Israeli troops Tuesday evening shot dead two Palestinians in the West Bank. The Israeli military said the incident took place near the settlement of Bracha, near the Palestinian city of Nablus, and both the Palestinians were carrying assault rifles.
Palestinian sources said the two belonged to Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades cell from the Balata refugee camp. Al Aqsa members said the two armed men were guarding an abandoned Palestinian house near the settlement and were killed by Israeli troops without provocation. Al Aqsa members indicated they would retaliate.
Also Tuesday, Palestinian sources said a settler shot dead a 15-year-old Palestinian boy identified as Bala'a Hani. Another Palestinian was wounded in his leg.
Earlier in the day, Israeli army chief Moshe Ya'alon on Tuesday said that the military opposed transferring the West Bank village of Uja to the Palestinian Authority, thus dismissing Palestinian claims that an agreement had been reached with Israel on the handover of Jericho and its outskirts.
On Tuesday morning, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that he had reached agreement with Israel on the handover of Jericho to Palestinian control, after resolving a last-minute dispute over the size of the pullback and the removal of roadblocks.
However, the Israeli Prime Minister Office said in reaction to Erekat's statement that negotiations were still underway, but that at present no new agreement with the Palestinians over the handover has been reached.
It should be recalled that last week Israel agreed in principle to hand Jericho to Palestinian control, but the two sides have been at odds over the size of the area from which troops would withdraw.
Saeb Erekat, who met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's aide Dov Weisglass late Monday, said on Tuesday that Israel agreed to handover Uja and remove the main checkpoint. "The problem has been sorted out last night," Erekat said, adding that security commanders were meeting Tuesday to work out the details. However, Weisglass, for his part, said the issue was not raised in his talks with Erekat.
