1 Palestinian killed, 3 hurt in clashes with IDF troops in Nablus

Israel Defense Forces troops scouring a West Bank militant stronghold killed a Palestinian and wounded three others in clashes with stone-throwers on Saturday, witnesses and medics said.

Before dawn Sunday, the IDF demolished the house of a wanted Tanzim man in the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus, Army Radio reported. Troops are searching for the suspect, who Palestinian sources said was involved in shooting attacks and in sending terrorists into Israel, according the radio.

Meanwhile, witnesses to the clashes with stone-throwers said Regai Rayan, 20, was fatally shot in the chest while confronting troops who have stepped up searches in the Balata refugee camp, in Nablus, since a suicide bomber from the nearby village of Beit Furik killed four Israelis in a suicide bombing at a bus stop near Tel Aviv on Thursday.

The IDF, which has effectively bisected the bustling valley city during the 10-day operation, said it had used only "non-lethal" means to disperse the crowds during a day of rioting in which Palestinians had fired guns and thrown bricks and Molotov cocktails at soldiers.

The army said it was investigating the report of a fatal shooting.

The three Palestinians wounded were hit in the legs by bullets, medics said.

A government spokesman said the Nablus sweep was made in response to intelligence alerts of imminent militant attacks.

"These are routine anti-terrorist operations," said Avi Pazner of the Prime Minister's Office. "Israel will not allow Nablus to become the springboard of Palestinian terrorism against Israel."

A large number of IDF troops accompanied by tanks carried out operations Friday night against the terror infrastructure in the vicinity of Nablus, Channel Two television reported.

The army clamped a full curfew on the city, and two batallions of paratroopers were performing searches in the Balata refugee camp, the report said.

At least 70 people were detained for questioning during the operation, Palestinians said.

In separate incidents, some 1,000 Palestinians demonstrated against the West Bank separation fence Saturday, near the city of Qalqilyah, Israel Radio reported.

Several dozen youngsters hurled stones at IDF troops, and in the ensuing skirmish, four Palestinians suffered light injuries from tear gas grenades thrown by the troops.

In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an IDF patrol near the Gaza separation fence in the south of the Strip. No injuries were reported.

Victims of Geha road suicide bombing laid to restThe four Israelis killed in Thursday's suicide bombing were laid to rest on Friday afternoon. Killed in the attack were Corporals Angelina Shcherov and Rotem Weinberger, both 19 of Kfar Sava, Staff Sergeant Noam Leibovitch, 21 from Elkana, and Adva Fisher, 19, of Kfar Sava.

Earlier Friday, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz met with senior Israel Defense Forces, Shin Bet, and police officials to weigh Israel's response to the suicide bombing.

The forum decided that the full closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip would remain in force, although the Palestinian towns and cities themselves would not be under curfew.

Army Radio reported that Mofaz was told at the meeting that there are currently 50 terror alerts being handled by the security establishment, and that Palestinian terror groups are formulating plans for particularly bloody attacks.

The radio also said that intelligence sources warned Mofaz of growing anarchy within the Palestinian territories. In response, the defense minister told security forces to do all they could to seal up the route used by the terrorists who carried out Thursday's attack.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the bombing in a call to The Associated Press, saying it came in retaliation for the killing of two of its members last week. The group identified the bomber as Said Hanani, 18, from Beit Furik, a east of Nablus. Early Friday morning, troops entered the village and razed the Hanani's family home - a policy Israel said it would continue to use as a deterrent measure.

"This is the first operation in a series of retaliations. We swear to make an earthquake in the Zionist entity," the PFLP statement said, referring to an IDF raid on Nablus last week.

The blast took place at one of several bus stops under the Geha bridge on Jabotinsky Street, between Petah Tikva and Bnei Brak. The explosion reduced the bus stop to a skeletal frame and brought rush-hour traffic on one of Israel's busiest roads to a stop.

Rescue workers had difficulty reaching the scene because of heavy rush hour traffic at Geha, a major junction just outside Tel Aviv where Palestinian workers routinely gather to wait for people to pick them up for potential jobs, Tel Aviv district police commander Yossi Sedbon told Channel Two television.

"This is an area where illegal Palestinian workers gather. A few months ago we arrested more than 100 Palestinians who were here illegally," Sedbon said.

The wounded were evacuated to Beilinson Hospital and Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv. By Friday morning, 11 of the wounded remained hospitalized, none of them in serious condition.

"Tonight's attack is another indication that the Palestinian Authority's terror industry is always ready to strike Israel at any opportunity," said David Baker, an official in the Prime Minister's Office.

Mofaz: Assassinated Jihad man planned 'mega-terror'A half-hour before Thursday's suicide bombing, IDF Apache gunships fired missiles at a car travelling in the Gaza Strip, killing the head of the Islamic Jihad's military wing in the Strip, Makled Hamid. Two other Jihad members were killed in the attack, as were two bystanders.

Mofaz said Hamid, 39, was planning a huge terrorist attack. "In the early evening hours, the military worked to foil what I would call a mega-attack in the Gaza Strip," he said, without elaborating.

It was the first air strike of its type in more than two months. IDF spokesman Capt. Jacob Dallal described Hamid as a "ticking bomb," and said Hamid "was behind a long, long list of terror attacks, and he was in the midst of planning a major attack."

Baker said security forces had prevented 22 suicide attacks within Israel since the previous attack within the Green Line took place on October 4. In that attack, a suicide bomber blew herself up at the Maxim restaurant in Haifa, killing 21 people. "This goes to show that Israel cannot let its guard down," he said.

The army received a warning Thursday afternoon that terrorists might try to infiltrate the Sharon region to carry out an attack, but the warning was not considered extreme enough to warrant setting up roadblocks in the area.

	Palestinians protesting against the West Bank separation fence near the city of Qalqilyah, Saturday.