February 4, 2003	Tuesday	Zul Hijjah 2,1423

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GAZA CITY, Feb 3: Two Palestinian farmers were killed by Israeli tank fire in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday as they were working in their fields, Palestinian security and medical officials said.

Heavy machinegun fire from the tank killed Salem Qdeha, 60, and Zuheir Abu Shaab, 35, and wounded another man and a woman, the sources said.

The Palestinians were working their fields in the area of Absan el-Kabeera, east of Khan Yunis and close to the boundary with Israel, when the tanks opened fire, they added.

Curfew imposed: Five Palestinian villages near the northern West Bank town of Jenin were placed under curfew and sealed off by the Israeli army on Monday, Palestinian security sources said.

They said two army helicopters were hovering above the area. The villages of Anin, Taybeh, Bartaa, Rumani and Zbuba lie on the Green Line which separates the West Bank from Israel, the sources said.

DEMOLISHED: The Israeli army on Monday demolished three Palestinian houses in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah near the Egyptian border, Palestinian security sources said.

Three bulldozers backed by four armoured vehicles entered dozens of meters into a Palestinian autonomous zone and razed the houses, the sources said.

The Israeli army regularly razes houses in Rafah, charging that these houses shelter Palestinian militants as well as entrances to tunnels which Israel says are used by Palestinians to smuggle in arms from Egypt.—AFP