Israel holds Hamas leader

The Israeli military said last night that security forces had arrested a leading member of the Hamas militant group's military wing in the West Bank.

The military spokesman's office says Maher Udda had been wanted for his involvement in attacks that killed more than 70 Israelis. A statement described Udda as one of Hamas' founders in Ramallah.

Israel has extended until Wednesday a lockdown on the occupied West Bank and restricted access to the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem as tensions soared over its latest settlement plans.