One Israeli policeman was killed and several people were reported injured, one of them critically in an apparent suicide bombing near Umm al Fahm junction in Israel, not far from the border of the West Bank, Israel Radio reported.
Army Radio conveyed that the attack took place Wednesday afternoon at a bus stop, and the bomber detonated himself after spotting several policemen. The radio added that the bomber walked up to a police car, exchanged several words with the policemen, and then exploded.
Mahmoud Zahar, a spokesman for Hamas, welcomed the attack, saying that "the Palestinians have every right to fight against the occupation."
Shooting incidents
Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian early Wednesday in Tamoun, east of Jenin, when they opened fire on a car. The Palestinian was identified as Tarek Bsharat, 23, a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
He was killed in an Israeli raid by troops who also wounded and captured Ammad Bani Owdeh, 22, a member of the same group, Palestinians security officials said. Both men also belonged to Force 17, Yasser Arafat's presidential guard, officials said.
The mayor of the nearby town of Tulkarem, Bashar Bani Udeh, told AFP the two men were in a car when the soldiers attacked and then blew up their vehicle.
Also Wednesday, the body of an Israeli was found in a grove in the Palestinian town of al-Azzaria in the West Bank, not far from the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim, Israeli police said. The Israeli had been reported missing Tuesday. Police blamed Palestinian activists.
After the discocery of the body, the town was placed under curfew, and Israeli police launched a manhunt for the attackers. A police investigation indicated that the man had set out early Tuesday to buy construction materials in al-Azzaria.
In the afternoon, one Israeli was killed in a shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Mevo Dotan in the Jenin region. The Israeli worker, a resident of Jerusalem, was traveling north of Jenin when shots were fired at his car which apparently then spun out of control and crashed, Israel Radio reported.
Another passanger of the car was lightly injured, Israel Radio reported. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for this attack.
Elsewhere, a delegation of United Nations officials came under fire from Israeli troops as they toured Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, forcing them to take cover. Reuters reported no one was hurt in the firing by troops guarding the border fence with Egypt.
Quartet
Meanwhile, the international diplomatic "quartet" on the Middle East adopted a EU roadmap that envisions that creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
Top diplomats from the quartet -- the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations agreed to the outline after a series of three meetings that included separate consultations with Israeli and Palestinian officials as well as several Arab foreign ministers.
"The quartet is working closely with the parties and consulting key regional actors on a concrete, three-phase implementation roadmap that could achieve a final settlement within three years," the group said in a statement.
The first phase of the three-stage proposal calls for sweeping Palestinian security reforms and an Israeli withdrawal to positions held before the start of the ongoing nearly two-year-old intifada, or uprising.
It also calls for an Israeli-Palestinian security agreement to be concluded ahead of Palestinian elections in January. As part of the first phase, the quartet called for a ministerial-level meeting of aid officials to be held in November to assess the humanitarian conditions of the Palestinians.
Palestinians expressed disappointment with the roadmap, however, with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, in Ramallah, saying the outline was just a "general statement."
"It doesn't resolve anything," Erakat said, noting the quartet's failure to reach anything beyond the general timing of interim steps.
"We were hoping the quartet would stop the Israeli aggression, the siege and closure and the Israeli terrorism against our people in order to move on with the negotiations."
Erakat accused the quartet of "ignoring the timing" of Palestinian elections on January 20, saying the leadership had hoped the quartet would send international observers to help with the electoral process.
Cease-fire plan
In another development, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres' office, said the government had rejected a Palestinian cease-fire proposal during a meeting at United Nations headquarters in New York.
The proposal by Palestinian Cabinet Minister Nabil Shaath called for an end to Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians in a first phase and an end to all attacks in the second. Peres' office said the plan was unacceptable because it would allow attacks on those not classified as civilians during its first phase.
Shaath said the cease-fire also calls for an Israeli commitment to stop killing suspected Palestinian activists and destroying houses. "If Israel will do that, then this will pave a way for a comprehensive cease-fire, but unfortunately Mr. Peres said that he rejects it," the Palestinian minister said.
An Israeli spokesman, Raanan Gissin said Israel supports the Quartet's outline as a more detailed version of President Bush's vision of Mideast peace. "We accept the map as long as it all comes after a cessation of violence," Gissin said. "This obligates the Palestinians and that's why Shaath is opposed."
Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Wednesday he would settle for nothing less than a "total cessation" of violence. Speaking at the start of a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Sharon said that no progress could be made without "total cessation of violence and terror." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
