Armed Palestinian, teen killed in separate incidents in Strip

Israel Defense Forces troops killed an armed Palestinian man on Sunday evening near the Kissufim Crossing in the Gaza Strip. Troops spotted two suspicious figures close to the Mor bridge and opened fire, killing one. The man was named as Mahmoud abu-Amara. The second Palestinian managed to escape and soldiers are searching the area.

Also in Gaza Sunday, a 17-year-old Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli soldiers, residents said. They said he crossed in front of an Israeli tank in the town of Beit Hanoun, where Israeli soldiers have been posted for since May 15 to try to prevent militants from firing rockets. The military had no immediate comment.

Hamas man convicted of killing 66 IsraelisThe Beit El Military Court on Sunday convicted a Hamas man Abdullah Barghouti of killing 66 Israelis and injuring 500 people.

Barghouti did not contest the charges. He was brought before the Beit El military court, where he was indicted, pleaded guilty to, and convicted of building the bombs used in the attacks.

The defendant, his lawyer and the prosecutor had a short meeting, where Barghouti agreed to plead guilty, eliminating the need for a long trial.

Sentencing is set for July 13. The prosecution will not ask for the death penalty.

While sharing the same name, Abdullah Barghouti is not related to jailed Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouti, who is on trial in an Israeli civilian court for allegedly ordering militants in his Fatah faction to carry out attacks that killed 26 Israelis. The prosecution is to present final arguments in the Marwan Barghouti trial on Monday.

Abdullah Barghouti was convicted of making the bombs used in a number of high profile attacks in Jerusalem over the past two years: the bombing at the Hebrew University in which five Americans and four Israelis were killed, a suicide bombing at a branch of the Sbarro pizzeria in that killed 15 people in August 2001, the suicide bombing at the Moment Cafe that left 11 people dead and a triple bombing on Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall that killed 10 people.

Barghouti's defense attorney Taufiq Basul said Barghouti felt "his actions were legal as part of the game Israel is playing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip where there is a killing of Palestinians every day."

Barghouti was born in Kuwait to a Palestinian family. He came to the Palestinian territories in 1999, where he quickly rose in the ranks of the militant Islamic Hamas group, serving as the head of the military wing of Hamas in the West Bank from June 2001 until December 2002.

Barghouti was on a list of wanted men given to the Palestinian Authority with the demand that he be arrested. The Preventive Security forces did arrest him shortly before the Sbarro bombing. Barghouti refused to provide any information about the plot, and was later released, along with other suspected terrorists, when Israel assassinated PFLP secretary general Abu Ali Mustafa later in August 2001.

Troops arrest five Palestinians in Nablus Palestinians sources said Sunday that IDF troops had arrested five residents of the West Bank town of Nablus suspected of hostile activities against Israel. According to the Palestinian media reports, IDF troops entered the Ras al Ayin neighborhood, near Nablus's old city, and arrested the five early Sunday morning. The IDF has not yet confirmed the report.

A wanted Tanzim militia member was also arrested in Bethlehem Sunday, the IDF said.

In Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon, Border Police officers stopped a Palestinian woman carrying a large bag who was shouting, "Allah is great; I"m going to blow up." The officers searched the woman's bag, but found nothing. During questioning, the woman admitted that she wanted the officers to shoot her to put an end to the abuse she was suffering at home.

Mofaz: IDF not ordered to redeploy yet The IDF has not been given any orders to begin implementing the road map and to redeploy in the territories as the Palestinians are not yet ready to take over responsibility for security in certain areas, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told Israel Radio Sunday. The Palestinians have asked for more time to reorganize and to take measures to curb terrorism, the defense minister said.

Mofaz added that the success of the talks process depends mainly on the Palestinians' war on terror. "We are at the start of a long and complicated process," he said, "but we must give them a chance."

Mofaz also told Israel Radio that IDF troops would remain in the West Bank to respond quickly to any terror alerts now that the closure has been eased.

About 3,500 Palestinians holding valid work permits entered Israel on foot through the Erez crossing in Gaza on Sunday morning, according to Palestinian officials.

Mofaz lifted the closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip at midnight Saturday, ahead of a planned three-way summit on Wednesday between U.S. President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba.

Some 15,000 Palestinian workers and businessmen with permits will be allowed to enter Israel due to the lifting of the closure. In the course of the coming week, Israel is also expected to release some 100 Palestinian administrative detainees.

Palestinians trying to cross a checkpoint between the West Bank towns of Ramallah and Bir Zeit were forced to leave their cars behind and walk seven kilometers. Palestinian Labor Minister Ghassan Khatib said the gestures had little impact on the millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "The continuous Israeli statements seem directed toward public consumption," he said. "In practical terms, there hasn't been any change at all."

The decision came after Sharon and Mofaz held a series of telephone consultations about how to implement the confidence-building measures that Sharon had promised to undertake after his Thursday meeting with Abbas.

But speaking at Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting, Mofaz told ministers that Israel has recently foiled three attempts to bring booby-trapped cars into the country, as well as arresting several would-be suicide bombers.

An army spokesman said that despite the lifting of the closure, which was most recently imposed earlier in May after a wave of suicide bombings, troops would remain in the Palestinian areas.

Security sources said Saturday that in the last few days the severity of terror warnings has been reduced, in light of the efforts of the Palestinian leadership to curb terror organizations. The sources said that in order not take too high a risk, the army will reinforce vulnerable areas.

	A Border Policeman guarding Palestinians waiting to enter Israel in Bethlehem Sunday.
	Photo by: Reuters