Gaza  - Two Palestinian militants were wounded Saturday morning during armed clashes with Israeli forces in the northeast of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics said.

"At least two citizens were injured in the east of Jabaliya refugee camp and the ambulance crews cannot reach them," said Mu'awia Hassanein, a health emergency official.

Witnesses said that the exchange of fire erupted when Israeli forces rolled for nearly 200 metres into the Palestinian territories in northeast Gaza Strip.

Gaza/Cairo  - Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas on Thursday suspended talks in Cairo without an agreement on a "national unity" government, representatives from the factions said.

Fatah, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, for the third time failed to agree on the political platform for the interim government, control of Palestinian security forces, or the conduct of elections to replace the interim government.

Gaza City  - Israeli helicopter gunships killed two Palestinian militants and wounded two others during an exchange of fire in the central Gaza Strip, health officials and witnesses said..

The bodies of two fighters were brought to central Gaza's al-Aqsa hospital, while the two wounded were also evacuated in moderate condition, Gaza emergency services chief Mo'aweya Hassanein said.

Jerusalem  - Israel's outgoing cabinet voted Sunday to accept recommendations to worsen conditions for Hamas members in Israeli jails, in an effort to pressure the Islamist organization over the release of an Israeli soldier held in the Gaza Strip since June 2006.

The sanctions, to go into effect in the near future, include limiting family visits and revoking the opportunity for prisoners to take high school matriculation exams or study at the open university.

Access to radio and television will also be limited.

Gaza  - A leader of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement on Saturday said inter-Palestinian unity and reconciliation talks will resume on Tuesday.

"The national dialogue will resume in Cairo on Tuesday," said Nabil Shaath, a Fatah representative to the talks.

"The first day will be left for unofficial discussions between the Egyptian officials and the leaders of the factions," he added.

Tel Aviv  - More than two months after its 22-day offensive in Gaza, Israel and the Palestinians continued Friday to argue over the total number of Palestinian deaths and over civilians killed in the war.

The Israeli military overnight published its own casualty figures of the offensive, saying at least 60 per cent of the total Palestinian dead were militants.

In a statement sent to the media it said that 1,166 Palestinians died in the offensive, adding it had collected their names and that 709 of them were militants.