by James Hider
JERUSALEM, Dec 30 (AFP) - Six Palestinian militants on apparent attack missions were killed by Israeli troops in the northern Gaza Strip late Sunday, shattering a recent calm which has created expectations for the return of the US peace envoy.
Israeli security troops killed three armed Palestinian militants who were trying to enter Israel near the village of Beit Hanun and who, according to army radio, had bombs strapped to their bodies.
"Three armed Palestinians crossed the fence into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip. Security forces saw the Palestinians, called them to stop and tried to arrest them. In response one of them opened fire," according to a statement issued by the office Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Just hours earlier, Israeli troops killed three other armed Palestinian militants as they were apparently trying to break into the nearby Jewish settlements of Alei Sinai and Nitzanit, military sources said.
The militants were allegedly trying to smuggle a bag of explosives into the settlements, but were spotted by a patrolling armoured vehicle and killed by a tank shell, they said.
Before the deadly violence, Israeli government officials had said moves were underway to secure the return of US peace envoy Anthony Zinni to the region in a bid to hammer out a ceasefire after 15 months of fighting which has claimed more than 1,100 lives.
Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general, left the Middle East two weeks ago amid raging violence that torpedoed his peace mission.
"There are contacts with the Americans with a view to a return by Mr Zinni," said government spokesman Avi Pazner, who said the US envoy would be "welcome" in Israel.
Palestinian leaders had also been trying to persuade Washington to take advantage of a rare lull in the fighting, up until Sunday night, and renew its mediation efforts in the Middle East.
Hopes for a US return to the regional stage rose after a marked drop in attacks following a public appeal on December 16 by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, under Israeli military siege and huge western diplomatic pressure, to halt attacks on Israel that had triggered a massive escalation in unrest this month.
Sunday's six deaths made it the bloodiest day of violence since Arafat made his ceasefire call.
The Palestinian leader, meanwhile, issued a defiant message to Sharon that he is not a "finished man," referring to a decision by the Israeli cabinet earlier this month, following a wave of grisly suicide bombings, to stop doing business with him because he was "irrelevant".
He said in the interview aired late Sunday on Lebanese television that he wanted to remind Sharon that "many before him predicted my end but I am still here because I represent the Palestinian people".
Arafat also called on the international community to take advantage of the ceasefire to lobby Tel Aviv to relaunch the peace talks which have been completely abandoned.
"The international community must take advantage of the truce which we have declared to try and relaunch the negotiations," he said.
Arafat also touched on about a plan to create a fast-track Palestinian state on land under full or partial Palestinian control reportedly discussed by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and the head of the Palestinian legislative council, Ahmed Qorei.
"For now there has only been an exchange of ideas. We are ready to persevere on this path, but the problem is that Ariel Sharon says that he rejects the ideas of Peres," Arafat said.
However Peres said, during a cabinet meeting earlier in the day, that there were no political negotiations underway, only talks to thrash out a ceasefire.
Despite criticism from the powerful right-wing of the Israeli coalition in which he is the leading dove, Peres has said he will push on with his meetings with Qorei in the coming days.
Sharon told the cabinet there would be no political talks until there was a total ceasefire and that contacts would only focus on technical security issues, cabinet secretary Gideon Saar told reporters.
Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer, elected head of Peres' Labour party last week, told the meeting there had been a clear drop in violent incidents, but said it was not yet enough.
Ben Eliezer said Saturday night that the Palestinians were on the right path toward implementation of the Mitchell plan, an internationally approved blueprint for exiting the crisis.
"If the Palestinians continue their arrests and foiling attacks, I think we will enter into the Mitchell agreements," he said in a television interview.
The Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam said that eight Palestinian security officers arrested this month for anti-Israeli attacks had been sentenced by a security court to jail terms of between six months and one year, as well as being dismissed from service.
dg-dab/pvh AFP
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Received by NewsEdge Insight: 12/30/2001 19:00:51
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