THE MIDDLE EAST: Three Israeli soldiers and two armed Palestinians have been killed in a new upsurge of violence that also saw Israeli missiles damage an Anglican chapel in Gaza and Palestinian rockets fired from Gaza hit an Israeli town across the border.
The latest incidents come despite efforts by Egypt this weekend to broker some kind of truce in talks with numerous Palestinians factions, and just days before Israel goes to the polls.
Weekend surveys ahead of Tuesday's general elections show incumbent hardline Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon's Likud party is set to defeat the moderate opposition Labour Party, whose leader, Mr Amram Mitzna, has plainly failed to persuade a majority of voters of his conviction that Israel needs to resume diplomatic contacts with Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority (PA).
The PA insists it is moving towards putting its financial house in order. Mr Arafat's Finance Minister, Mr Salam Fayyad, assured a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, yesterday that he was introducing financial controls to meet "the highest levels of international accounting and transparency standards". But armed factions loyal to Mr Arafat remain openly committed to carrying out suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli targets.
In the latest West Bank violence, three Israeli soldiers on foot patrol were shot dead by Hamas gunmen outside Hebron late on Thursday. Early yesterday morning, two armed Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli troops further to the north, outside Nablus. The Israeli army said the two were members of a four-strong Hamas cell, and were carrying a rifle, grenades and explosives. Palestinian sources said the two fatalities were a mother and son, and that she was bent on avenging the death of another son, an Islamic Jihad activist killed by Israeli troops two months ago.
Before dawn yesterday, Israeli helicopter gunships fired 11 missiles on Gaza City at what the army said were metal workshops used to manufacture weapons. Six people were wounded. One missile struck an Anglican chapel in a hospital compound, blowing out windows and damaging the roof. No patients were injured. In Jerusalem, Anglican Bishop Riah Abu Assal called the incident "an act of terrorism against our church". The army had no comment.
Later yesterday morning, Palestinians in Gaza fired five rockets into the southern Israeli town of Sderot, slightly hurting a woman.