Israel Delays Gaza Pullout

Sharon Pushes Back Evacuation Of Settlers Until Mid-August

(CBS/AP)  In Jenin, a militants' stronghold, dozens of Palestinian gunmen and police exchanged fire for a second day Monday. Mohammed Abu Arraj, the local leader of a faction with ties to Abbas' Fatah movement, said police shot him in the leg without provocation as he drove in Jenin, which is still under Israeli security control.

Police denied the allegation. But a dozen gunmen, responding to Abu Arraj's claims, opened fire on police in the streets, witnesses said.

Most shots were fired in the air, and hospital officials said there were no injuries.

Calm was restored after police reinforcements rushed to the scene from a nearby police station, and ordered people to leave the area. Abu Arraj and his men had a shootout with police on Sunday over his refusal to disarm before entering the local courthouse.

In the Gaza Strip late Sunday, two dozen masked Fatah gunmen briefly took over the local government building in Beit Lahiya, where Hamas militants won seven seats and Fatah six seats in recent local elections. They left at the request of Fatah officials.

Israel has demanded that Abbas disarm militants before it releases hundreds more Palestinian prisoners and turns over three additional West Bank towns to Palestinian control.

Israel halted the handover of West Bank towns last week, and on Sunday demanded that the Palestinian Authority crack down on militants before releasing other prisoners. The Palestinian government accused Israel of stalling and endangering moves to resume peacemaking.

While Palestinian police struggled to curb violence in their midst, Israel was trying to rein in its own extremists, putting a Jewish settler into detention for five months without charges or trial in a bid to pre-empt violence aimed at stopping Israel's Gaza pullout.

Israel frequently uses the practice, known as administrative detention, against Palestinians it considers a security threat, but it rarely employs it against Jews. But with Jewish extremists planning to resist the summer withdrawal, the army and politicians have discussed using the detentions to contain expected violence.

On Sunday, police arrested Neria Ofan, a 34-year-old West Bank settler, at an army roadblock, and said they plan to hold him until the end of September. Officials, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said Ofan was suspected of "involvement in terror."

Police found weapons and a sniper scope in his possession, security officials said. Ofan, who has been questioned by police in the past but never charged, was a sharpshooter in the army's undercover unit during his regular army service, they added.