January 19, 2003	Sunday	Ziqa'ad 15, 1423

AL KHALIL, Jan 18: Israeli troops on Saturday killed a Palestinian outside Al Khalil who carried out a deadly Sabbath attack on a Jewish settlement near the divided West Bank city, the army said.

In the Gaza Strip, like the West Bank rocked by a 27-month-old Palestinian uprising, a refugee camp resident was shot dead from a nearby Israeli army outpost, witnesses said.

The weekend violence coincided with a heightened Israeli military sweep for suspected Palestinian militants amid fears of a surge of hostility before Israel’s general election on Jan 28.

On Friday night, two Palestinians opened fire on a home near the Givat Harsina settlement, where a family with five children were celebrating the Jewish Sabbath. The father was killed, and his daughter and two dinner guests were wounded.—Reuters