road to Peace That's Paved With the Worst Intentions
If the cheaters can be cheated, a deal in the Middle East is possible. The question of whether or not the road map for peace between Israelis and Palestinians will allow the two peoples to reach that destination is best investigated by asking another question.

Ceasefire is at Risk, Sharon Told
The Palestinian government said yesterday that Ariel Sharon had jeopardised last month's ceasefire by rejecting President Bush's plea to stop building his security fence through the West Bank. The information minister, Nabil Amr, said the Israeli prime minister had given "no single...

Death zone puts family life in limbo
From her backyard Khadija Bdarat can point out the roof of her children's school a few hundred metres up the hill in the Palestinian village of Ras.

Sharon Sways Cabinet Into Freeing Prisoners
Release of 540 Palestinians may still not save ceasefire.

Palestinian Pm's Leadership at Stake When He Pleads With Bush to Help Free Detainees
The Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, will urge President George Bush today to rescue the US-led "road map" to peace by pressuring Israel to release thousands of political prisoners and halt the expropriation of Palestinian land to build a security fence. Mr Abbas's meeting at...

Palestinians angry after Sharon blocks progress at talks
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian prime minister, almost walked out of a meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon, yesterday over Israel's refusal to carry out its commitments under the "road map" peace process.

Isolated Arafat calls for help - but is anybody still listening?
In his ruined compound, a weary Palestinian president sees opportunities melting away. He sits like a schoolteacher, peering through thick glasses at documents on a lectern, occasionally marking them with a red pen before passing them to an aide.

Manhunt for Real IRA's bomb expert in West Bank
A huge manhunt was underway last night for an Irish republican bomb-maker who is believed to be training Palestinian terrorists in Israel.

Sharon: I'll Solve the Palestinian Problem in Four Years
The Israeli leader, who flies into London tonight, is the last man standing from the 1948 generation who assisted at the country's bloody birth. He spoke to Peter Beaumont in a rare interview.

Suffering By Comparison
Although lessons drawn from Northern Ireland cannot easily be applied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there are, nonetheless, interesting parallels between the two situations, writes Derek Brown.

Sharon and Abbas Warm to Road Map
The Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers made an unusually enthusiastic public display of faith in the peace process yesterday before wrangling in private over Israel's demand that Hamas should be disarmed. Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas met hours before the Israeli army was due to...

Palestinians Back Trial Ceasefire
Militants agree to temporary peace settlement as Condoleezza Rice arrives in Middle East.

From suicide bombs to ceasefire hopes
Key facts in the history of Hamas. Hamas was formed in 1987 as the PLO moved away from its position that Palestine could only be liberated by an "armed struggle".

Something is being born, but let's not call it empire
American power is immense, but it is built on collaboration. Responding this week to a suggestion that it must be humiliating for the fate of his people to hang on US intervention, the Palestinian negotiator Saab Erekat said with a wry smile:

US 'must Move Fast' on Peace Road Map
Relations between Israelis and Palestinians have reached their lowest point ever, and the US needs to move fast to implement the road map for peace, the former Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said today. The peace plan, drawn up by the US, EU, Russia and the UN, represents a...

Negotiations Fail to Broker Middle East Truce
Egyptian negotiators today appeared to have failed in their bid to convince Palestinian militia groups to end attacks on Israelis - as the US and the EU stepped up their efforts to reinvigorate the peace process. After two days of Egyptian-sponsored talks in Gaza aimed at establishing an...

Missiles Hit Gaza Again Despite Us Efforts to Keep Lid on Crisis
Israel fired missiles into Gaza again last night as the White House tried to forestall the escalation of its war with Hamas at the end of one of the bloodiest weeks of recent times. One man died and 32 Palestinians, including 10 children, were reported injured, when a helicopter gunship...

Road map in reverse
The latest upsurge in violence between Israel and Palestine is particularly dismaying, coming so soon after the Aqaba summit seemed to promise a new beginning.

'Total War' Engulfs Middle East As Road Map is Torn to Shreds
Israel declared total war on Hamas yesterday, with the Islamic resistance movement responding by ordering all its fighters to immediately mobilise and "blow up the Zionist entity". The threat of escalation in an already bloody week for Palestinians and Israelis alike came hours before the...

A lease of life for Fatah's inside man
He is the latest Palestinian celebrity: a 67-year-old man with flowing grey hair who has swapped an Israeli prison for the Park Hotel, the closest Ramallah has to the Ritz.

Settlers ready to give up homes
A trip to the shop is a 37-mile round journey and part of it in an army convoy. Every excursion carries the risk of ambush by Palestinian militants.

Sharon's Offer is Not Enough, Arafat Says
Israeli leader feels squeeze from Palestinians and settlers, while doubts still surround US president's position.

Sharon Endorses Palestinian State
Against the backdrop of the royal palace palms in Aqaba, Jordan, the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers today pledged to support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. At the end of a meeting with the US president, George Bush, the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud...

Palestinians and Israelis upbeat after PMs meet
Palestinian and Israeli politicians were in an uncharacteristically positive mood yesterday after the meeting on Thursday night between their prime ministers.

The Conflict Will Never End, But the Violence Might
Bush's road map may lead to a messy but workable hybrid solution. There is one truth about Israelis and Palestinians which holds out some hope for the future.

Abbas Pulls Out of 'road Map' Meeting
The Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, has pulled out of Israeli-Palestinian talks on the US-driven "road map" announced earlier today by his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon. Mr Abbas cited "scheduling difficulties", but the cancellation of the meeting, which was to be held...

Israeli cabinet vote fails to convince Palestinians that Sharon is serious
The days of choreographed diplomacy that culminated in yesterday's vote by Ariel Sharon's cabinet to accept the US-led "road map" to end the Middle East conflict have failed to persuade the Palestinians that George Bush is committed to his own plan for peace.

Snubbed Abu Mazen aide quits
The Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, has resigned after being excluded from tonight's talks between the new Palestinian prime minister and Ariel Sharon, the first such high-level discussions in nearly two years.

Villagers fear being forced out by being locked in
The mayor of Azzun Atma, a Palestinian village on the West Bank, traced his finger through the air to outline the path of the barrier which will encircle his village - around the school and carving through the olive groves. He said it was a strange thing to try to force people out by shutting them in.

Sharon Rejects Us Pressure on Settlements
Israel will not surrender sovereignty of Jewish towns to Palestinian state, PM warns before Washington talks on Middle East peace deal.

Sharon set to frustrate US
Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, is expected to be told that Israel is willing to dismantle up to 12 illegal outposts and ease some travel restrictions on Palestinians when he meets Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today.

Road to Nowhere
The 'road map' for peace between Israel and the Palestinians stands little chance of success unless the international community is willing to enforce compliance, writes Brian Whitaker.

Peace map unites families at war
David Metzer thought he had bought a dream home in the summer of 2000. Large and comfortable, it has beautiful views over terraced valleys and the Palestinian towns of Beit Jala and Bethlehem.

US releases 'road map' amid underlying tensions
The United States yesterday released the long-awaited "road map" towards a Middle East peace settlement with the creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state within three years.

EU redirects aid in effort to stimulate economy
The European Union is to refocus the way it dispenses millions of euros of aid to the Palestinians to help prevent economic collapse and support reform efforts.

Both Sides Out of Step on Long Road to Peace
Palestinians demand an Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories. Israel demands an end to violence first. Can the deadlock be broken?

Middle East Leaders Await Peace 'road Map'
Palestinian and Israeli leaders are to receive the US-backed "road map" to peace today, just hours after a suicide bomber killed himself and three bystanders in Tel Aviv. The attack in Tel Aviv came as a United Nations envoy announced the delivery of the long-awaited road map, after the...

Suicide bomber kills two in Tel Aviv
A suicide bomber wrecked a Tel Aviv bar early today, killing at least two and wounding dozens more, just hours after the Palestinian parliament approved the government of Mahmoud Abbas and he spoke against violence.

New Palestinian Pm Pledges End to 'chaos'
Palestinian prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas today pledged to end "armed chaos" as he urged MPs to approve his cabinet and open the way to a lasting peace. "There is no room for weapons except in the hands of the government," Mr Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, told a milestone...

