Israel seals off West Bank

JERUSALEM - Israel cordoned off West Bank towns yesterday, after Palestinian gunmen killed four Israelis in one of the bloodiest single days since a Palestinian uprising began almost seven weeks ago.

Four Palestinians also died - two teenagers shot in Gaza, a policeman in the West Bank and a youth who was critically wounded during weekend clashes.

The latest victims brought the death toll since the violence started to 214, most of them Palestinians.

Major-General Yitzhak Eitan said the security measure was being taken in response to three separate gun attacks on Israeli vehicles in the West Bank and Gaza, in which two soldiers and two civilians, including a woman, were killed.

The move marked a return to the widespread sanctions that Israel lifted in mid-October after committing to a ceasefire accord brokered by the United States at the Egyptian town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The latest measures came after an aide to Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who is in Chicago to meet Jewish leaders, said the Israeli leader had consulted military and political officials.

Eitan said Israel would bar Palestinians from entering and leaving all Palestinian-ruled West Bank towns, but stressed the sanctions would not affect humanitarian aid.

He blamed President Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority for the attacks, saying it supported the gunmen and did nothing to arrest them.

Arafat's senior aide Tayeb Abdel-Rahim blamed Israel, saying: "The Palestinian actions are a response to Israeli terrorism in the past weeks against our people."

Two Israeli soldiers were killed when their bus was sprayed with bullets by Palestinians in a passing car near the West Bank town of Ramallah.

An Israeli schoolteacher was killed on the same road minutes later when her car was shot at as she drove home to a nearby Jewish settlement.

In the Gaza Strip, several hours later, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an Israeli truck driving towards a Jewish settlement in Gaza. The driver was killed.

Palestinian teenagers were shot dead in Khan Younis, a frequent flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian clashes and a 32-year-old Palestinian policeman was killed by Israeli soldiers near the West Bank town of Qalqilya early yesterday.

The violence flared as Israeli and Palestinian officials sparred over a possible peace summit before US President Bill Clinton leaves the White House in January.

A Barak aide said earlier that Arafat was still interested in peace, but the Israeli leader ruled out any talks while violence raged.

An aide to Arafat said the Palestinian leader was ready for any genuine peace process, but accused Israel of seeking a military solution.

Arafat's Fatah faction has called on Palestinians to expel Israelis from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Arab East Jerusalem today as November 15 symbolises Palestinian statehood.

- REUTERS

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