Army sources stated that Minas noticed the troops, drew his pistol and was shot dead by the soldiers. In his car, troops found two explosive devices, which IDF sappers then dismantled.

Earlier in the day, a special undercover Israeli police unit opened fire at three Palestinians near a hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus early Tuesday, killing one and wounding two, medical sources said.

The army said its troops identified a vehicle carrying three wanted men, surrounded it and opened fire when the men attempted to escape.

The special unit shot and killed a gunman identified as Alaa Anav, 24, of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs, and injured two other members of the group, while they were sitting in a car near the Ittihad hospital, the sources said.

Israeli media reported that the Israeli force attempted to arrest
the three and opened fire when they tried to escape.

Witnesses reported that shortly after the shooting, a large army force raided the hospital to arrest the two wounded Palestinians and blocked entrances to the Balata refugee camp while it conducted military operations there.

According to IDF sources, the wanted men were involved in the planning of suicide attacks in Israel and received training from Hizbollah in Lebanon.

The internal violence, the worst in living memory, has escalated since Abbas called for early elections on Saturday in an attempt to break a political deadlock with the Hamas government. Hamas has accused Abbas of launching a "coup". Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, was expected to make a speech in Gaza at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) to respond to Abbas's election call. Hamas has said it would boycott any polls. In Gaza City, civilians fled for safety and some shops closed as gunmen fought running battles with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. "This is madness," said taxi driver Adel Mohammad-Ali, 40. "The streets are divided between Hamas and Fatah gunmen. You never know who is who." Abbas issued a statement calling on all factions "without exception" to observe a ceasefire agreed late on Sunday but which barely lasted 24 hours. U.S. Secretary of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the violence had to stop. "We hope that there will in fact be a ceasefire between the parties. That is very important," Rice said in an interview with Al Arabiya television to be broadcast later on Tuesday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert traveled to Jordan for unannounced talks with King Abdullah. Reuters Pictures Photo Editors Choice: Best pictures from the last 24 hours. View Slideshow Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia urged Palestinians to overcome their differences. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said Egyptian security officials had brokered a deal for members of rival security services to leave the streets and return to their headquarters. The deal required various factions to also free hostages they were holding, ministry spokesman Khaled Abu Hilal said. Abbas said on Monday he was committed to early elections but left the door open for the formation of a Fatah-Hamas coalition with a "technocrat" cabinet that could satisfy the West. Hamas and Fatah tried for months to form a unity government to end a power struggle, but talks foundered, essentially over Hamas's unwillingness to soften its stance toward Israel. Hamas beat Fatah in January elections. TRADING BLAME Both Hamas and Fatah blamed each other for the surge in street fighting in Gaza City. Two security men from a force loyal to Fatah were among those killed, hospital officials said. Five children were wounded after getting caught in crossfire. Reuters Pictures Photo Editors Choice: Best pictures from the last 24 hours. View Slideshow Witnesses and rival factions said a Hamas policeman was killed in an earlier clash at Gaza's main hospital. Around a dozen people have been wounded in total. Fatah sources said the two abducted men had been "executed" by a Hamas-led police unit. A Hamas police spokesman denied the force had abducted or killed anyone. Hamas, which advocates Israel's destruction, has struggled to govern since taking office in March under the weight of Western sanctions imposed because of its refusal to recognize the Jewish state and renounce violence. The West has sought to bolster Abbas, who favors a two-state solution to end conflict with Israel.

Hamas and Fatah have been locked in a power struggle since the Islamic group defeated Fatah in legislative elections in January. Abbas' Fatah party controls the presidency, while Hamas controls parliament and the Palestinian Cabinet, putting it in charge of most government functions.

Prime minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas planned to deliver a televised speech later today to discuss the situation.

The latest wave of fighting broke out last week, with tensions heightening after president Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah announced plans to call early elections over the weekend. Hamas has condemned the plan as a coup.