I won't travel until Arafat can, says PM-to-be
The Palestinian prime minster designate, Mahmoud Abbas, has said he will turn down invitations to Washington DC and other foreign cities until Yasser Arafat is given freedom of movement by the Israelis.

Peace Among Palestinians is the First Step on the Road
The split between Arafat and Abu Mazen is not the only faultline that must be overcome. Not for the first time, the Palestinians have been forgotten. All the international angst over the road map to Middle East peace has focused on the other players in the drama, with diplomats and commentators frantically looking for clues in Washington and Jerusalem.

The Road Map to Peace
Sally Bolton and Simon Jeffery explain how a last minute agreement on the Palestinian cabinet could spell peace in Israel.

Bomb challenge for Palestinian PM to be
Palestinian militants yesterday delivered a direct challenge to the new Palestinian government when a suicide bomber killed a security guard at an Israeli train station.

Suicide Bomber Hits Rush Hour Station
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up at a crowded train station in central Israel today, killing a security guard who tried to prevent him from entering the station. The bomb wounded 13 bystanders during the busy morning rush hour in the town of Kfar Saba. Medics said that at...

Arafat yields in battle over new cabinet
The Palestinian prime minister designate declared a new era for his people yesterday after he triumphed in a power struggle with Yasser Arafat.

Breakthrough As Palestinian Cabinet Agreed
The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, and the prime minister-designate, Mahmoud Abbas, today overcame an impasse over the composition of the new Palestinian cabinet in a potential breakthrough for the Middle East peace process. A senior Palestinian aide, Tayeb Abdul-Rahim, said that Mr...

Arafat proves to be a hard act to follow - and to negotiate with
The future of the Middle East peace process hung in the balance yesterday after the Palestinian prime minister designate stormed out of a discussion with Yasser Arafat and threatened to abandon the premiership before even taking up the post.

Tank captain admits firing on media hotel
A US army captain has admitted that an Abrams tank under his command fired on the Palestine hotel in Baghdad, killing two journalists, but said he had not been told that the hotel was home to the international press.

Palestinian Minister Demands Abbas Release
The Palestinian Authority today demanded that the US release a Palestinian faction leader reportedly seized by its special forces in Baghdad last night. Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said that Abu Abbas, who masterminded the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, was...

US neglect casts dark shadow over a city without light or much love for the invaders
In the darkness of unelectrified Baghdad at night, one of the brightest spots is the Palestine Hotel, where, from generator-powered floodlit marquees on the roof, the American TV networks report around the clock on their military forces' operations in the Iraqi capital.

Don't Hold Your Breath
Hopes for Middle East peacemaking are premature. Neither Sharon nor Bush is going to deliver what's needed. For once the outlook seems almost sunny. In a conflict where a change in prospects is usually from bleak to bleaker, the Israeli-Palestinian struggle has suddenly begun sprouting apparent green shoots of possibility.

Arafat jeopardises peace by rejecting new cabinet
Yasser Arafat has angrily rejected his prime minister's proposed cabinet, a reaction which endangers the whole process of Palestinian reform demanded by the international community.

Sharon Softens Stance on Palestine
Leader suggests Israel will trade settlements for peace.

Playground bombing injures 20 Palestinians
A bomb, which may have been planted by Jewish extremists, exploded in a West Bank school playground yesterday, injuring 20 Palestinian children.

Sanctioning Sharon
As the pro-war and anti-war camps are holding their summits, a consensus is emerging in Europe - including Britain - that the "road map" for peace in the Middle East would be a futile exercise without some "teeth". Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation may prove to be the glue that reunites the fractious Euro-Atlantic structures.

Jews Settle in Palestinian Jerusalem
Ariel Sharon has brushed aside an appeal by the White House to stop an unprecedented move by Jewish settlers into a Palestinian district of Jersualem which his critics say will further hinder a political settlement. After more than two years of legal and political wrangling, Mr Sharon's...

Sharon Made Safe By Belgian Vote on War Crime Law
The attempt by Palestinians to have the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, tried in Belgium for war crimes seems to have been finally ruled out by a Belgian parliamentary vote to water down the contentious legislation involved. The law, which gives judges the right to hear cases of war...

Weary defiance on West Bank
He may be facing his last desperate days in Baghdad, weakened, beleaguered and isolated as American and British forces close in, but Saddam Hussein remains as much a hero to Palestinians as he ever was. They celebrated every Scud missile that streaked across the West Bank sky en route for Tel Aviv in 1991 and they long for a repeat performance.

Activist's Memorial Service Disrupted
Israeli forces fired teargas and stun grenades yesterday in an attempt to break up a memorial service for Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist killed by an army bulldozer in Gaza on Sunday. Witnesses including several dozen foreigners and Palestinian supporters say Israeli armoured...

Arafat Forced to Give Up Most Powers to New Pm
PLO leader takes back seat. Now pressure is on Bush to release 'road map' that will lead to Palestinian statehood.

Israeli Wall to Encircle Palestine
Sharon accused of turning territories into huge prison.

Concessions of a Dangerous Mind
While Tony Blair may believe he has transformed President Bush's thinking on the Israeli-Palestinian peace plan, Ariel Sharon can remain confident that nothing has really changed, says Brian Whitaker.

No independent Palestine, Sharon insists
Israel is to press George Bush to eliminate all reference to an "independent" Palestinian state from the US "road map" to a political settlement, which he promised on Friday to release soon.

Palestinians caged in beach paradise
Bush's unveiling of a 'road map' for Middle East peace will bring hope to Arabs fenced in by Israel. Conal Urquhart reports from Al Mawasi in the Gaza Strip.

Ten Palestinians Killed in West Bank Raids
Israeli forces in the West Bank killed 10 Palestinians, at least eight of whom were thought to be Islamic militants, in two separate gun battles in the last 24 hours. Backed by helicopter gunships and tanks, Israeli troops this morning killed five gunmen from the Islamic Jihad group in a...

International roundup
Israeli soldiers and a helicopter killed two Jewish guards in a botched ambush laid for Palestinian gunmen near the West Bank city of Hebron yesterday.

Violence in the Shadows
What impact will the coming war in Iraq have on the long-running one between Israel and Palestine? We're all so fixated with the Middle East war that's about to begin, we've stopped looking at the one that never seems to end.

4pm Update
The Palestinian parliament is meeting today to create the new position of prime minister although officials said the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, will retain the final word on security and peace negotiations. Mahmoud Abbas, Mr Arafat's longtime deputy, will be appointed as prime...

Arafat names Oslo peace pact architect as PM
Yasser Arafat bowed to international pressure yesterday by appointing a credible prime minister, nominating his deputy in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Mahmoud Abbas.

Neglect of the Palestinian plight is risky and wrong
What price a new American-Israeli primacy in the Middle East? So anxious are we about the coming war in the Middle East that we sometimes overlook the one that is already going on.

The only question was when revenge would come. At dawn, it came to Jabaliya
Naji Abu Jalila paid a high price for the murders in Haifa. The young Palestinian fireman had no hand in the suicide bombing hundreds of miles away that prompted Israeli forces to tear into a Gaza refugee camp in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Revenge Comes to Jabaliya
Three young boys among the dead after Israeli tanks enter Palestinian refugee camp

Controversy Over Gaza Raid Deaths
An Israeli raid on a refugee camp in Gaza that followed a suicide bomb attack today left 11 Palestinians dead and more than 110 injured. Eight of those killed in the Palestinian camp of Jabalya, Gaza - among them three Palestinian boys aged 12, 13 and 14 - died in disputed circumstances...

Misleading or misled?
Either George Bush is being deliberately duplicitous on the Palestinian question or he is very badly informed, says Simon Tisdall

Billionaire in frame for top PLO post
A Palestinian billionaire with a home in St John's Wood, London, has emerged as the latest candidate to be the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

Is This the End for a Palestinian State?
Sharon's new coalition may kill two-state solution.

Foreigners bring in the harvest and the wounded
Among the most active groups organising foreign volunteers in the Palestinian territories is the International Solidarity Movement, which brings hundreds to the region every year.

Welsh Pensioner Turns Freedom Fighter
Ex-bank manager defends Palestinian suicide bombers.

Sharon in Palestine State U-turn
Ariel Sharon yesterday virtually ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state under his hawkish new government just a day after President Bush pledged to broker a peace deal once he has dealt with Iraq. Hours before his cabinet was sworn in, the prime minister revealed to the knesset...

