TEL AVIV, April 3: A Palestinian infiltrated a West Bank settlement on Saturday and killed a Jewish resident before being shot dead, as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said he was unconcerned about Israeli threats to kill him.

A Palestinian infiltrated the Avnei Hefetz settlement near the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem and opened fire on a home, an Israeli army spokesman said.

A settler who went out to return fire was fatally wounded, and his wife lightly injured when she tried to drag him to safety. Soldiers shot the assailant dead, the spokesman said.

The deaths bring the overall toll since the start of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in September 2000 to 3,892, including 2,925 Palestinians and 898 Israelis.

But amid the bloodshed, Mr Arafat said he was unconcerned over veiled threats on Friday by Ariel Sharon that he might be the target of an assassination attempt.

"I don't care of it," Mr Arafat told journalists in English after a meeting with the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Monsignor Michel Sabbah, in the West Bank city of Ramallah.-AFP