Jerusalem

Ariel Sharon’s cabinet has agreed to extend Israel’s controversial ”security fence” to encircle Jewish settlements deep in the West Bank, moving closer to formally annexing hundreds of square kilometres of Palestinian territory. Palestinians say it will wreck the possibility of creating a viable Palestinian state.

The Israeli Cabinet has decided to build a series of fences deep in the heart of the West Bank as it forged ahead with a controversial separation barrier in the face of heavy international criticism. The aim is ”to have as many Jews as possible inside the fence and as few as possible Arabs”, a government official said.

United States Secretary of State Colin Powell has called on Israel to dismantle illegal outposts in the West Bank during a meeting with his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom. Powell insisted the Israeli government ”continues dismantling” wildcat settlements in line with the US-backed road map to peace.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has made a direct appeal to Israel for a new truce, saying it can win the backing of Hamas, as one of the radical group’s fighters was killed in a raid by Israeli ground forces on Thursday. In interviews with the Israeli media, Arafat fleshed out a proposal for a new truce that was initially snubbed.

Israeli police and security services were placed on a maximum state of alert on Wednesday after two suicide attacks that left 14 people dead as well as the bombers — and dozens more attacks are planned, according to police sources.

Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas may have resigned in a bid to squeeze concessions from Yasser Arafat in a bitter power battle, but it has left the United States-backed road map to peace in tatters.

A makeshift rocket of the sort used by Palestinian militant groups landed deep inside Israel on Thursday, hitting an industrial zone in the port city of Ashkelon, Israeli military sources said. It was the first time an improvised rocket fired from the Gaza Strip had reached so far into Israel.

Israeli and Palestinian officials, bracing for a new escalation in violence, looked Saturday to the United States to salvage a peace plan left in tatters by the collapse of a shaky truce.

The worst bus bombing in the past three years of intifada pushed the Palestinian leadership this week towards the confrontation with Islamic fundamentalists it has spent months trying to avoid.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Abu Shanab had been planning attacks against Israel despite the group’s stated adherence to a truce, a senior Israeli security source said after his killing on Thursday.

Israelis and Palestinians accused each other of wrecking a six-week-old truce after a pair of Palestinian suicide bombings on Tuesday that dealt a new blow to the United States-sponsored peace process. Israel abruptly postponed plans to free 69 Palestinians convicted of criminal offences.

A suicide bomber killed at least one Israeli and wounded 10 others at a shopping center near Tel Aviv on Tuesday in the first major bomb attack since Palestinian militants declared a truce six weeks ago, police said.

The Israeli Parliament voted on Thursday for a bill which prevents Palestinians married to Arab-Israelis from obtaining Israeli citizenship despite accusations that the measure was racist and discriminatory.

A Jerusalem monument revered for centuries as a Jewish holy place was a Christian shrine in the fourth century, a recently deciphered inscription reveals, the Israeli Ha’aretz daily reported on Tuesday.

Three hundred thirty Jewish immigrants from the US and Canada arrived in Israel on Wednesday, and were told by an enthusiastic Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that ”we always needed you…and now we need you much more than ever ”.

A group representing Jewish refugees from Arab countries on Wednesday demanded compensation for property they left behind, while acknowledging that Palestinian refugees from Israel must also be dealt with fairly.

Israel debated assassinating Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon admitted, quoted on Monday by the Israeli media.

A seven-year-old Israeli girl died after being shot by Palestinian gunmen in an attack which also injured her sister, brother and grandfather, Israeli hospital sources said on Wednesday.

Palestinians and Israelis traded attacks on Wednesday that left at least 24 people dead in one of the bloodiest days of their 32-month conflict that left US-sponsored peace hopes in tatters.

The Iraq war has cost Israel nearly -million so far, including production losses and security preparations, reports said on Tuesday.

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

Don’t chew gum in front of TV cameras, don’t overdo the heckling and don’t miss too many sessions, dozens of parliament freshmen were told -but few believed the brief orientation seminar would help turn the unruly Knesset into a decorous debating club.

Israeli forces on Tuesday imposed a complete closure of the occupied territories following warnings of an imminent attack by Palestinian militants, as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sought afresh to forge a new coalition government.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has refused to comment on remarks by former SA President Nelson Mandela, who charged that the US is preparing a world ”holocaust” over Iraq and complained that Israel is not being forced to surrender weapons of mass destruction.

The journalist from the Israeli daily Ha’aretz who revealed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was being probed over a ,5-million loan was interrogated over the circumstances of the leak, the justice ministry said on Wednesday.