Sharon sacks Netanyahu to smooth US ties
Ariel Sharon sacked his arch rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, as foreign minister yesterday in a move apparently aimed at reassuring the United States that the hawkish new government being sworn in today is serious about reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

US Pledges Fresh Middle East Peace Push
President Bush last night promised a new US effort to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement after the fall of Saddam Hussein. He gave a "personal commitment" to implementing a "road map" to peace and he argued the fall of President Saddam's regime would provide an opportunity for...

Peace Hopes Sink As Sharon Rules Out Jerusalem Deal
The Israeli prime minster, Ariel Sharon, last night further entrenched his obstacles to a peace settlement by ruling out the division of Jerusalem or the return of Palestinian refugees from negotiations. His public objections came hours after it was revealed that Israel is demanding more...

Palestinians Head for Uk Talks After Travel Ban is Lifted
Israel has lifted its ban on Palestinian leaders travelling abroad before of a series of meetings beginning in London today aimed at nudging forward reform and the peace process. Under pressure from Europe and the US, the Palestinians will arrive armed with a pledge by Yasser Arafat to...

Arafat bows to pressure to appoint PM
Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, said yesterday that he would appoint a prime minister, after negotiations with international envoys.

Food Running Out in Gaza As Aid Appeal Fails
UN warns that warehouses feeding a million Palestinians will be bare in weeks because donations have dried up.

Patten Faces Battle Over Eu Funds for Palestinians
MEPs claim Brussels is paying for terrorist acts against Israel.

Sharon Calls for Unity Government
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, today called for a national unity government against what he described as the "murderous hatred" of Palestinian militants. The call came after his Likud party had secured a resounding election victory. However, Mr Sharon's efforts to form a...

Sharon anxious for Labour support
Ariel Sharon is to appeal to the defeated Labour party leader, Amram Mitzna, to join a national unity government by pledging its commitment to the American plan for a Palestinian state, following yesterday's general election.

Secular party touches nerve
The biggest winner of the Israeli elections is most likely to be Tommy Lapid and his aggressively secular Shinui party. Mr Lapid, a former journalist and the knesset's only survivor of the concentration camps, caught the imagination of a large sector of the Israeli electorate by not campaigning on the conflict with the Palestinians.

Sharon Derides Eu Peace Efforts
Ariel Sharon yesterday dismissed European peace efforts as anti-Israeli and said only the US matters in deciding the fate of the Palestinians. The prime minister's comments followed an interview with Newsweek magazine released yesterday in which he was asked about the efforts of the...

Palestinians promise major reforms
Defying a travel ban imposed by Israel, Palestinian leaders used a hastily arranged video link from Ramallah and Gaza yesterday to outline far-reaching plans for political reform, a democratic constitution, and a transparent budget.

At Last, a Fresh Idea
The Middle East conflict has become a byword for paralysis. But a new plan offers both sides a way forward. It was a forlorn image. Two Palestinian delegates facing not the British foreign secretary but a humble TV set.

Palestinian Reform Talks Go Ahead
International negotiators and a slimmed-down Palestinian delegation today met in London to discuss the progress of reforms to the Palestinian Authority. The meeting had been put in jeopardy when the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, imposed a travel ban on Palestinian officials after...

Downing Street Aims to Revive Middle East Conference
Downing Street and the Foreign Office were yesterday working on a plan to salvage a conference planned for next week to discuss reforms in the Palestinian Authority. With British-Israeli relations at their lowest point for years, the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, turned down a...

No 10 May Cancel Middle East Summit
Downing Street has conceded it may have to cancel its planned mini-summit on the Middle East after Israel banned Palestinian delegates from attending it, following dual suicide attacks in Tel Aviv last night. The meeting - to be held in London next week - was called by Tony Blair to move...

Palestinians Barred From Uk Peace Talks
Israel's cabinet today announced it would bar Palestinian officials from attending a meeting to discuss progress to an independent state in response to dual suicide attacks in Tel Aviv last night. The meeting - to be held next week in London - was called by the prime minister, Tony Blair,...

Sharon snubs Blair's peace summit
Ariel Sharon accused Tony Blair of "legitimising terrorists" by hosting a meeting of Palestinian leaders in London next week. Mr Blair called the summit last month in an attempt to breathe life into the Middle East peace process.

Israeli Army Kills Seven Palestinians
The Israeli army killed at least seven Palestinians in a series of "targeted assassinations" in the West Bank yesterday. Among the dead were a senior member of Islamic Jihad, the alleged head of a suicide bombing cell and three teenagers. The killings came as Israeli troops...

Arafat Calls Off Palestinian Elections
Decision masks radical shift in thinking on intifada.

Palestinian Radical Was Guest of Us Ambassador
A Palestinian radical with close links to the militant group Hamas was a guest of the US ambassador at a Ramadan reception in London, the Guardian can reveal. Azzam Tamimi, an associate of a senior Hamas official, was invited to the official residence in Regents Park by envoy William...

10 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Raid
Ten Palestinians were killed overnight in an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. Some of the deaths are thought to have ocurred when a helicopter fired a missile at a two-storey building in the Bureij camp. Others were killed in a gunfight that followed the incursion. Israel...

Sharon's Deal for Palestine: No Extra Land, No Army, No Arafat
Ariel Sharon has laid out his terms for Palestinian independence with a vision of an emasculated and demilitarised state built on less than half the land of the occupied territories, and without Yasser Arafat as its leader. Palestinian leaders swiftly denounced the proposals as unworkable...

Jerusalem Suicide Bombing Kills 10
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on a crowded bus in Jerusalem this morning, killing 10 passengers and wounding dozens. Many schoolchildren were on the bus, officials said. The bomber set off the explosives at about 7.10am local time (0510 GMT) as the bus halted at a stop in...

Kibbutz Unshaken in Pursuit of Utopia
Murders only increase community's belief in coexistence with Arabs. The cold-blooded murders of Revital Ohayon and her two young sons in their beds by a young Arab gunman last Sunday has not shaken Kibbutz Metzer's core belief in an independent Palestine.

Netanyahu's Power Play Clouds Us Relations
Israel's former and would-be next prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has alarmed Washington by repudiateing Ariel Sharon's agreements with the White House on the future of the Palestinians.

Sharon Faces Fresh Challenge
Ariel Sharon's minority government survived a series of no-confidence votes in the knesset last night, only to be confronted by a fresh challenge that left the hardline administration looking highly unstable. It clung to office only because a minority party opposed to a Palestinian state...

Suicide attacks 'are war crimes'
The international campaign group Human Rights Watch has accused suicide bombers of committing crimes against humanity by attacking Israeli civilians, and called for the leaders of the Palestinian factions responsible to face trial.

Costly frontier posts that broke the coalition's back
The Israeli Labour party chose well the issues that broke apart Ariel Sharon's coalition government yesterday: the ever expanding Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and money.

New Arafat Cabinet Sidelines Reformers
Yasser Arafat cajoled Palestinian legislators into approving his new cabinet yesterday by telling them that a vote against his choice of ministers was a vote for Israel and America. Had the ballot gone the other way, Mr Arafat would have had to consider drastic reform, as many legislators...

Commander charged with torturing Palestinian boy
An Israeli army commander has been relieved of his post after being charged with torturing a young Palestinian boy in Bethlehem while interrogating him as to the whereabouts of his father.

Peace hopes wilt among the olive branches
Jaacov Hayman begins with God when asked about the murder of the young Palestinian Hani Bani Minyeh as he ventured to his olive grove for the start of the annual harvest in Aqraba.

Harvest-time Killing Fuels Hatred Between Palestinians and Jewish Settlers
Harvest-time killing fuels hatred between Palestinians and Jewish settlers.

Woman Killed in Tel Aviv Suicide Blast
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in Tel Aviv today, killing an elderly woman and injuring four others. An Israeli bus driver and a paramedic today pinned the Palestinian suicide bomber to the ground and fled with other bystanders as the man detonated the explosives...

Against All the Odds Ipulls Guards Out of West Bank
Company acts after Guardian investigation reveals how armed patrols work with Israeli settlers to control Palestinians.

