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The Palestinian Authority is shutting down offices and institutions of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in Gaza and the West Bank, a Palestinian security official has told CNN.

A powerful bomb ripped through a bus in the Israeli port city of Haifa around midday Sunday, police said, killing at least 16 people, including a suicide bomber, and injuring about 35 others.

President Bush said Wednesday Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat must

President Bush urged Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat Tuesday to

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon headed home Sunday after discussing with President Bush how both sides could impel the Palestinian Authority to arrest those responsible for suicide bomb attacks this weekend in Jerusalem and Haifa, Israel, senior officials said.

In the wake of weekend bombing attacks that killed 28 people, Israel pounded Palestinian targets in Gaza and the West Bank Monday.

Fighting continues in the Palestinian territories on Saturday, as Israeli soldiers clash with Palestinian protesters. CNN Correspondent Chris Burns is in Jerusalem and spoke with CNN about latest developments in the Mideast.

A series of suicide bombings over the weekend in the Israeli cities of Jerusalem and Haifa have been widely condemned, and Israel is blaming Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat for failing to control Palestinian militants. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed the situation with CNN Sunday.

Yasser Arafat pledged to fight terrorism and crack down on organizations that support it, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said after meeting Tuesday with the Palestinian Authority president.

The following is a translation of the Hamas statement, submitted in Arabic and translated by CNN's Rula Amin, calling for the end to suicide bombings and mortar attacks in Israel: The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas - Palestine

Israeli troops killed a member of the Islamic militant group Hamas during a raid in the West Bank city of Hebron on Monday, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.

Palestinian militant group Hamas announced it would end suicide attacks inside Israel but other groups opposed to Israel rejected a call for an end to attacks on Israel.

As Israeli military forces launched attacks on Palestinian targets Monday -- including Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's guards' residences in Gaza City -- CNN's Mike Hanna filed this report from Jerusalem.

Iraq's President Saddam Hussein has called on Arab leaders to meet in the holy city of Mecca to discuss growing Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Iraq announced Saturday that it would go along with an extension to the U.N. oil-for-food program agreed upon by the Security Council but added that it would resist any future changes to the program.

Israeli troops Wednesday entered the West Bank village of Azzoun and arrested a number of Palestinian militants, the Israeli army and Palestinian security sources said.

Israel has barred Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat from attending Christmas Eve services in Bethlehem, saying he has not done enough to fight terrorism.

Suicide attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa, Israel, on Saturday and Sunday left at least 25 victims dead, authorities said. Three suicide bombers also died.

The full Israeli government plans to hold an emergency meeting Monday to decide its response to a series of suicide bombings that killed at least 28 people -- 25 victims and three bombers -- over the weekend in Jerusalem and Haifa.

The Israeli Cabinet cut off contact with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat Thursday, saying it holds him directly responsible for an ambush of a bus in the West Bank Wednesday that killed 10 and injured 30 others.

After more than five hours of closed-door talks, the Israeli Cabinet early Tuesday called the Palestinian Authority a terrorist-supporting entity that must be dealt with as such.

The Israeli Cabinet released this statement early Thursday:

At an hours-long meeting of the Israeli Cabinet late Monday night, ministers discussed the nation's next move in the aftermath of last weekend's suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa. Afterward, ministers released the following statement:

Israeli forces Thursday entered the northern part of the city of Hebron, in an area under full Palestinian control, and arrested eight Palestinians, a statement from the Israel Defense Forces said.

Israeli forces entered the northern part of the city of Hebron Thursday and arrested several people they said are suspected terrorists.

Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a Palestinian security compound in Gaza early Saturday, Israel Defense Forces said.

Israeli attack helicopters struck targets in Beit Hanun in northern Gaza early Tuesday, Palestinian sources said.

A number of Israeli army officers will receive reprimands for their role in an explosion that killed five Palestinian children last month in Khan Younis in Gaza, according the Israel Defense Forces.

Israeli warplanes hit the Palestinian police headquarters in Gaza early Friday, hours before Israel and Palestinian security officials were set to meet.

Israeli officials said Tuesday that Palestinian attacks had not declined despite Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's call for an end to violence.

The Israeli government early Friday lifted a military cordon around the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the Israel Defense Forces said.

In the wake of weekend bombing attacks that killed 25 Israelis and three suicide bombers, Israel pounded Palestinian targets Monday in Gaza and the West Bank.

High-level talks between Israeli and Palestinian security officials resumed Wednesday night as both sides sat down to discuss prevention of terrorist attacks.

Israeli warplanes and helicopters have launched a fresh round of attacks on Palestinian targets in the West Bank and Gaza.

Retaliating for suicide bombings that killed dozens of civilians, Israel pounded Palestinian targets in Gaza and the West Bank and moved tanks to within striking distance of the office where Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was working, an aide said.

Israel rejected a temporary cease-fire offer by four militant Palestinian groups Sunday to halt their attacks through the end of Ramadan if Israel agreed to stop assassinating their members.

Israel's defense minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, said Tuesday that Israel would lift its monthlong blockade on the West Bank town of Jericho.

With the Middle East peace process in disarray, CNN Correspondent Jerrold Kessel in Israel talked with anchor Martin Savidge Sunday about the political realities confronting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The residences of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's guards were destroyed here in Israeli air attacks shortly before sunset Monday following weekend bombing attacks in Jerusalem and Haifa, Israel, Palestinian Cabinet member Nabil Sha'ath said.

A coordinated series of three terrorist attacks in a crowded Jerusalem pedestrian mall left at least 12 people dead Saturday night -- including two suicide bombers -- and wounded more than 180 others, police said.

A bus carrying pilgrims returning from Mecca has careered off the road and exploded into flames in southern Jordan, killing 52 people.

Israeli helicopters and warplanes carried out airstrikes Tuesday on Palestinian targets in Gaza and the West Bank.

The death toll is climbing in the Middle East, where an Israeli settler and two Palestinian gunmen were killed Sunday.

A suicide bomber killed himself and slightly wounded six others Wednesday in a powerful explosion outside a luxury hotel in downtown Jerusalem, Israeli police said.

Hamas militants opened fire on Palestinian police enforcing the house arrest of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin early Thursday, Palestinian police said.

Israeli warplanes struck Gaza City for the third straight night Friday, targeting Palestinian security facilities that Israel said were used for terrorist activities.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is making the mistake of his life by pursuing military action in the wake of this weekend's suicide bombings, the Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator said Monday.

Two top leaders of the radical Islamic Jihad group were arrested Saturday, Palestinian police said.