Today's fighting began after a member of the Fatah-controlled intelligence service arrived at the hospital with a broken leg. He was accompanied by two armed colleagues. Hamas militiamen guarding the hospital blocked the entry of the armed men and attempted to arrest them.

When more Fatah forces arrived on the scene, they were fired upon, sparking the gunfight, Fatah officials said.

Hamas accused Fatah of storming the hospital, and said a 23-year-old member of a Hamas police unit was killed. It also said one of its men was kidnapped, describing the incident as "an awful crime committed by elements affiliated with the general terror services".

The battle raged for nearly an hour, sending children scurrying for cover as they made their way to school.

Rival gunmen took up positions of rooftops, some firing rocket-propelled grenades at each other.

The fighting later spread to one of the main offices of the intelligence service, which was attacked by mortars and grenades, security officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Supporters of the rival factions each took to the streets in Gaza. Fatah posters condemned the growing chaos. One read: "There is no bread left and no security, what else?" Another showed a woman embracing her child and saying "where are the killers?"

In the northern town of Jebaliya, about 50 pro-Hamas schoolchildren stood on a roadside holding posters that said "No to chaos. Yes to our good government."

The children waved to passing motorists, and Hamas militiamen patrolled major intersections.

Hamas and Fatah representatives reiterated their commitment to preserving Sunday's truce, but the latest fighting signalled the deal has all but collapsed.

"What is going on is a violation and sabotage and I have called on both parties to shoulder their responsibility and to end what is going on in the streets," said Ibrahim Abu al-Najah, a mediator who sponsored Sunday's truce. "No one is taking advantage of what is going on except for the enemy of the nation."

The truce brought a relative lull to Gaza yesterday, but after nightfall the fighting quickly resumed. Gunfire could be heard throughout the night around the area of Abbas' Gaza residence and the pro-Fatah national security compound.

There were no reports of injuries, but Palestinian ambulances said they came under fire in the exchanges. Abbas was at his headquarters in the West Bank.

Another brief gun battle broke out in the morning as masked gunmen opened fire on presidential guards who were manning a roadblock at the entrance to Abbas' home. Abbas was in Ramallah at the time.

Tensions have been high since Abbas' efforts to form a moderate unity government with Hamas collapsed in late November. Abbas had sought a coalition in hopes of ending international sanctions against the Hamas-led government, which has been isolated due to its refusal to recognise Israel.

The tensions turned violent last week after three young sons of a Fatah security officer were gunned down. The fighting worsened after Abbas' announcement on Saturday that he would call new elections to end the impasse.

Prime minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who has said the party would boycott a new vote, planned to deliver a major speech later today, his office said.

Despite the fighting, Abbas yesterday said he would push ahead with the new elections. With prime minister Tony Blair by his side, Abbas also reached out to Israel in hopes momentum toward peacemaking would provide an electoral edge over Hamas. The United States tentatively endorsed Abbas' call for early elections.

"My understanding of this is that - within the basic law - that this is not prohibited," McCormack said. "It's not specifically accounted for, but it's not prohibited."

An opinion poll indicated Abbas was in a tie with the most popular Hamas politician, prime minister Ismail Haniyeh. Abbas' aides said he hopes his new decisiveness, coupled with progress in negotiations with Israel, will boost his popularity.

Abbas also said he was ready to meet with Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert.

After meeting with Blair late yesterday, the Israeli leader said he hoped to have a summit with Abbas "very soon" and said officials from both sides were working on the preparations.

The house of Hisham Al Ja'fari, in the eastern part of Hebron city, was attacked in the morning. Troops searched the houses, damaged some of the family belongings and abducted three of Hisham's sons, Iyad, 24, Mohamed, 22, Ahmad, 20.

Both Mohamed and Ahmad were released after being detained for several hours and questioned by the Israeli army while Iyad was moved to a detention camp, controlled by the army, the family reported. Also, in the city of Hebron, Israeli troops raided resident's houses in the Al Arob refugee camp and took Khadir Al Najmah, 23, prisoner.