Oxfam Shuns £5,000 in Row Over Book
Oxfam has turned down a £5,000 donation from a distinguished professor of philosophy because it is linked to his latest book which defends the Palestinians' right to carry out suicide bombings and terrorist attacks. Ted Honderich, formerly Professor of Mind and Logic at University...

Group 4 Security Firm Pulls Guards Out of West Bank
Company acts after Guardian investigation reveals how armed patrols work with Israeli settlers to control Palestinians.

Aussies Snatch It at the Last
Israeli soldiers kill 10 Palestinians hine guns into Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where hundreds of people had gathered to learn about the fate of relatives. Four more people were wounded by army fire at the hospital, including a 14-year-old boy hit in the neck and a paramedic wounded in the...

Israeli Soldiers Kill 10 Palestinians
Violence again flared today in the Gaza Strip as Israeli soldiers made their deadliest raid for three months and the head of the Palestinian riot police was shot dead in mysterious circumstances. Masked men opened fire on Colonel Rageh Abu Lehiya's car in Gaza City, killing the police...

Former Mossad chief in secret peace talks with Palestinian official
The former head of Israel's intelligence service held secret talks with a senior Palestinian official six weeks ago in an attempt to curb the violence of the past two years.

Radical Israeli in u-turn on Palestinians
The radical Israeli historian who did more than any other to force his country to face up to its responsibility for the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the 1948 war now believes the Middle East might be at peace if David Ben-Gurion had expelled all the Palestinians.

Britain to Push for 'final' Middle East Talks This Year
Britain is to press for 'final status' negotiations on Israel and the Palestinian territories to be revived by the end of the year in an attempt to resolve the 54-year-old dispute, Tony Blair said yesterday.

Nothing Doing
A new Palestinian report on UN resolutions exposes the double standards at the heart of Bush's rationale for action against Iraq, says Brian Whitaker.

Soldier killed boy in cold blood, say British volunteers
A 13-year-old Palestinian boy was deliberately shot dead by an Israeli soldier without any provocation, say two British human rights volunteers who witnessed the incident.

Sharon under attack for Arafat strategy
Israel's top security chiefs see no wisdom in expelling Yasser Arafat from Palestinian territories, but the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, believes it is "unavoidable" if there are further suicide bombings, say well-informed Israeli sources.

How bombings ended Fatah talks
Hardline Palestinian factions and Yasser Arafat's more moderate Fatah movement held a fierce debate on ending all suicide attacks inside Israel until last week's bombings brought the talks to an abrupt and bloody halt, The Observer has learnt.

Tel Aviv Bus Bomb Shatters Hopes of Truce
Israel sent tanks back into Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah last night and heavy machine-gun fire was heard a few hours after a Palestinian activist detonated a shrapnel-filled bomb in Tel Aviv, killing five people and wounding more than fifty others. The military action was ordered...

Saudis Recall Controversial Ambassador
The controversial Saudi ambassador to Britain, Dr Ghazi Algosaibi, who this year published a poem in praise of a Palestinian suicide bomber, has been recalled to Riyadh and made minister of water. His removal from the post which he has held for 10 years is seen by Saudi observers as a...

Arafat Cabinet Resigns to Avoid Vote of Confidence
Yasser Arafat suffered one of the biggest humiliations of his up-and-down career yesterday when his government was forced to resign to avoid a parliamentary vote of confidence. Although the Palestinian leader has repeatedly been driven into a corner by Israel, and still lives in a...

Defiant Arafat asserts his authority
Palestinian leader insists on January elections, putting pressure on Israel to lift curfews. The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, defied American and Israeli efforts to declare him irrelevant by appearing yesterday before the Palestinian parliament, confirming that elections will be held in January, and making little mention of reforms.

Jail monitors vow to remain in West Bank
A joint British-US mission watching over Jericho jail, in the West Bank, is to remain in place in spite of alleged security threats by Palestinians over the last few weeks.

Breakthrough on Peace Deal Now Possible: Sharon
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, last night signalled for the first time that a breakthrough towards peace with the Palestinians was possible after a month of relative quiet on the Palestinian side. Mr Sharon has throughout his career hit the Palestinians hard in a series of...

Cabinet split on Arafat's travel ban
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is refusing to allow Yasser Arafat to return if he leaves the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as part of a policy to destroy the credibility of the Palestinian leader.

Our Man's Lonely Search for a Middle East Ceasefire
Britain's main contribution to the Middle East peace process, an MI6 agent, Alastair Crooke, is engaged in behind-the-scenes discussions with Palestinian factions to secure a ceasefire.

Helicopter raid kills five Palestinians in West Bank
Israeli helicopter gunships yesterday attacked a car and a house at a village near Jenin in the West Bank, killing five Palestinians, two of them children.

Palestinian Factions Ready to Plot New Course United Under Arafat
Leaked papers say militants will end attacks in Israel.

Jewish comic bars 'Palestinian' warm-up
Arab-Americans accused the popular Jewish comedian Jackie Mason of "hate and racism" yesterday after a stand-up comic scheduled to be his warm-up act was told he could not perform because he was Palestinian.

We Must Destroy Palestinian Threat, Army Chief Says
The newly appointed Israeli chief of staff, Lieutenant-General Moshe Yaalon, is urging a decisive victory to destroy the "cancer-like" threat posed by the Palestinians. Israeli leftwingers criticised his blunt assessment of the danger, saying he had overstepped the mark separating the...

Peter Beaumont: Abu Nidal Sows Chaos From the Grave
Peter Beaumont examines the savage life and strange death of the Palestinian terrorist who is again in the frame for Lockerbie.

Palestinians thrash out tactics
Palestinian factions, including the militant group Hamas, met again in Gaza City last night to agree a common strategy in their fight against Israel.

Mystery of Abu Nidal's death deepens
The questions about Abu Nidal's death multiplied yesterday when the Palestinian guerrilla leader's organisation dismissed Iraqi claims that he committed suicide and alleged that he had been assassinated.

Pro-Palestinian congresswoman ousted
One of the most controversial figures in the US Congress, Cynthia McKinney, was effectively booted out of Washington yesterday when she lost a primary for re-election in her home state of Georgia after a bitter campaign that focused heavily on her support for Palestinian causes.

Palestine's Partisans
The unquenchable defiance of the Palestinian people inspired the furious speech from the dock last week by the handcuffed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti.

Abu Nidal 'found Dead' in Baghdad
Abu Nidal, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, has been found dead in his Baghdad home according to senior Palestinian sources. The body of the militant leader was found with gunshot wounds in his residence in Baghdad, confirming a report in the Palestinian Al-Ayyam newspaper today...

Mandela to observe Fatah leader's trial
In a major embarrassment to Israel, Nelson Mandela has agreed to observe the trial of a Palestinian leader formally indicted yesterday on charges of murder and terrorism.

Israeli Court Stops Expulsion of Palestinians
Israel's supreme court yesterday ordered the Israeli army to delay expelling to Gaza three relatives of West Bank Palestinians who were suspected of organising and planning suicide bombings in Israel. In the on-again, off-again case which has pitted human rights groups against the army,...

Suzanne Goldenberg: 'It's gone beyond hostility'
After two and a half years in Jerusalem, the Guardian's award-winning Middle East correspondent is moving to a new post in Washington. Here she looks back on the desperate violence she has witnessed during the intifada and reflects on how both Palestinians and Israelis have been brutalised by the experience.

Suspects beaten near minister
An unusual exercise in fact-finding backfired when it emerged yesterday that the Israeli attorney-general, Elyakim Rubinstein, was nearby as soldiers badly beat a Palestinian child and two men at an Israeli checkpoint in Ramallah last week.

US Sidesteps Leadership Question in Talks With Palestinian Ministers
The Palestinian Authority will refuse to countenance Yasser Arafat's removal from power, Palestinian ministers insisted yesterday as they held their first talks with the US government since President George Bush called for him to go. Though the issue was sidestepped last night at a...

Israeli 'restraint' Still Means Terror for the Palestinians
Curfews, shootings and house demolitions happen daily. It is hard to know which is more shocking: the mound of rubble in the centre of Jenin, which local residents call "ground zero", or the hole in Gaza city where an aircraft dropped a one-tonne bomb and flattened a house.

