Israel fears Palestinian offensive against settlers

JERUSALEM — Israeli officials say the Palestinian Authority appears to be targeting Jewish settlers in its latest offensive in the war against Israel.

The officials said the recent spate of attacks on settlers came after PA Chairman Yasser Arafat apparently gave orders to his Fatah gunmen and their Islamic allies to target Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The officials said Arafat apparently feels that Jewish settlers could be killed without arousing international condemnation that the Palestinians are refusing to honor calls for a ceasefire.

The escalated violence comes as Israel and the PA met on late Tuesday in Ramallah to resume their security dialogue, Middle East Newsline reported. The meeting was sponsored by the United States and officials termed the session as stormy.

Hours later on Wednesday, Palestinian gunners fired mortars at the Jewish settlement of Rafiah Yam in the Gaza Strip. Earlier, two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up near the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim. The Palestinians detonated their bombs near an Israeli military position. Two Israeli soldiers were injured in the blasts.

In the West Bank, three Israelis were killed in two separate attacks. In one attack, two women were killed and five others were injured in a drive-by shooting south of Bethlehem near the Jewish settlement of Neve Daniel. The victims were U.S. citizens.

"We think that this [attack] comes from the PA," Col. Marcel Aviv, head of Israeli forces in the Bethlehem area, said.

Earlier, an Israeli security official was ambushed and killed in a Palestinian shooting attack near Nablus. The official was responsible for security of Jewish settlements in the northern West Bank.

Officials said both attacks appeared to be directed by the PA. Fatah claimed responsibility for one of the attacks on the settlers.

Palestinian attackers also targeted the Israeli highway that links Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. A five-kilogram gas cannister was attached to a bomb and left on the highway. The bomb blew up on late Tuesday and nobody was hurt.

On Wednesday Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops in the El Aroub refugee camp near Bethlehem. No injuries were reported.

The government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has given the PA until Thursday to end the violence, a senior official said. The official said the next two days will be spent in a U.S. and European Union effort to persuade Arafat to honor a ceasefire.

"There is no truth in the ceasefire," Fatah commander Hussein Sheik said.

In Gaza, the Fatah movement abducted two American journalists in a warning to the Bush administration to end its support for Israel. The journalists, identified as correspondents for Newsweek magazine, were released after being held for several hours.