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Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs met late yesterday on ways to ease Israel's military clampdown in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, after the Palestinian cabinet gave the proposal preliminary approval.

Jailed Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouthi thumbed his nose at the Israeli justice system yesterday as militants mounted attacks in the Gaza Strip, destroying a tank and killing two soldiers.

Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, won early release yesterday from prison, where he has been serving a three-year term for corruption.

Inflamed religious feelings during the holy month of Ramadan could intensify the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza if Israeli troops do not withdraw from friction points, Palestinian analysts say.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed yesterday that Israel would continue to attack Palestinian militants despite condemnation of the tactic by Wash-ington amid a widening cycle of violence.

If we insist on attacking countries already on their knees, let's at least not delude ourselves about the benefits of humanitarian assistance.

Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians in a fresh surge of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip yesterday as the United States vowed to press ahead with a long-delayed "road map" for Middle East peace.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's scandal-plagued election campaign faced mounting problems yesterday after a news conference in which he denied wrongdoing and assailed his main rival was yanked off the air.

Palestinians were sceptical of George W. Bush's vow to revive the Middle East peace process . "Bush has so far said nothing about the implementation of the roadmap," said top Arafat adviser, Nabil Abu Rudeina.

Without wanting to, I found myself in the middle of an inter-Palestinian power struggle in 1997. Although Palestinians had witnessed historic legislative elections, the new Palestinian legislative council was fighting for recognition and respectability from an unexpected rival: the Palestinian executive branch headed by President Yasser Arafat.

Much has been said about the effects on the Middle East of the end of the Saddam Hussain regime. But surprisingly nothing has been said about the strategic meaning of the presence of U.S. forces to the territorial security arguments that have blocked Palestinian-Israeli agreements.

Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians in gun battles in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron on Sunday, creating a violent backdrop for efforts to arrange talks aimed at ending nearly a year of bloodshed.