Palestinian medical sources confirmed the death of two Palestinians and the serious injury of three others in an explosion, which took place Sunday afternoon in Gaza City.
Earlier, two other Palestinians died in separate incidents in the West Bank (WB) cities of Hebron and Jenin, witnesses and medics said.
In Hebron, Israeli forces Sunday shot dead Omar Radi Mahmoud Aqilan Huweisha, 28, witnesses said. They added that Israeli soldiers opened fire at the victim and left him bleed to death, preventing any attempt of evacuating him, WAFA reported.
Earlier, on Saturday overnight, Israeli troops killed one man and arrested two others in the town of Arrabeh, near Jenin, witnesses said. They said that Mohammed Al-Haj was killed when an Israeli undercover unit opened fire at a civil "Opel" vehicle in the town.
On his part, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview aired on Sunday that the era of suicide bombings may be over. Abbas, who was in Washington last week to hold talks with U.S. President George W. Bush, said Palestinian-Israeli violence was down 90 percent in the past four months and he was optimistic for the future.
Asked in an interview with ABC's "This Week" whether the era of suicide bombing was over, he said: "I believe it is over." "We have started to deal with the culture of violence, we stopped the culture of violence and the Palestinian people have started looking at it as something that should be condemned and it should stop."
Meanwhile, the Israeli cabinet approved Sunday the release of some 400 Palestinian captives as a "gesture of goodwill" toward Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in keeping with previous agreements. According to Haaretz, the cabinet approved the move by a 18 to 3 majority.
