A Palestinian and an Israeli were killed when a bomb went off in the northern Israeli town of Beit Shean, sources reported on Sunday.
According to AFP, the Israeli, from the nearby Shluhot kibbutz, was driving in his car when he spotted the Palestinian on foot and stopped to asked him what he was doing.
At that moment the bomber detonated his device, killing both men, AFP said, citing police sources.
It was reported earlier that the two killed were Palestinians on their way to carry out a suicide bombing, when the bomb went off prematurely.
An Israeli police officer had told AFP earlier that the two could have been transporting the explosives or on their way to plant the bomb.
The Tel Aviv-based daily Haaretz also said that the police suspected that the incident was a failed bomb attack.
The death toll from the year-old Palestinian uprising against 34 years of Israeli military occupation now stands at 866, including 667 Palestinians and 176 Israelis.
The incident comes a day after two Palestinian brothers were killed by Israeli tank fire in violent confrontations in the city of Hebron.
PA ARRESTS RADICAL INTIFADA SUPPORTERS
Meanwhile, citing the Israeli radio, Haaretz reported on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) had arrested four Hamas and Islamic Jihad members in the past 24 hours.
It added that two of the detainees were on a wanted list presented by Israel to the PA.
The Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite channel said that one of those detained was Abed Al Said, head of the military wing of the Hamas Islamic resistance group.
Haaretz added that the PA called Friday for Palestinian organizations to adhere to the ceasefire with Israel declared on September 26, warning that measures would be taken against groups that did not stem their resistance activities.
Marwan Barghouti, a leader of the Fateh movement in the West Bank, defied Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s orders to adhere to the ceasefire, saying that the Itifada would continue.
"This uprising didn't begin with a decision and will not end with a decision from anyone," Barghouti said Friday before a Palestinian cabinet meeting.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have both said they will not stick to any ceasefire agreement as long as there are Israel settlers, who have flooded the Occupied Territories in violation of international law and the 1993 Oslo peace accords.
Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres appeared confident that Palestinian state would be created thanks to what he described as a "historic compromise" between the two sides, AFP reported.
Peres, who is on a visit to Germany, said in an interview published in the weekly Bild am Sonntag on Sunday: "We must arrive at a historic compromise with the Palestinians. A Palestinian state will be created."
While recognizing Arafat as the uncontested leader of the Palestinian people, Peres exhorted him to put an end to the continuing "violence."
"If Arafat fails to rein in the extremists then there will be more attacks, an escalation of the violence and war," he warned – Albawaba.com
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