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.

Early yesterday, some 25 jeeps and armoured personnel carriers entered the West Bank town of Jenin and soldiers went house to house in search of militants, witnesses said.

Gun battles erupted, and residents said they later found the body of Amjad Saadi, a militant from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, an armed group with ties to Fatah. Two civilians were wounded, witnesses said.

In the village of Silat Al Harthiya, troops destroyed two homes of members of the Islamic Jihad group and arrested three Palestinians, the army said. The violence comes at a delicate time as Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia hopes to secure a commitment from the militant groups to halt attacks on Israel at the Cairo meeting this week. Mr Qureia then wants to present the truce to Israel in an effort to reach a ceasefire and reopen long-stalled peace talks.

Mr Qureia's cabinet secretary Hassan Abu Libdeh said yesterday he remains optimistic about the Cairo talks. Mr Qureia is also urging the US to put more pressure on Israel to end three year's of violence. He said he delivered a letter from Arafat to Jordan's King Abdullah II last weekend outlining the Palestinian position. Abdullah is to meet with President Bush in Washington tomorrow.

Yesterday's raid came a day after the launch of the Geneva Accord, a symbolic peace agreement negotiated by Israeli opposition figures and prominent Palestinians, including cabinet ministers and legislators. The authors' intention was to show both peoples that peace is still possible and to exert pressure on the two governments to renew negotiations.

In a message to the gathering in Switzerland, Arafat praised the agreement as "a brave initiative that opens the door to peace". The deal calls for a Palestinian state in almost all of the West Bank and Gaza and part of Jerusalem, and avoids a significant influx of Palestinian refugees into Israel.

A poll published in the Israeli Ha'aretz daily showed 31% of Israelis supporting the Geneva deal and 38% opposing it, with 20% undecided and the rest saying they didn't know enough to respond.