MIDDLE EAST: Tensions increase ahead of Middle East peace conference

Violence surged in the Middle East on Sunday (November 25) on the eve of a U.S.-hosted Israeli-Palestinian peace conference. Israeli forces killed a militant in the West Bank and two others in northern Gaza, Palestinian sources reported, while tight security in and around Jerusalem remained high due to an alert on a plot to attack Israeli targets. An Israeli army spokeswoman said troops operating in the West Bank city of Tulkarm shot two Palestinians who were wanted by Israel, killing one and wounding the other. A Palestinian security official identified the dead man as a member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. Elsewhere, in northern Gaza, Israeli troops shot and wounded three Palestinian militants, Gaza medical workers reported. The sources said the three were injured during a fire exchange in the northern town of Beit Lahiya and were evacuated to a nearby hospital. In an earlier incident, Israeli troops killed two Palestinian militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Local residents said the forces operated close to the Mghazi refugee camp in the central part of the Gaza Strip. An Israeli army spokeswoman said troops had spotted two men wearing magazine belts, one of whom was armed. The soldiers opened fire at the pair when they came close to the troops. A spokesman for the militants said one of the men was a member of the Islamic Jihad group and the other was aligned with the Popular Resistance Committees. Israel has stepped up air strikes and military incursions since Islamist Hamas seized control of Gaza in June. In Jerusalem, Israel boosted security amid concerns that Palestinian militants had infiltrated the holy city, intending to carry out an attack on Israelis. Hundreds of policemen and security personnel were deployed across Jerusalem, manning roadblocks and causing long traffic jams.

ITN Source | November 25, 2007

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