Yitzhak Frankenthal: I would have done the same
My son was killed by a Palestinian fighter. But Israel's occupation is to blame for his death. My beloved son Arik, my own flesh and blood, was murdered by Palestinians. My tall, blue-eyed, golden-haired son who was always smiling with the innocence of a child and the understanding of an adult.

Time for a rethink
If the issue of an academic boycott of Israeli universities becomes more interesting than the suffering of Palestinians, it is time to think of a new campaign strategy, says Gargi Bhattacharya.

For hire: the boy human shields in Gaza's most desperate town
Palestinian children tout for risky work at border as Israel's tightening grip creates poverty and hunger. Every day Usama Khalid jumps into a car or taxi queuing at an Israeli checkpoint, travels 300 yards, and gets one shekel for the trip. The 11-year-old Palestinian is an officially sanctioned human shield.

UN Report Rejects Claims of Jenin Massacre
A UN report into the fighting in the Jenin refugee camp will reject Palestinian claims of an Israeli massacre, but will criticise both sides for putting civilian lives at risks, western diplomats said today. The violence in the camp came during an Israeli offensive in the West Bank,...

Bomber Hits Jerusalem Felafel Stand
A teenage suicide bomber blew himself up at a felafel stand in Jerusalem yesterday, the third attack by Palestinian militants in eight hours. The bombing, which injured two members of the family which owns the popular shop and three passers-by, came only hours after two Jewish settlers,...

Sharon accused of shattering ceasefire
New details of a proposed ceasefire deal - and an end to suicide bombing attacks on Israeli civilians - approved by all the main Palestinian factions have emerged amid Palestinian accusations that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon deliberately approved the bombing of a Gaza apartment block to prolong the conflict.

Gunmen kill four settlers in road attacks
Hebron shootings claim three family members, including a child, as fury rages over Gaza raid. Palestinian guerrillas struck for the second time in as many days yesterday, killing four Israeli settlers in two separate attacks on a road near the West Bank Palestinian town of Hebron.

The suicide bombers who play into Sharon's hands
The Palestinians have a lethal weapon - but it harms them too. John Sununu was chief of staff at the White House when Secretary of State James Baker and the first President George Bush came the closest any American administration has ever come to causing an Israeli government real pain.

A hard man to pin down
Yesterday the press came to nail Blair, but he evaded them. Now he must show us what he's really made of. What will history make of the man? As parliament broke until October, there he stood at his second prime ministerial press conference bestriding the nation - to say nothing of Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Palestine and all of Africa.

As Palestinians bury their children, there is only one thought: revenge
Relatives of dead sound warning to Israel after attack on Gaza homes. The injured children of the Huweiti clan were stacked two to a bed, bandaged head to shattered limb, when the funeral procession for the 15 Palestinians killed by Israeli F-16 warplanes set off from Shifa hospital yesterday.

Sharon Hails Raid As Great Success
Israel faced searing international criticism yesterday after an airstrike which tore into a teeming neighbourhood of Gaza City, killing a Palestinian militant leader as well as nine children.

A Matter of Time
July 18: It has taken the IRA 30 years to apologise. Let us hope it does not take the Israelis and Palestinians so long, writes Simon Tisdall.

A fading dream turns into a nightmare
Vulnerable Orthodox Israeli settlement mourns its dead. The baby boy born to Yehudit Weinberg after the devastating bus ambush by Palestinian militants lived for just nine hours.

Premature Baby Becomes Eighth Bus Ambush Fatality
A premature Israeli baby delivered by emergency Caesarean section after yesterday's ambush of a bus by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank, died today. The baby boy, whose mother remains in a serious condition, was believed to be the youngest victim of more than 21 months of Middle East...

EU Ready to Aid Palestinian Election
The European Union is trying to paper over differences with the United States on the Middle East crisis and is preparing to assume a large-scale role in monitoring elections to a reformed Palestinian authority. Underlining this effort, the EU announced yesterday that its foreign policy...

Cash-for-reform Plan As Middle East Talks Resume
A new push for Middle East peace will take place in London tomorrow when the Quartet group meets to discuss pouring tens of millions of pounds into the beleaguered Palestinian authority.

Shlomi Segall: Why I won't serve Sharon
It is remarkable how easily one learns to live with occupation. When I was born, the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories was already three years old.

Arafat Engulfed in Sackings Row
The Palestinian leadership said it upheld the sacking of three key security chiefs yesterday, but Yasser Arafat's slow-moving and opaque decision-making on the issue cast doubts on his ability to deliver sweeping reforms. After 48 hours of confusion and rancour, it finally became clear...

CNN steers clear of bombers' videos
CNN has imposed restrictions on the broadcasting of video messages taped by suicide bombers, after Israeli critics accused it of sustained sympathy with the Palestinian cause.

Palestinian Elections to Be Held Next Year
Presidential and parliamentary elections to the Palestinian Authority will be held early in 2003, it was announced today. Two days after the US president, George Bush, called on Palestinians to elect a new leader, Saeb Erakat, a Palestinian cabinet minister, indicated a probable date for...

Sharon launches massive Gaza onslaught
Militants warn of suicide bomb reprisals. Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon warned yesterday that the killing of six Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four members of Hamas, one of them a senior leader, was the beginning of a massive military operation against the Islamic militant faction in Gaza.

Both sides see signs of a breakthrough
Hardliners feel resentment at US interference. The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon , echoed President Bush's call for a new Palestinian leadership.

'Palestinians must elect new leaders'
Extracts from President Bush's speech: For too long, the citizens of the Middle East have lived in fear. The hatred of a few holds the hopes of many hostage.... For the sake of all humanity, things must change _ It is untenable for Israeli citizens to live in terror. It is untenable for Palestinians to live in squalor and occupation.

They come here to live... and, if God wills it, to die
Jewish settlers have borne the brunt of recent terror attacks. Yet still they cling on to occupied Palestinian land, blocking moves towards peace. Peter Beaumont finds out why they are so determined to stay.

'It is nice to be killed while killing'
Palestinian family wonder why their quiet son turned to murder. Pictures of Mohammed al-Ghoul, the suicide bomber who blew himself up on Tuesday in a Jerusalem commuter bus packed with children and students, show a studious looking young man.

David Clark: What a pity that Cherie isn't PM
She is only saying what most of us think about the Middle East. The only exceptional thing about Cherie Blair's observations on the motives of Palestinian suicide bombers is that anyone should have considered them exceptional.

Palestinian Reforms Have Multitude of Motives
David Hirst in Beirut on the essentials for a revival of the peace process.

The Men Behind the Suicide Bombers
The willingness of Palestinians to serve as human bombs is a powerful social phenomenon, but none of the 56 suicide bombings of the past 20 months were solo operations.

Sharon Wins Us Backing for Reform-before-talks Demand
President George Bush yesterday backed Israel's demand that the Palestinian leadership be overhauled before meaningful peace talks can begin. The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, met the US president at the White House while Israeli troops were laying siege to the Ramallah...

Sharon's iron fist fails to stem the bloodshed
Palestinian gunmen penetrated the West Bank settlement of Karmei Tzur, near Hebron, yesterday, mounting an attack which left three Israelis dead and six wounded.

Hanan Ashrawi: Reforming from within
The current push for changes in the Palestinian political process is neither new nor externally motivated.

Sharon Will Fly to Us to Head Off Peace Plan
Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is due to fly to Washington at the weekend in an attempt to head off the declaration of a US peace plan that would set a timetable for the creation of a viable Palestinian state, diplomats in Washington said yesterday. The announcement of Mr Sharon's...

Palestinians Ignore Court Call to Free Faction Leader
The Palestinian Cabinet last night countermanded the decision of its own supreme court to release a Palestinian faction leader held under British and American guard. Israel had vowed harsh retribution yesterday if Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the leftwing Popular Front for the Liberation...

Britain Attacks 'reoccupation' of West Bank
Britain has accused Israel of, in effect, reoccupying the West Bank and splitting Palestinian land into fenced-off 'cantons'. The process of establishing 'security separation zones' controlling the movement of all people and goods has been condemned by senior Foreign Office officials and...

Alternative peace talks proposed
Israelis and Palestinians should consider setting up a "joint shadow government for peace" if official talks continue to remain blocked, the Israeli participants in the Guardian-sponsored dialogue suggested yesterday.

