AL KHALIL, Jan 30: Israeli troops and armour stormed into Al Khalil on Thursday while undercover troops killed two in Tulkarem, as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon tried to corral the Labour party into a national unity coalition.

Israeli public radio said the Al Khalil operation, which could last several days, came in response to a series of attacks in the areas which have killed 22 soldiers and Jewish settlers since November.

Israeli officials said five Palestinians were detained as 20 armoured vehicles deployed in the city centre. Palestinian officials said the troops had also shut down a television and two radio stations.

Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz warned this month the army would crack down in the Al Khalil area, where Palestinian militants have carried out a number of successful attacks on Jewish settlers and the soldiers protecting them.

Around 600 hardline settlers live under massive Israeli army protection in Al Khalil, surrounded by about 120,000 Palestinians.

A Palestinian militant was also killed in a raid by an undercover Israeli unit on a cafe in Tulkarem, while a second man identified as a civilian was killed in the crossfire. Another six Palestinians were wounded.

And Israeli troops also wounded 20 Palestinians in clashes during a foray into the northern West Bank village of Tamun, near Jenin, the village mayor said.

Two other Palestinians were injured by Israeli tank fire on their taxi in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said.

An Israeli army official said the tank fired on suspects spotted preparing to fire a home-made Qassam missile into Israel. A dozen such rockets have been fired in the past week, provoking an army raid into the centre of Gaza City last Saturday night which left 13 Palestinians dead.

The raids came just two days after Mr Sharon was returned to office — the first premier to be re-elected since the 1980s — on a renewed pledge to break the 28-month Palestinian uprising that has cost close to 3,000 lives.—AFP