Washington/Tel Aviv  - Israel carried out an airstrike in Sudan in January that killed 39 people, hitting a 17-truck convoy transporting arms earmarked for Gaza, the American network CBS reported Thursday.

A government minister in Sudan was accusing the United States Air Force of being behind the airstrike.

However, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reported he had been told that Israeli aircraft carried out the attack. He said this was the "semi-official American version" of the event.

The Israeli military issued a statement, saying "Israel does not comment on these kind of publications."

Beirut  - Thousands of Palestinians mourned on Wednesday Kamal Medhat, the Palestine Liberation Organisation official who was killed in a southern-Lebanon car bombing on Monday.

Followers of rival Palestinian factions from Fatah and Hamas participated in the mass funeral of Kamal Medhat, the PLO's number two in Lebanon, who was killed Monday in a roadside bombing outside the Mieh Mieh Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon along with three of his bodyguards.

New York - The United Nations on Wednesday expressed concern about the lack of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the increasing violence two months after Israel declared a unilateral end to hostilities.

UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs B Lynn Pascoe said the Middle East is faced with a "worrying situation of impasse and uncertainty."

Tel Aviv - Israeli police were on high alert Tuesday morning as a group of extreme right-wing Jewish activists was scheduled to march outside the largest Arab town in northern Israel.

Thousands of police were deployed at the entrances to Umm el-Fahm and on key roads.

The town's Arab-Israeli residents have condemned the march, during which the activists plan to wave Israeli flags. Residents have called it a provocation.

Beirut  - Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said Monday that Arabs should "unite in the face of terrorism" and proposed an Arab observatory to combat terrorism through constant monitoring of suspicious activities and financial transactions.

He said that the conference of Arab interior ministers Sunday in Beirut "was an indication of Arab trust in Lebanon."

Jerusalem/Haifa  - The Islamic Hamas movement wants to boost its position in the West Bank to launch attacks on Israel, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert charged Sunday.

Speaking at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Olmert told ministers that "terrorist organizations' attempts to perpetrate attacks within Israel's borders and in the heart of the country are an ongoing affair."