Khalil Al Jundi, 33, his brother Tha'er, 21, and Yousif Al Suwiti, 25, were taken away when Israeli forces invaded Dora village near Hebron city and attacked the resident's houses. Palestinian sources stated that both Khalil and Yousif are security officer in the Palestinian security forces in Hebron city. In addition, troops abducted Khalil Zuhur, 30, after surrounding and searching his house in Beit Kahil village just outside Hebron city.

The Israeli forces also abducted on Monday morning Hamza Izrikat, 23, from nearby Tafuha village, north of Hebron, after Israeli soldiers forced the family of 12 members into one small room of the house, then searched and ransacked it.

Elsewhere, south of Hebron city, troops attacked Sourif village assaulted residents and their houses and searched them before taking Ibrahem Abu Farah to an unknown detention camp, his family reported.

Sources stated that Rami Innab, 25, a leader of the Aqsa brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, was killed and his two companions Imad Abu Mussallam and Talal Abu Lail were wounded and taken prisoner near Al-Ittihad hospital in the city.

Eyewitnesses reported that the three were attacked by an Israeli army unit who were traveling in a white civilian car that resembled an ambulance.

Witnesses added that the troops of the undercover unit opened fire after Innab was killed and the other two were wounded, which prevented medics from providing the needed medical treatment for the wounded although they were technically inside the hospital.

The Innab family said Rami is the fourth family member to be killed by the Israeli and they have vowed revenge.

Moreover in the Al Eein refugee camp in the western side of Nablus, medical sources reported that Amar Zaqzuk, 24, died on Tuesday morning due to wounds he sustained last week after being shot by invading Israeli troops into the refugee camp.

When Fatah lost power to Hamas in January, Fatah needed to avail itself of the democratic benefits that accrue to those who lose power in an election: the opportunity to reconnect with their constituents, to learn why it had lost and how to regain their people's trust. Instead, the "international community" told Fatah it was still in power and had to contnue to play this role or take responsibility for abandoning its suffering people to an even crueller fate.

What we are witnessing today is the horrific and inevitable outcome of a process of deliberate coercion, designed to force an occupied people to surrender their elected representatives. That this coercion is being carried out by the military occupier Israel and its neocon backers in the US administration is to be expected - and resisted. What is harder to understand is just how this coercion can be so flagrantly insisted upon by the British and the EU - who should be standing by the Palestinians, if not for the values of decency then as part of their responsibilities as co-signatories to the fourth Geneva convention.

The Palestinian people have indeed already spoken: for elections to the Palestinian National Council; for lifting the economic boycott of a democratically elected authority; for liberty and independence.

- Karma Nabulsi, a former PLO representative, is an Oxford politics fellow commentisfree.co.uk/karma_nabulsi

"I did a degree in pedagogy, and wanted to be a teacher," the 23-year-old explained. Instead he is unemployed and spends his days sleeping. "I can't marry, because I have no money to feed a family. So I have a lot of time to kill."

And he does that sitting in semi-darkness. The streets of the Shati refugee camp in the north of Gaza City are so narrow that hardly any light shines into his family's two-room apartment. An old man is perched outside, selling moldy bread as feed for chickens and goats. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh only lives a few streets away. The Hamas leader didn't move out of the slum following his election to the post of prime minister -- a fact that earns him great respect amongst his followers.

But Ahmed Kahlout is too apathetic to become a radical, despite things going so badly for him. In this respect he is like most of the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million inhabitants: they get on with lives that are marked by poverty and despair. They live an existence in which the bloody conflict between radical Hamas and the seemingly corrupt Fatah is just one more misfortune.

The Gaza strip is just 40 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide (25 by 6 miles) -- and for years it has been a byword for misery. This year has been even harder for its inhabitants to bear. To understand the sheer scale of the misery, one has to visit John Ging. He is the director of the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA), the body that has been dealing with the Palestinians since they were expelled following the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948.

