Four Shot Dead by Israel Troops

Three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid on a southern Gaza Strip refugee camp. A fourth Palestinian was shot trying to scale a border fence out of Gaza and an Israeli man was killed by a gunman in the West Bank.

Violence has increased following a brief lull after Yasser Arafat’s death last month raised new hopes for peace in the Middle East.

Israeli soldiers opened fire in several instances at gunmen during a military raid in Khan Younis refugee camp launched in an effort to stop mortar attacks on nearby Jewish settlements, a military spokesman said.

Medics and witnesses said three gunmen were killed.

Dozens of Palestinian families fled their homes before armoured bulldozers arrived.

Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian who tried to scale the border fence out of the northern Gaza Strip.

A suspected Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli man west of the city of Hebron, military sources said. Soldiers launched searches in nearby Idna for the assailant, witnesses said.

The Israeli prison service published yesterday the names of 165 Palestinian prisoners who are expected to be released within the next few days.

A total of 113 of the detainees are fighters linked to the Fatah while the other 52 were jailed for illegally entering Israel, prison service spokesman Yaffa Zeinish said.

The releases were approved by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday as a goodwill gesture to the new PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who recently agreed to free an Israeli Arab who had been jailed in Egypt for spying.

No exact date for the releases to take place has been set but they are expected to take place within the next few days.

Meanwhile, municipal elections in scattered West Bank communities today will be the first electoral test for the Fatah party in nearly a decade as clan and family loyalties vie with political affiliation in the race for votes.

More than 150,000 Palestinians are eligible to vote in the elections in 26 communities, while voting in an additional 600 towns and villages, with a total of 1.2 million voters, will likely take place in 2005.

Fatah is facing a strong challenge from Hamas, which has gained popularity in recent years with its network of welfare services, schools and clinics.