Good Friday provides a guide - not a rulebook
Northern Ireland political leaders yesterday urged Israelis and Palestinians not to give up trying to end violence in the Middle East but to take heart from just how far the Irish peace process has come in the past few years.

Jewish woman accused of aiding suicide bomb attack
Marina Pinsky's oddity as the sole Jewish resident of the squalid Deheishe refugee camp turned to notoriety yesterday when she was accused of transporting Palestinian suicide bombers.

World urged to help break the deadlock
The Palestinians at the Weston Park talks yesterday urged the international community, especially the US, to intervene to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, just as they had in Northern Ireland.

Secret Middle East Talks in Britain
Israelis and Palestinians have met in Britain to hold their highest-level talks since the failed Taba meetings of January 2001. Key figures in the Northern Ireland peace process were brought in for the first time to advise the belligerent parties. In three days of discussions, hosted by...

Sharon Accused of Undermining Us Peace Moves
New initiative announced as Palestinian and Israeli share platform in Guardian debate announce new initiative.

The Middle East: the Way Forward
In a Guardian debate, entitled Israel/Palestine: the way forward, two key mediators in the Middle East conflict today implored the international community to re-engage with the peace process and identified common ground which to build a new accord.

Yoav Peled: Was Barak telling the truth?
The ex-PM's disparagement of the Palestinians began long ago.

Lying is Cultural Trait of Arabs, Says Barak
Palestinians have no compunction about telling lies and see truth as irrelevant, the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak has claimed in an interview. "They are products of a culture in which to tell a lie... creates no dissonance," Mr Barak says. "They don't suffer from the problem...

New Beginnings for Bethlehem 12
All but one of the Palestinian militants exiled by Israel leave Cyprus for secret locations in six EU host countries.

Suicide Bomber Kills Two in Day of Violence
Fears of major upsurge in conflict as blast follows assassination of leading Palestinian militant by Israeli tank.

UN to Feed 500,000 Needy Palestinians
Amid signs of hunger and malnutrition in the West Bank and Gaza, the UN World Food Programme launched an emergency operation yesterday to help feed half a million of the most needy Palestinians. Growing numbers of families in the Israeli-occupied territories are being forced to skip meals...

Son of Palestinian Leader Killed By Car Bomb
The son of radical Palestinian guerrilla leader Ahmed Jibril was killed today in a Beirut car bombing, a Lebanese television station reported. Jihad Jibril, the 40-year-old son of the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (LPGC), was killed in the...

Bound in By Red Tape
Israeli bureaucracy seems designed to cow the Palestinian population into docility, but mostly has the opposite effect, writes Brian Whitaker.

Confusion Over Asylum Deal for Exiles
The final details surrounding a deal giving asylum in EU countries to the 13 Palestinian militants expelled from Israel last week after abandoning Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity appeared to have been agreed last night. Those that refused to take them, including Britain, were accused of turning...

Suzanne Goldenberg: Ambulance Driving in Palestine
Being an ambulance driver is one of the most dangerous jobs a Palestinian can do. Long delays at road blocks - putting the critically ill, pregnant mothers and babies at mortal risk - have been commonplace for some time, but since the Israeli army invaded the West Bank in March, ambulances have regularly come under fire. Suzanne Goldenberg reports.

Arafat Calls for Palestinian Elections
Yasser Arafat today called for fresh elections and political reform in an address to the Palestinian parliament. The Palestinian leader told MPs that the damage caused by Israeli's recent military operations on the West Bank had necessitated some changes. "Our internal situation...

EU countries agree to take in exiles
Six EU countries pledged yesterday to take in 13 Palestinian militants exiled by Israel, but asked for more time as they struggled with the complex legal and practical implications of the unprecedented deal.

Sharon Loses Key Vote to Rightwing
Likud opts to reject forever creation of state for Palestinians.

Peter Beaumont: Focus: How a British Coup Ended Siege
Complex diplomatic steps choreographed by Britain found a way out of the impasse created by the incessant bloodshed between Israelis and Palestinians, reports Peter Beaumont.

Church Siege Ending After 39 Days
· 13 Palestinians to be exiled
· Europe to take militants
· Israel prepares new action

Palestinians want reforms, too, but not on US and Israeli terms
There can hardly be a Palestinian in the West Bank or Gaza who is not desperate for an overhaul of Yasser Arafat's corrupt and paralysed administration. But they want no part of the reforms being preached by President George Bush and Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon.

Palestinians Arrest 16 After Pool Hall Bombing
· Israeli cabinet approves retaliation
· Offensive on Gaza predicted
· New impasse at Bethlehem siege

'Irritated' Italy under pressure to take in Palestinians
Italy was under pressure last night from the Vatican and the United States to agree to take in the 13 Palestinian militants, but rightwing members of the coalition government were resisting in the name of injured national pride and anti-terrorism.

Sharon puts Washington on the spot
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, went out of his way to embarrass the divided US administration yesterday, openly thanking the Americans for scuttling the proposed UN investigation of Palestinian deaths in the West Bank town of Jenin.

Bethlehem Siege Enters Endgame
· Disagreement over deporting of Palestinians
· Sharon in Washington for talks
· Pro-Israel rally in London

End to Bethlehem Siege in Sight
The siege of the Church of the Nativity entered its final hours last night for the 120 Palestinians trapped in its dank confines for 34 days as Palestinian officials said they had brokered a deal to end the standoff. The parameters of the deal - under which Palestinians wanted by Israel...

War-weary Palestinians losing faith in Arafat's leadership
As the West Bank counts its dead, the President's jaded rhetoric is wearing thin, reports Graham Usher in Ramallah.

Britons in Manger Square Aid Effort
Four British peace campaigners were among the activists who slipped through Israeli barricades to take food and other supplies to the besieged Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on Thursday evening. Up to 200 civilians and about 30 armed Palestinians have been holding out in the church...

Palestinian shot dead as church standoff worsens
A deadly standoff in Bethlehem gathered in intensity yesterday when soldiers shot dead one Palestinian at the gate of the Church of the Nativity, and a group of peace activists sprinted into the shrine.

Deal Agreed on Palestinian Suspects
· Handover in exchange for Arafat release
· Israeli fire 'kills' 2-year-old
· Two more leave Church of Nativity

26 Palestinians leave besieged church
Another 26 Palestinians left the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem yesterday under the eye of the Israeli gunners who laid siege a month ago.

Ahmad Samih Khalidi: Sharon is taking us back to 1948
The prospect of a two-state solution has faded - Israel and the Palestinians are now digging in for all-out existential war.

'Palestinians Killed' in Hebron Attack
Israeli forces invaded the West Bank city of Hebron this morning, reportedly killing seven Palestinians, just as Israel's large-scale military operation in the West Bank appeared to be drawing to a close. The tanks moved in from four directions and occupied more than half of the...

Schools, banks and a puppet theatre trashed
Palestinians say Israel has wrecked the infrastructure of their emerging state by systematically demolishing key installations in Ramallah.

Nine 'teenagers' Leave Church of Nativity
Nine young Palestinians today left the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, where more than 200 people have been sheltering in a three-week standoff with Israeli troops at one of Christianity's holiest sites. The nine were the largest group to leave the basilica since the standoff began. A...

Four Palestinians Jailed for Zeevi Murder
A Palestinian court has convicted and sentenced four Palestinians for the killing of Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi, a spokesman for the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, said today. A makeshift court inside Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah - where security officers acted as...

Children Become the New Martyrs of Gaza
A tragic new twist was added to the Middle East conflict when three 14-year-old Palestinian classmates were buried in Gaza yesterday after mounting a futile attack that ended with them being shot dead by Israeli soldiers. They were victims of a disturbing trend among Palestinian children...

Bethlehem Siege: Two Surrender
Two Palestinians besieged in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem today surrendered, while another was shot and seriously wounded by Israeli soldiers, as a second day of negotiations to end the deadlock were beginning. Palestinian and Israeli witnesses said that the injured man was...

Amid the rotting corpses, talks begin
Israel and Palestinians seek compromise allowing Church of Nativity gunmen to be deported.

More Britons support Palestinians, says poll
British voters who say they are more sympathetic towards the Palestinians outnumber by a factor of two to one those who say they support Israel, according to the findings of this month's Guardian/ICM opinion poll.