"Living in one big prison"

The statistics that the Irishman reels off speak for themselves: 89 percent of the population is poverty-stricken, living on less than $2 a day. Over 60 percent are unemployed, and since the election of the Hamas government in January, international aid has dried up. It had been used to pay the salaries of public officials. Now, even those who have jobs have been thrown into poverty, meaning that over 860,000 people in the Gaza Strip are now living on food parcels distributed by the UNRWA. Over half of the population.

But the real drama, says Ging, is that the Palestinians are "effectively living in one big prison." After the withdrawal of Israeli troops last year, there was a feeling of optimism -- that just as quickly turned into hopelessness. "Everyone was counting on an economic upswing once the border with Egypt was open," Ging says.

Instead, trade has come to a virtual standstill as the border has remained mostly closed. Israeli pressure has ensured that the border crossing for people at Rafah is only open 14 percent of the time. And only 14 trucks get through the crossing at Kareni every day -- instead of 400 originally planned. It is the only crossing for those goods not produced in Gaza and thus have to be imported from Israel.

"According to the Dec. 5 treaty on the freedom of movement, the Rafah border can be open if European observers are present," says Ging. However, these observers live in Israel and Israel can use their discretion to prevent them from crossing into the Gaza Strip. "That's how you close a border."

Travellers are not the only ones affected. Farmers who used to export their fruit and vegetables to Israel are now stuck with them. That is the daily lunacy of the Gaza Strip: there are plenty of tomatoes in the markets, but no fish. The chunk of land is on the coast, but the fishermen are only rarely allowed to go out to sea by the Israelis. And frozen fish seldom makes it over the border from Israel.

"No one has any money"

Mahmoud Abu Djayab operates a repair shop for electrical goods in the central market, and he has more work than ever. People can't buy any new appliances, so they need to get even the most worn out cooker fixed. "But that's no use to me," complains the 51-year-old. "All that I have earned is a book full of IOUs. Everyone is living on credit. No one has any money to pay me."

The Palestinians are largely dependent on outside aid. In this February file photo, a man prepares bags full of food from the EU for Gaza City residents.
Ging doesn't blame the Israelis for everything. When he speaks about Hamas, his voice is filled with anger: "Hamas knew that the money would stop flowing if they didn't maintain relations with the international community," he said. "But they didn't do it anyway. That was irresponsible. The party took into account the fact that the people would suffer." He says that international donors have the right to stop their aid payments. "But then they can't act surprised when the psychological strain leads to a greater tendency towards violence." The fact that the Palestinian government was 70 percent dependent on foreign aid wasn't considered either. "The absence of aid deliveries caused chaos."

As bad as the economic situation is for the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, the psychological strain is even worse. "In the past people hoped that the Israelis would leave. Today there is no more light at the end of the tunnel," Ging says. Morale is terribly low. People feel oppressed. Hopelessness leads to despair, which in turn leads to violence. What worries Ging is that a lost generation is growing up. "Just try inspiring a young person to learn, when he knows that after school absolutely nothing awaits him."

Ahmed Kahlout had finally woken up, and he even put on a shirt and trousers for his visitor. But he remained uncommunicative. No, he had no idea what he would be doing in five years time. No, he wasn't political and he hadn't bothered voting. "The civil war will eat everything up anyway," he said. To John Ging "the Palestinians' spirit isn't broken yet, they have the will and the ability to organize their own affairs." But the UN man may be a bit too optimistic.

After an hour, on this bitterly cold day, the soldier returned the woman's ID. He simply took it out of his pocket and gave it to her. Clearly she was not a "security threat". Detaining her, frightening her, and publically humiliating her, were blatantly intended to make sure she would not attempt this journey again. I was enraged. The soldiers are boys with guns and egos. They have so much power in a situation that is impossible for them to understand with their conditioning and youth.

At this same checkpoint, in this same period of time, another situation was unfolding. It was hidden away and not for public view. I became suspicious and approached a soldier and border policeman; it was then that I saw a boy of around 15 years, sat hunched behind a concrete bollard, hidden from view, his face wet with tears. He looked petrified. He has good reason to be.
Every single person in Palestine will know someone who has been arrested or detained. Ill treatment is commonplace, and torture is far from being eradicated. I have no idea how long the boy had been held for. He was in tears as the soldiers were speaking to him, but fortunately he was "allowed" to go.

