NICOSIA Ñ Palestinian groups based in Damascus are quietly threatening to strike Israeli targets from Lebanon.

The threat is seen as a challenge to the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah, which controls southern Lebanon. Hizbullah is said to have stopped most Palestinian plans to attack Israel since its withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000.

Lebanese sources said Hizbullah has refused to include Palestinians in border attacks on Israeli military outposts. These include those of two missile attacks last month.

The Syrian-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command is said to be clamoring for a role in attacks against Israel. The sources said the PFLP-GC, led by former Syrian officer, Ahmed Jibril, has threatened to launch its own operations amid a lull in activities.

So far, the Palestinian group helps Hizbullah in intelligence gathering along the Israeli border. The group has sent its fighters for several infiltration attempts of Israel.

The goal, the sources said, is for a PFLP-GC hang-glider attack similar to that carried out in 1987. There, a Palestinian insurgent flew into Israel and killed six soldiers at a base near the Lebanese border.

On Tuesday, three Palestinians were killed after they opened fire on an Israeli army patrol near Nablus. An Israeli officer, Captain [Res.] Eyal Sela, 39, was also killed in the gun battle which lasted close to an hour. Israeli military sources said the three Palestinians belonged to different Palestinian groups Ñ Hamas member Iyad Khatib, 28, Fatah member Jamal Abu Maluh, 22, and Ali Abu Hijleh, 22, of the communist People's Party Ñ currently cooperating in attacks against Israel.

In the neighborhood of Abu Dis, near Jerusalem, Israeli security forces thwarted a terror attack. Israeli forces stopped a taxi transporting seven Palestinians en route to Jerusalem. One of the passengers then tossed a bag containing explosives out of the vehicle. Security forces arrested four of the passengers.

In Jenin, two Palestinians were killed when a car bomb exploded. The two men, Majdi Jaradat, 32, and Ikrima Istiti, 37, belonged to the military wing of Fatah, the Tanzin.

In Ramallah, Israeli troops withdrew from the West Bank city amid reports that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has drafted a new peace plan together with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres. In Brussels, Peres met with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and reiterated that Israel adhered to the Mitchell plan.

On Wednesday, a Palestinian was killed and five others wounded, one seriously in clashes with Israeli troops near the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim in the Gaza Strip. Earlier, Palestinians fired three mortars towards the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom in the southern Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported.

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