Tel Aviv  - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has approved dozens of construction projects in the occupied West Bank over the past months, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday.

The vast majority of the projects listed by Ha'aretz are in Jewish settlement blocks which Israel has vowed to keep as part of a future peace deal with the Palestinians.

But some are in isolated settlements located to the east of Israel's West Bank security barrier.

Tel Aviv - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the crossing points into the Gaza Strip to be shut Thursday, after militants in the salient fired a Qassam rocket at southern Israel.

The rocket, fired from the north of the strip toward the nearby Israeli town of Sderot, caused neither damage nor injuries, an Israeli military spokesman said.

Militants had also fired a rocket on Thursday, causing Barak to take a similar decision regarding the crossing points.

Tel Aviv - Negotiations over the formation of a new Israeli government have made "real progress" and a new coalition agreement between the ruling Kadima party and the Labour party could be signed in the coming days, Israel Radio reported Sunday.

Sources close to Labour Party leader, Defence Minister Ehud Barak, said the progress was achieved during a Saturday night meeting between representatives of the two parties.

A further meeting, to discuss Labour's economic demands, is slated to take place Sunday.

Tel Aviv  - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the military to close crossing points into the Gaza Strip for one day on Tuesday, after Gaza-based militants fired a rocket into southern Israel Monday afternoon.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the rocket, which landed near a kindergarten in the town of Sderot, caused neither damage nor injuries.

It marked the 40th launching of either a rocket or a mortar from the Gaza Strip since a truce between Israel and Gaza militias came into effect on June 19.