Joe Ahmed-Dobson and Ajmal Masroor: British Muslims feel betrayed
Equivocation over Palestinian suffering will have long-term consequences.

Brutal, Yes. Massacre, No
Focus: The Observer's Peter Beaumont reports on the struggle to find out what really happened in Jenin. There is mounting evidence of the suffering inflicted on Palestinian civilians, but there was no massacre in the camp.

'I saw three men shot. They surrendered but were still killed'
Palestinian perspective: Said Masoud pointed to the graffiti on the wall of his ruined home to explain why he believes the Israeli army attacked Jenin refugee camp. "We are here because you are terrorists," it says in Hebrew.

Niall O'Dowd: Irish lessons in peace
The one constant of the troubles in Ireland, Israel and Palestine is that the more a security solution is sought, the less secure the parties in the region become.

Helicopter Pilot 'refused Order to Blast Palestinian House'
An Israeli helicopter gunship pilot reportedly refused to fire a missile at a Palestinian house, the latest sign of growing unease among some Israeli troops over the conduct of the fighting in Palestinian cities of the West Bank. The rightwing Israeli newspaper Hatzofeh said the Apache...

Parallel Universes
Most of the world sees Palestinians as the victims, but in Israel and the US events are given a different meaning.

TV news biased against Palestinians, says study
British television news is routinely biased towards the Israeli view of the conflict, according to academic research.

Uri Avnery: Immortal heroes of Jenin
Sharon's war is not only failing to bring Israelis security, it is laying the foundations of a new Palestinian nation and state.

EU ministers back US peace moves
The EU will today back US attempts to secure a Middle East ceasefire, but will also consider options for action against Israel if it does not withdraw from Palestinian areas.

Nablus victims rejoin the living
An elderly Palestinian couple were restored to life after eight days among the dead, entombed in the rubble of a home demolished by Israeli army bulldozers - the unlikely survivors of the deadliest single episode of Israel's crushing military offensive.

The roots of Palestinian despair
It is the Palestinian experience of the "peace process" which has given majority support for what was a rejectionist minority. For calls to 'stop the violence' to succeeed, this time there will need to be a political process which offers a genuine end to powerlessness and despair.

The toll after two weeks of mayhem
Deaths: Palestinian: Up to 200 confirmed dead, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Others estimate 500 Palestinians have been killed. Israeli military claims 15 of those killed were key fugitives

The Problem is Too Little History, Not Too Much
Israelis and Palestinians are both guilty of simplifying the past.

Toll of the bloody battle of Jenin
Suzanne Goldenberg in the West Bank town that has seen a 'victory' for militiamen bought at the terrible price of 13 Israelis and 100 Palestinians dead.

Grim respite in Nablus reveals casbah toll
The stench of blood and rotting corpses carried far beyond the green mosque where the bodies were laid out, tightly wedged together like firewood: young men, perhaps Palestinian fighters, and those with the sagging paunch of middle age.

World Bank to West Bank
The movement written off after September 11 is demonstrating its worth in Palestine.

Get out now, US tells defiant Sharon
The US responded with mounting anger yesterday as Ariel Sharon stepped up Israel's military offensive against Palestinian cities on the West Bank, in open defiance of an appeal from President Bush for an immediate withdrawal to begin.

'I don't want to be here... but what would you do?'
On the streets of Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers and West Bank Palestinians caught up in the same dehumanising spiral of violence talk about their plight.

'I was used as a human shield'
Mohamed Iscafi is director of a Palestinian medical charity in Ramallah. He and 10 volunteers were in his clinic in the city centre last Sunday when a battle started between Palestinian gunmen in the building next door and the Israeli army in the street.

'America has no credibility'
Few plaudits for Bush speech. Reaction in Palestinian cities to Mr Bush's speech was marked by hostility and scepticism. In Hebron Khalid Amayreh, an independent journalist and commentator, poured scorn on the plan.

'Nablus: where the real war begins'
Early yesterday 200 Israeli tanks swept into Nablus, the largest and most nationalist of Palestinian cities.

Fear of Wider Conflict As Army Pushes on
In the grotto where Christians believe Jesus was born, a caged Palestinian teenager listened to Israeli gunfire echo against ancient stones last night, and boasted that he was ready for martyrdom. "Whatever happens over here is going to make history," said Bassem Abu Odeh, 17, trapped for...

World reaction
The Vatican sharply criticised Israel. It said Pope John Paul "rejects unjust conditions and humiliations imposed on the Palestinian people as well as the reprisals and revenge attacks which do nothing but feed the sense of frustration and hatred".

Church of the Nativity Attacked, Claim Palestinians
Heavy machinegun fire and explosions heard near church - Israeli army denies attack - Gunmen 'ready to hold out'

Israel Tightens Its Iron Grip on 1m Palestinians in West Bank
The Israeli army expanded its occupation to nearly all of the Palestinian towns in the West Bank yesterday, pushing forward even as international condemnation of its sweeping offensive reached a critical mass. As more than 150 Israeli tanks rolled into the city of Nablus firing shells...

Missing a Peace
As Israelis and Palestinians escalate their war, they fail to see the new landscape around them.

Nicholas Blincoe: Under fire in Bethlehem
I was unlucky to be in Bethlehem when history was being made. Anyone coming fresh to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories must feel bewildered by competing versions of events.

Palestinians kill suspected collaborators
As tanks move in, a dozen men are dragged out of jail and shot. Iyad Ab Ishab and Walid Radwan did not stand a chance.

Britons join 200 in human shield
More than 200 international volunteers, including some 50 Britons, deployed themselves in Ramallah and two refugee camps at Bethlehem last night in an attempt to form "human shields" for Palestinian families.

Palestinians have found a weapon Israel can't counter
Bush and Blair must grasp Israel isn't a sideshow, it's the main event. Caging Arafat beneath the wreckage of his compound, says Ariel Sharon, is stage one in a "long and complicated war which knows no borders".

Plan to call up 20,000 reservists
Israel plans to mobilise 20,000 army reservists in a sign that the country may be planning a protracted military campaign against the Palestinians.

Israel urged to stay hand as Palestinians brace for assault
Sharon shows initial restraint during build-up. The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, last night discussed with cabinet colleagues Israel's response to the Palestinian suicide bombing in Netanya, the second most lethal attack on Israelis since the Palestinian uprising began in 2000.

Suicide Bomber Strikes at Passover Meal
A Palestinian suicide bomber tonight blew himself up in the crowded lobby of an Israeli coastal hotel as guests gathered for a ritual meal ushering in the Passover holiday. As an Arab League summit in Beirut discussed a possible peace plan for the region, at least 15 people are believed...

Arabs grapple with double emergency
Today's gathering is crucial to regional peace. Arab summits deal with any common concern to the 22 states of the "Arab nation" - "ordinary" or "emergency". In practice, the more or less permanent emergency of Palestine has furnished 90% of resolutions.

Peace Talks Continue Despite Suicide Bombing
A Palestinian bomber blew himself up at an Israeli military checkpoint in the West Bank today, killing himself and wounding an Israeli officer in the third suicide bomb attack in three days, as politicians continued to talk peace. The latest bomb attack happened on the border between...

Seven deaths fail to halt talks
Sharon vows to take 'necessary steps' after suicide bombing but holds his hand as a meeting with Zinni and the Palestinians goes ahead.

Sharon Makes Calculated Withdrawal
Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, yesterday ordered Israeli tanks to roll back from Palestinian towns in the West Bank in a move calculated to please the visiting US vice-president, Dick Cheney. The withdrawal - which Israel Radio says could begin tonight - represents a rare...

Innocent draw breath as dust of war settles
The latest fighting between Israel and Palestine has taken a heavy toll, reports Graham Usher from Ramallah.

Tank pullout gives envoy slim hope
Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, bowed to pressure from Washington and ordered a partial military retreat from Palestinian cities yesterday, improving the slim odds that a US mission might achieve a ceasefire.

Middle East envoy returns with eyes on broader picture
America's previous foray into Middle East peacemaking resulted in one of the bloodiest weeks of the Palestinian uprising, and the auguries for today's visit by Washington's envoy are even more dismal - 163 Palestinians and 59 Israelis killed in the last 13 days.

