Israel on high alert for revenge attacks

ISRAELI security forces were placed on high alert in readiness for revenge attacks from Hamas as another member of the radical Islamic group was killed, the day after the death of 15 Palestinians in Gaza.

Sameh Arar became the seventh Hamas member to be shot dead by Israeli forces in two days when he was gunned down by a special forces unit in a raid near the West Bank town of Ramallah, Palestinian security and medical sources said yesterday.

An Israeli military source said soldiers had gone to arrest the 24-year-old in the village of Qarawat Bani Zeid but had been forced to shoot him when he tried to flee despite warning shots being fired.

Arar had been sought by the Israeli security forces since the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000.

His death brought the overall toll since the start of the uprising to 3,761, including 2,818 Palestinians and 875 Israelis.

Hamas called on its armed wing to launch large-scale suicide attacks against Israel after six of its members were among 12 Palestinians killed on Wednesday in a gun battle in the east of Gaza City.

Three other Palestinians were also killed during an army raid in southern Gaza's refugee camp.

Extra police officers could be seen on the streets in the main cities, manning metal barricades where motorists were being hauled over.

"The police have been placed on a state of alert and deployed in sensitive areas," a police spokesman said.

"We have mobilised extra forces, installed road blocks and are carrying out spot checks, especially in sensitive areas such as commercial centres, markets and schools."

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's national security adviser, Jibril al-Rajub, said yesterday that the killings in Gaza showed that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was trying to prompt a reaction from the Palestinians.

"He who invaded Gaza and killed those innocent people is trying to attract a reaction inside against Israelis in order to justify a unilateral war against the Palestinians," Rajub said.

Israeli commentators warned yesterday that the operations in Gaza would prove to be counter-productive.

"It is highly doubtful that yesterday's action helped in the war on terror," an editorial in the top-selling Yediot Aharonot said.

"The history of the suicide bombers shows that we should not scoff at the kind of threats made yesterday. This time too, the question is where and when the next revenge terror attack will take place, and what price will we pay."

Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath said that the United States needed to apply more pressure on all sides to bring a halt to the cycle of violence as seen in Gaza.

"We need somebody who really tells him (Sharon), tells us and tells everybody 'Stop the fighting and let's talk,'" Shaath said in Tokyo.