Recently I was travelling through Nablus to a nearby village, the taxi driver pointed out a street where, just half an hour before, the army shot dead a man. Apparently a targetted assasination. Five other people were injured, one seriously. "Normal life" (whatever 'that' is living under
Occupation) continues just a few streets away.

My time here is coming to a close, I am in a quiet, reflective mood. From all the conversations I have had, with countless people, two things are screaming out for attention. One is the overriding sense that things are getting worse. And worse. And worse. I was not here during the bloody years of the Intifada, but I think it is absolutely vital to understand that although the bloodshed and violence is less, the situation is worse. The oppressive control, which works on every level, mental and physical, is steadily going to new levels. One of the women I am working with grew up under Apartheid in South Africa. Along with several other South African activists who are here in the West Bank, she says that Apartheid here is 'even worse' than it was in South Africa. This has not been said lightly. The other thing I am forever requested, "tell people what is happening".

The vote was passed by 46 votes in favor, from the rightwing and centrist parties, while 9 MKs from Meretz and the Arab parties voted against.

The government is seeking the extension despite the harsh criticism leveled at it by the High Court of Justice. Meretz has already informed Attorney General Menachem Mazuz of its intention to petition the High Court if the bill is passed.

The government rushed to bring the bill to a vote as the current Temporary Order is only valid until January 16, 2007, and must either be extended or replaced before that date. Last month, the Ministry of Interior's legal adviser, Yehuda Zameret, issued a memorandum of the new draft law.

The bill also calls for the expansion of the law to cover several "threat states," presumably mainly Arab and Muslim countries.

The bill gives Israel the right to reject an applicant who meets all the criteria "if in the applicant's country of residency or if within his vicinity of residence activities liable to endanger the security of the State of Israel or its citizens take place."

This clause ostensibly gives Israel the right to reject any resident of the Palestinian Authority or any Arab country.

On May 2, 2002 the government decided for the first time to freeze all family reunification proceedings between residents and citizens of Israel and residents of the PA, on the grounds of "increasing involvement by Palestinians from the region [i.e. the PA - Shahar Ilan] with Israeli identification cards as a result of family reunification, who exploited their status in Israel to engage in terror activities."

In mid-2003 the cabinet resolution became a Temporary Order, which has since been extended three times. In mid-2005 certain provisions were relaxed to enable family reunification in cases where the husband is at least 35 and the wife at least 25 years old.

On May 14 of this year, an 11-justice panel of the High Court approved the Temporary Order by a vote of six to five. Former Chief Justice Aharon Barak, siding with the minority, argued that "the appropriate goal of increasing security is not justifying severe harm to many thousands of Israeli citizens."

Zameret's memorandum, on the other hand, claimed that the draft bill is in keeping with the High Court ruling according to which accommodation must be available to deal with exceptional humanitarian cases.

After seeing the heightened pace of building in Quneitra last week, Bar-On concluded that the Syrians are treating the areas near their border with Israel as the future permanent border, focusing on civilian rather than military construction as in the past. The minister said that Israel must take the same approach, and expedite construction in the area.


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Bar-On's hosts in the Golan, Golan Regional Council Head head Eli Malka and Katzrin council head Sami Bar Lev, pointed out the new construction in Quneitra and told the minister that Syria is also conducting a media campaign to attract new residents to the Quneitra area, using incentives.

Bar-On has recently expressed firm opposition to the idea of negotiating with Syria, on the grounds that Syrian President Bashar Assad should not be given support, particularly while he is still part of the "axis of evil."

"Talk about the Golan Heights harms the defensive wall built by the international community and by Israel against the axis of evil," Bar-On said. "The Golan Heights should be treated as a region of Israel in every respect."

Bar-On has said that accelerating the development of the Golan is not a provocation of Syria but rather an expression of both sides' acceptance of the future border.