Middle East Killings Continue
Three Israelis were killed in a roadside bomb attack today, as Israeli tanks moved deeper into two West Bank towns and troops killed three Palestinian gunmen in intense street fighting. The three Israelis were killed when a bomb exploded near a tank escorting civilian vehicles along the...

Surprise As Un Endorses Palestine
The Palestinians achieved a surprise breakthrough at the United Nations early yesterday when the security council endorsed the idea of a Palestinian state for the first time. All previous attempts over the last half century to secure clearcut recognition of a Palestinian state, enjoying...

Sharon Defies Assault Protests
Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, yesterday vowed to ram home the deadliest military offensive against the Palestinians in 20 years, as tanks shelled bands of gunmen in the heart of the city, hours before the arrival of Washington's Middle East envoy. As the noose tightened on...

UN Endorses Palestinian State for First Time
With more than 150 Palestinians and 50 Israelis dead in the last ten days of fighting, the United Nations security council last night endorsed for the first time an independent Palestinian state, as the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, accused Israel of "illegal occupation" of Palestinian land...

A long, hot wait fuels Palestinian anger
Suzanne Goldenberg in Deheishe refugee camp, West Bank. The long line of Palestinian men shuffled past coils of barbed wire - prisoners waiting in anger and dread for their moment of interrogation.

Fear is the driving force behind the minutiae of daily life
Gun sales rise as Israelis live in dread. Israelis are rushing to buy weapons in the wake of the sudden surge in Palestinian attacks on Israeli cities and the government's decision last week to further loosen the country's already lax gun laws.

Palestinian leader holds many of the cards
Arafat is no stranger to mixing politics and violence. The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, has been effectively imprisoned for months. But this weekend, looking at the mounting death toll among Israelis and the pressure that is being put on the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, it looks more like Mr Sharon is in the cage.

What the papers say
It is difficult to understand from Ariel Sharon the nature of the Palestinian surrender for which he is waiting.

Suicide Bomber Attacks West Bank Settlement
The violence in the Middle East escalated again today when Palestinians mounted two bomb attacks in retaliation for the latest Israeli military strikes. A suicide bomber blew himself up in a supermarket at the entrance to a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, killing himself and wounding...

Powell tells Sharon war on Palestinians will not work
The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, called on Ariel Sharon to reconsider his policies yesterday and said the Israeli prime minister's declaration of war on the Palestinians would not work.

Seven Palestinians Killed As Attacks Intensify
Seven Palestinians were killed this morning as Israel shelled the Gaza Strip in one of the most intense assaults on the territory in the 17 months since the current intifada began. The land, air and sea bombardment came in retaliation for an unprecedented Palestinian rocket attack on an...

Lethal Blast That Shattered a City at Prayer
A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in the middle of a crowd of ultra-Orthodox Jews last night only minutes, killing nine people and wounding another 35.

Support Grows for Middle East Peace Plan
Despite continuing violence, Israel and the Palestinians agreed to resume security talks today, as both sides voiced encouragement for a widely-supported Saudi peace initiative. Israeli and Palestinian security officials agreed to resume talks later today, said Mohammed Dahlan, a...

Palestinians Unimpressed With Israeli Withdrawal
Palestinian officials have said Israel's decision to pull back tanks surrounding Yasser Arafat's compound in the West Bank is meaningless due to the continued restrictions on the movements of the Palestinian leader. Violence again broke out in the West Bank, with two Palestinians shot...

Palestinian Bomber Shot Dead in West Bank
A Palestinian man tried to set off a bomb in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank this morning. The man wounded a woman before he was shot and killed, as the present cycle of violence showed no signs of easing. The attacker entered a supermarket in the Efrat settlement and tried to set...

Gunmen proclaim death of an army's legend
In the cafe that serves as clubhouse to the Palestinian gunmen, yesterday was a moment to savour: six Israeli soldiers shot dead in the most brazen raid on a seemingly invincible army since the start of their uprising.

Israeli Attacks Kill Eight Palestinians
Israel has mounted stinging attacks against Palestinian targets, with missile strikes, bombing raids and gun battles killing at least eight Palestinians today. Israeli helicopter gunships fired three missiles at the office of a small Islamic militant group, killing two Palestinians and...

Retired Generals Call for Sharon to Rethink Strategy
Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, buffeted by the left and right for his reliance on military might to crush the Palestinian uprising, faced a new challenge yesterday: from retired army generals. With a week of almost daily bombing attacks compounding Israeli exhaustion, a group of 1...

Thirty-seven Wounded in Attack on Gaza
Israel today launched two missile attacks on the Palestinian security headquarters in Gaza City, after a weekend of violence that saw two female soldiers killed by Palestinian gunmen. Israeli warplanes and helicopters fired several missiles into the Saraya security compound, which houses...

Tenet Set to Return to Middle East
George Tenet, the CIA chief, will return to the Middle East early next week to try to bring about a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine, a senior Palestinian official said today. If correct, Mr Tenet's arrival will signal a resumption of US attempts to mediate a truce following its...

Palestinians Kill Three After Storming Court
Hundreds of Palestinians stormed a courtroom in the West Bank yesterday and killed three men who had just been sentenced to imprisonment rather than death, as the crowd had demanded. The men, who were shot dozens of times in a washroom, had been convicted of killing Osama Qmeil, a...

Gaza Strip Explosion Kills Four Palestinians
Four Palestinians were this morning killed and one seriously injured in an explosion that blew up a car travelling in the Gaza Strip. A Bedouin living in the area near the Sufa crossing, Suleiman Abu Azra, said that he heard Israeli helicopters overhead and tanks on the other side of...

Hatred Sown in a Carer's Heart
Palestinian ambulance crews have been constantly targeted by the Israeli army. It turned one young woman volunteer into a suicide bomber. Peter Beaumont reports from Ramallah.

Woman suicide bomber strikes
A 20-year-old Palestinian woman detonated a suicide bomb in the heart of one of Jerusalem's busiest shopping streets yesterday killing herself, an elderly bystander and injuring at least 100 others, a dozen of them seriously. In a dramatic departure for Palestinian extremist...

Violence escalates in Middle East
The Middle East's deadly spiral of violence swept on yesterday as each side claimed revenge for attacks by the other and vowed more reprisals. Israel warned of a response "that will eliminate this ongoing threat" after a Palestinian gunman opened fire on a bus queue in central Jerusalem,...

US university sacks Palestinian
A Palestinian professor about to sacked by the University of South Florida on security grounds after expressing anti-Israel views on a television talk-show is fighting his dismissal, calling it an assault on academic freedom. Sami al-Arian, a computer science professor at USF for 16...

Ship seizure gives timely ammunition for Sharon's propaganda war
The interception of the Karine-A, a vessel said to be owned by the Palestinian Authority, with Palestinian naval police among its crew and a cargo of illicit weapons in its hold, could not have come at a more fortunate moment for Ariel Sharon. It was just in time for the Israeli prime...

Palestinians deride 'fake' withdrawal
Israel began to ease its stranglehold on parts of the West Bank yesterday, before the American peace envoy Anthony Zinni arrives, but Palestinian officials dismissed it as a propaganda stunt. The Israeli army said it had withdrawn from part of Ramallah, but tanks remained within 100...

Ex-PLO official abducted
A multimillionaire Palestinian who ran the PLO's finances for 12 years was abducted from a hospital in Egypt yesterday and taken to an unknown location in Gaza, his daughter told the Guardian last night. Jaweed al-Ghussein has been pursued by the Palestine Liberation Organisation for...

Egypt sets up Hebrew TV 'to correct bias'
The Israeli government has brushed aside Egyptian plans to broadcast Hebrew television programmes to Israel to try to get across the Palestinian point of view. The Egyptian government and broadcasters said they would begin broadcasts on January 1 to redress the bias in the Israeli...

10 settlers die in bus
Palestinian militants ambushed a bus of Jewish settlers, and raked the fleeing passengers with gunfire and hand grenades last night, killing 10 people, and provoking swift Israeli retaliation from F-16 warplanes. The attack, and the threat of further Israeli reprisals...

Peacemaker rises in Jerusalem
He is Israel's latest darling. As Israeli and Palestinian moderates begin very gingerly to look beyond the past 15 months of blood and hate towards the monumental challenge of rekindling trust, the moment belongs to Sari Nusseibeh, the patrician philosopher who emerged from self-imposed seclusion...