More deaths as Israel and Palestinians resume talks

A Palestinian gunman opened fire on Israeli policemen just outside the walled Old City of Jerusalem today, wounding one, and a passer-by was killed in the ensuing gun battle.

The shooting came after a Palestinian militant died in the West Bank, apparently as a result of a clash with Israeli troops, and just before a second round of high-level meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials aimed at easing tensions after 21 months of violent conflict.

The Jerusalem shooting occurred when a policeman became suspicious of a Palestinian near Herod’s Gate, which leads into the Old City, and tried to check him.

The gunman drew a pistol and shot the policeman who was in moderate to serious condition, said a hospital spokesman.

The passer-by, who police described as an Arab, was shot and killed in the fire. Earlier police said it was the gunman’s fire that killed the passer-by, but police then said they weren’t sure since officers also fired shots, trying to stop the fleeing gunman.

The latest violence came as a Palestinian official said there would be a second day of high-level talks between the two sides.

In a West Bank shooting, a Palestinian gunman bled to death before he reached hospital, the militant group Islamic Jihad said. The group said Moamar Daraghmeh, 30, was armed and on a mission against Israeli targets.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was expected to hold more meetings with Palestinian Cabinet ministers after an icebreaking session in Jerusalem on Monday. The two sides discussed ways to ease the economic plight of the Palestinian population caused by the Israeli blockade in the West Bank.

The sudden renewal of Israeli-Palestinian talks was a prelude to a meeting next week in New York of officials from the UN, US, EU and Russia, leading efforts to end the 21-month-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict.