Israeli police last night defused a large car-bomb in the heart of Jerusalem's crowded ultra-Orthodox Meah Shearim neighbourhood - thwarting the third such attempt to bomb the district in recent weeks.
A local man alerted the security authorities to a suspiciously parked car, which turned out to be stolen and was then found to contain several explosive devices in the boot, wired to be detonated by a mobile phone.
The bombing attempt came only hours after another apparent plan to plant explosives in Israel failed: eight Palestinians were injured when an explosion ripped through an apartment in the West Bank town of Nablus. Palestinian police arrested four of the occupants and confirmed that the home was an improvised bomb factory.
Among those hurt were two young children, relatives of the suspected bomb-maker.
The failed attacks coincided both with a visit to the region by the US-led Mitchell Committee, which is investigating the factors that caused the eruption of the ongoing Middle East violence, and with the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon's visit to the United States.
During his visit, Mr Sharon has repeatedly urged the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, to issue an Arabic-language call to Palestinian militants to halt attacks on Israel.
Mr Sharon confirmed yesterday that he has also been telling the Americans that if they extend an invitation to Mr Arafat to visit Washington before he issues such a call, "it would be interpreted by him as showing that terrorism pays, and it might prompt even heavier attacks". At a meeting with congressional leaders, Mr Sharon reportedly came close to urging the US to halt military aid to Egypt.
In Jerusalem, meanwhile, the former Israeli defence minister and one-time prime ministerial candidate, Mr Yitzhak Mordechai, was convicted of the sexual assault of two women, and could face a lengthy jail term.
Mr Mordechai, who immediately suspended himself from the Knesset, is vowing to appeal the verdict.
And in Ramle, south of Tel Aviv, Ms Margalit Har-Shefi, a friend of Mr Yigal Amir, the man who assassinated Yitzhak Rabin in 1995, began serving a nine-month jail term for having failed to prevent the killing.
AFP adds: The Israeli army shelled a training base for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's bodyguards late last night, killing an officer and seriously wounding three others, Palestinian sources said.
Israeli tanks fired four shells at a training base of a special unit near the flashpoint Jewish settlement of Netzarim, just 2 km from Arafat's Gaza City headquarters, the Palestinians said.
The Israeli army said Palestinians had fired three shells at Netzarim and that a tank fired two shells "in the direction of the firing."
The Palestinians identified the victim as Lieut Kamil alJawad (28).