Tel Aviv  - The sigh of relief Israeli prime minister- designate Benjamin Netanyahu heaved when the Labour Party voted Tuesday night to join his emerging government may yet turn into one of despair.

With the Labour Party on board, Netanyahu now has a coalition, one which, while still containing a significant hawkish element, is not as extremist as it would have been had the left-to-centre Labour Party, and its leader, Defence Minister Ehud Barak, stayed out.

Tel Aviv - Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu plans to present his government early next week, following a vote by the centre-left Labour Party to join his Likud-led government.

In a dramatic and tumultuous meeting of the Labour Party Convention in Tel Aviv late Tuesday, 680 delegates voted for and 507 against party leader Ehud Barak's proposal to join the Netanyahu government.

Tel Aviv  - The Israeli Labo

Tel Aviv  - Responding to charges that Israeli troops fighting in the recent offensive in the Gaza Strip violated military ethics, Israel Defence Force (IDF) Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Monday that he did not believe soldiers intentionally harmed Palestinian civilians.

The allegations had been transferred to military's Criminal Investigation Division for investigation, Lieutenant-General Ashkenazi said while visiting an army base.

Tel Aviv - Israeli troops fighting in the Gaza Strip during Israel's recent offensive in the salient violated medical ethics, a non-governmental organization has charged.

In a report released Monday, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said Israeli soldiers did not allow the evacuation of injured civilians who were besieged for days, and also left the civilians without food or water.

Soldiers also prevented Palestinian medical teams from reaching the wounded and stopped medical care from reaching other injured Palestinians.

Tel Aviv (Israel), Mar. 21 : After repeatedly rebuffing charges of having committed war crimes in its recent war against Hamas in Gaza, a stunned Israel has changed track and instructed its military prosecutor to launch a criminal investigation into the alleged deliberate killing of women, children, and elderly non-combatants by Israeli soldiers.