Tel Aviv  - Palestinian militants fired two Gaza-made rockets at southern Israel Monday, an Israeli military spokesman in Tel Aviv said.

One of the rockets landed near a kibbutz (agricultural commune), while the second had yet to be tracked down.

Another rocket was also fired at the area late Sunday.

Tel Aviv  - Whether opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu or Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni assumes the task of forming the next Israeli government, a tough and complicated process lies ahead.

The close results of Tuesday's elections created a political limbo and prompted both the underdog Livni of the centrist Kadima and the favourite Netanyahu of the hardline Likud to claim victory.

Livni, 50, said she won because her party won the most (28) mandates and retained its position as the largest party in the 120- seat Knesset.

Tel Aviv - All but final official results Wednesday morning showed no clear winner in Israel's national elections, promising tough and complicated coalition negotiations ahead.

With all regular ballot boxes - or 99 per cent of the votes - counted, the ruling Kadima party of centrist Tzipi Livni and the opposition Likud party of her hardline rival Benjamin Netanyahu were just one mandate apart.

The remaining one per cent of the ballots, those of Israeli soldiers, sailors and diplomats abroad, are due to be counted Thursday. They could further narrow the gap.

Tel Aviv  - A minister of the Kadima party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the narrow winner of Israel's elections, on Wednesday said he supported forming a grand coalition with the hardline Likud party in view of the close result.

Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit told Israeli radio early Wednesday that such a government should be led by Livni. A rotation of the premiership between Livni and Likud leader former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, as in 1984 after a similar election outcome, was not practicable, he said.

Tel Aviv  - Near-final results of Israel's election showed the centrist Kadima party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni narrowly edging out the hardline Likud party of former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, but right-wing parties still scored enough mandates to prevent her from putting together a stable coalition.

With 98 per cent of the votes counted by early Wednesday morning, Kadima had a predicted 28 mandates in the 120-seat Knesset, with the Likud close behind with a projected 27.

Tel Aviv  - The only certainty to emerge from exit polls and the first official results in Tuesday's Israeli election is that nothing is certain.

Three separate exit polls on Israel's three television news channels gave the centrist Kadima party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni a sparse, two-seat lead over the hardline Likud of former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, and first initial results, which began trickling in after midnight, showed the margin closing to just one seat.

The gap was small enough to allow both Livni and Netanyahu to claim victory.