GAZA CITY, July 1: Two Palestinians, including a nine-year-old boy, were killed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip on Thursday as 35 suspected militants were detained in a major operation in the West Bank town of Jericho.

Meanwhile, a day after ordering the government to change the route of parts of its West Bank separation barrier, the supreme court also called a temporary halt to work on another section.

The youngster, who was identified as Omar Mohammed Abu Zreihan, died after being shot in the head during an incursion in the Brazil neighbourhood of the southern Gaza town of Rafah, medical sources said.

Around 15 armoured vehicles had entered Rafah, which was the scene of a major Israeli offensive around a month ago, in an operation that the army said was designed to find tunnels used to smuggle in weapons under the border with Egypt.

An Israeli source had no information on the fatal shooting but said that there had been "several incidents in which Palestinians launched anti-tank missiles and threw grenades at the forces. Our forces returned fire."

His death brought the overall toll since the September 2000 outbreak of the Palestinian intifada to 4,140, mostly Palestinians. Medics also said that they had received the body of a 26-year- old follower of Hamas shot dead in a gunfight with Israeli forces in northern Gaza.

Ismail Nabhan was killed in exchanges of fire around Jabalya, next to the town of Beit Hanun, where soldiers are involved in a large-scale operation designed to put an end to the firing of rockets on southern Israel.

Around a dozen other Palestinians were also wounded on Thursday afternoon, including a number who were hurt when a helicopter fired a missile, according to an Israeli army spokesman. Palestinians said another missile landed in a field but did not cause injuries.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) of allowing the sleepy West Bank town of Jericho to become a "shelter for terrorists" and moved in to arrest around 35 suspects.

At least 20 jeeps and five tanks moved into Jericho at around 5:00 am (0200 GMT), with aerial cover provided by two helicopters, where they remained for around five hours. All entrances were sealed off while a curfew was imposed.

The sound of sporadic gunfire could be heard throughout the morning as troops searched through houses although only four injuries were reported. Jericho is the only autonomous Palestinian town that has not been reoccupied by the army at any stage since the start of the intifada but the Israelis have long believed its status has enabled it to become a hiding place for some of the most wanted militants.

The commander of the operation, Colonel Roni Belkin, said that the army had decided to act after repeated requests to the Palestinian Authority to carry out arrests themselves had failed to bring action.

"We have found that Jericho has come to be a shelter town for terrorists," Belkin said. "Most (of the detained suspects) were managing terror or had committed terror acts themselves. Despite repeated requests to the PA apparatus, no action had been taken."

He said that around 35 people had been arrested, from a variety of Palestinian factions. Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat, who is himself from Jericho, slammed the latest violence for undermining efforts to advance the peace process.

"These acts will destroy all the efforts that are being made to end the crisis in the peace process and to bring stability back," he said. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was expected to convene senior security and legal officials later on Thursday to discuss a new route for the West Bank barrier, a day after the supreme court ordered modifications near Al Quds.

The judges ruled that while the barrier could be justified for security reasons, the army was also bound to take into account the impact on residents. The ruling will mean changes to a 30-kilometre stretch of the barrier that affects around 35,000 Palestinians.

Defence ministry director general, Amos Yaron, voiced fears the ruling could lead to a delay lasting up to six months. The government plans to complete the whole 700-kilometre-long project by the end of next year.

The court also ordered on Thursday a temporary freeze on construction of a small section near Jerusalem. Locals in the village of Nuuman want the barrier's route to be altered to ensure they are on the Palestinian, rather than Israeli, side. -AFP