Israeli troops kill armed Palestinian

ISRAELI troops yesterday killed an armed Palestinian as he tried to flee and blew up two houses of suspected militants in a nearby West Bank village, the military said. It was the second West Bank raid in as many days after a relative lull.

On Monday, Israeli troops killed three Hamas fugitives and a 9-year-old boy in the town of Ramallah, and blew up an apartment building, leaving 60 people homeless. Palestinians warned the renewed military operations could sabotage attempts by the Palestinian Authority to persuade militants to halt attacks on Israelis.

Negotiations with several militant groups are to begin in Cairo later this week. "The latest Israeli escalation seriously threatens the dialogue in Cairo and is a serious obstacle to implementing calm," said Ahmad Ghneim a delegate from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.