Palestinan television has been ordered to cleanse its screens of bloody imagery by the newly elected president, Mahmoud Abbas, to chime with a new mood of ''peacemaking'' in the region.

Eulogies to suicide bombers, or ''martyrs'' as they were previously known, have given way to ''feel-good'' nature programmes and romantic films. Instead of referring to ''martyr operations'', suicide bombings are described more neutrally as ''explosions''.

The changes have been brought in as Israelis and Palestinians prepare for this week's summit between Mr Abbas and Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, in Egypt.

Mr Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen, summoned the directors of the television station and told them to tone down their aggressive programming.

He said that he did not want the kind of sycophantic, round-the-clock coverage of his schedule that was the norm under the former Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

"He said that he does not want a screen full of blood,'' Radwan Abu Ayash, the head of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, told The Sunday Telegraph: ''We must avoid bloody things, which are not a good image for our people.

''He also said that he does not want songs praising him or for us to report on all his activities - only if there is some news value. He wanted a 'free screen' and said that all sides should have the right to talk. These are big changes."

Palestinian television used ceaselessly to extol Mr Arafat's virtues and those of his dominant Fatah Party. Attacks on Israeli targets were applauded and special songs composed for the station in praise of fallen ``martyrs''.

Now, Mr Abu Ayash said: "We have passionate Egyptian love films replacing war films, we have soft geography programmes for the kids, films with cute animals roaming in the wild and so on...