Palestinians face eviction after ambush

Palestinians appeared to be in danger of being forced out of their homes in the West Bank city of Hebron yesterday after Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, said land taken over by Jewish settlers in the Old City should be linked with the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba on the edge of town.

Mr Sharon's remarks came after 12 Israelis, nine from the armed forces and three armed security guards, were killed in an ambush by Palestinian gunmen on Friday. Israeli tanks have since returned to Hebron.

Visiting the scene yesterday, Mr Sharon said Israel must "exploit the opportunity to create new facts in the field and create contiguity" between Kiryat Arba and the settlements inside Hebron.

Natan Sharansky, Israel's Housing Minister, said the government might expand the settlements to join them up. Tens of thousands of Palestinians live between Kiryat Arba and the settlements. Linking them could mean forcing out the Palestinians.

Israeli helicopters attacked a training base for Palestinian security forces in Gaza City yesterday with rockets and machine-guns. No casualties were reported.

* Abba Eban, an Israeli diplomat who helped to convince the United Nations to approve the creation of a Jewish state in 1947, died yesterday aged 87. He was Israel's Foreign Minister between 1966 and 1974.