Nablus, West Bank — Palestinian militants carried out a string of attacks Sunday in the northern West Bank, including a morning ambush that killed a Jewish settler.
The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were in response to an Israeli raid last weekend that killed its leader.
Israel's Shin Bet security service chief Avi Dichter also warned the Cabinet Sunday that Jewish militants are becoming increasingly extreme and may try to disrupt the planned evacuation of West Bank settlements, a government official said.
Mr. Dichter said Jewish militants had recently attacked an army officer in Jerusalem because he had helped dismantle a synagogue at one of the settlement outposts, according to the official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, the Israeli army killed a gunman who fired at soldiers guarding a Jewish settlement near Nablus. Palestinians said the man was a local leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian militants fired a barrage of rockets against Israeli targets, despite a broad operation in the northern Gaza Strip to prevent the attacks. No injuries were reported.
Also Sunday, Israeli border police killed a Palestinian laborer just west of Jerusalem. The man had been driving a van full of workers who had entered Israel illegally, police said. They said the man had ignored orders to halt and was shot after he tried to flee from the vehicle.
Before fighting broke out nearly four years ago, thousands of Palestinian laborers used to work in Israel. Travel into Israel has been sharply restricted, but many laborers sneak into the country from the West Bank each day in search of jobs.
Police said the Justice Ministry was investigating the shooting.
The West Bank ambush occurred at dawn near the Palestinian town of Jenin, the army said. The driver of the car, a resident of the nearby Jewish settlement of Mevo Dotan, was killed and his wife was being treated for shock.
Militants later attacked a bus traveling on a road near the Jewish settlements of Kadim and Ganim, the army said.
Engineering crews in Kadim also were targeted by gunfire and residents were asked for a short time to stay in their homes, the army said. No injuries were reported.
The Al Aqsa brigades, which is loosely linked with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, said it had stepped up violence in response to Israel's killing last week of senior militants, including its top local leader.
The latest violence threatens to complicate Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements next year. Kadim and Ganim are among the West Bank settlements slated for evacuation.
Mr. Sharon has said the pullout will help improve Israel's security. But violence has spiked in Gaza ahead of the pullout.
Sunday's rocket attack occurred shortly before the Israeli Cabinet held its weekly meeting, where the latest violence in Gaza was on the agenda.
The Israeli army said four rockets were fired toward the Israeli border town of Sderot and a Jewish settlement in Gaza.
A rocket attack in Sderot last week that killed two Israelis, including a 3-year-old boy, sparked a broad Israeli army operation in northern Gaza.
Six Palestinians, including two boys ages 9 and 16, have been killed in the campaign in the farming town of Beit Hanoun.
Early Sunday, Palestinian gunmen fired at Israeli troops in Beit Hanoun. Seven tanks moved into the area and a helicopter gunship fired machine guns. There was no word on casualties.
Israeli armored bulldozers blocked off dirt roads leading out of the town Sunday to prevent militants from moving around. But Palestinians in donkey carts could be seen on alternate pathways.
Troops have isolated Beit Hanoun from the rest of Gaza and razed agricultural land. The army says militants use orchards for cover when firing rockets at Israel.
Despite the army's presence, Palestinians have continued to launch the crude, homemade rockets almost daily.
Hard-liners who oppose Mr. Sharon's plan say removing Israeli settlements and a military presence from Gaza would put towns along the border at greater risk.
Egypt, which borders Gaza, has pledged to help train Palestinian security forces to ensure a smooth handover.
