ISRAELI soldiers killed two Palestinians in a major West Bank raid yesterday after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rebuffed a post-election olive branch extended by Yasser Arafat.

ISRAEL yesterday demolished the homes of two Palestinian militants who killed four seminary students when they infiltrated a Jewish settlement last week, the army said.

The Israeli army is surrounding a refugee camp in the West Bank town of Bethlehem this morning, after forces detained more than 100 people in West Bank raids on Nablus and Tulkarm.