Palestinian areas sealed off

Palestinians said Jewish settler blocked roads leading to villages around Ofra, where three Israelis, among them a woman settler, were shot dead by a Palestinian commando Monday.

The renewed clampdown on Palestinian areas came after earlier Israeli sanctions were lifted in mid-October following a Palestinian- Israeli agreement at a summit in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, to end the disturbances.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak returned directly to Israel from the United States where he held inconclusive talks with President Bill Clinton on ways to end the bloodshed.

He cancelled a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair planned in London on Tuesday to convene an emergency cabinet meeting at home to discuss the escalating violence.

In the West Bank leaflets by the Palestinian Fatah organisation circulated, calling on Palestinians to expel the Israelis from the occupied territories, including from annexed Arab East Jerusalem.

Palestinian President Yassir Arafat on the periphery of a summit of Islamic leaders in the Gulf state of Qatar met a leading member of the radical Islamic Hamas organisation to coordinate actions against Israel, Israeli radio reported.

Four Palestinians were killed in clashes between the Israeli army and Palestinians on Monday. A fourth Israeli, a truck driver, was killed by a Palestinian commando in the Gaza Strip.

More than 215 people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed in the unrest since the end of September.

(la/dpa)