Israeli Fire Kills Top Palestinian Militant

The leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade militia in the Balata refugee camp and two other Palestinians were killed Wednesday when Israeli tanks fired shells at the camp, witnesses and the military said.

Witnesses said Israeli forces on Mount Gerizim, overlooking the camp, fired shells at the camp cemetery, hitting three activists who where sitting there. One of the dead was Mahmoud Titi, 30, leader of the militia, affiliated with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

The Israeli military said its forces killed Titi. In a statement, the military described Titi as a "senior terrorist" who was responsible for many attacks against Israelis. The statement said that after the attack, Israeli forces left Palestinian territory.

Palestinians picked up nail-like fragments from the exploded shells, indicating that they were deadly flechette explosives. Human rights groups have charged that their use is against international law, but the Israeli military has admitted to using them in the past. The military had no immediate comment.

Israel has killed dozens of suspected Palestinian militants in what it calls "targeted operations." Palestinians call the attacks assassinations aimed at wiping out their leadership.

The other two dead in the Wednesday attack were identified by residents as Iyad Abu Hamdan, 22, and Imad Al-Khatib, 25. Salah Sanakreh 35, who lives near the scene, said he heard five tank shells explode. He said the bodies were badly mutilated by the blast.

The Al Aqsa group has claimed responsibility for many attacks against Israelis during nearly 20 months of Palestinian-Israeli violence. Militia members and leaders were key targets of Israel's recent large-scale military assault on the West Bank.

Titi took command of the Al Aqsa militia after Nasser Awais was arrested during the incursion. At first it was reported that Awais was killed in the fighting, but later he was detained in a nearby village by Israeli forces.

In a March 8 interview, Titi told The Associated Press that his goal was to build a Palestinian army that would hunt and kill Israeli soldiers and settlers. Until then, he said, his men were examining maps of Israel to pick out targets for attacks.

"Many of us know Israel very well and know the restaurants, cinemas and theaters," Titi said in the interview.

Fatah activist Kamal Tirawi admitted that the Israelis have killed the top local leaders of the Al Aqsa militia. "There is nobody left from the main leaders but as you know, as long as the (Israeli) occupation is still around, the resistance will continue," he said, minutes after the attack.

In other news, 12 Palestinian militants began a life in exile on Wednesday, flying out of Cyprus to other European countries under a deal which ended a siege by Israeli forces of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.

European Union states squabbled for nearly two weeks to iron out details of where the Palestinians would move to following their temporary stay in Cyprus.

A total of 13 Palestinians were flown to Larnaca in Cyprus on May 10 under the agreement to end the standoff at the Bethlehem church -- one of the flashpoints of Israel's incursion into Palestinian controlled areas launched after a series of suicide bombings which killed scores of Israelis.

Three of the men flew out of Larnaca on a private Italian plane early Wednesday morning and nine others left on a Spanish transport aircraft a little later. The 13th remained in Cyprus.

The Spanish plane made a brief stopover at Athens International Airport where the men disembarked to freshen up. Two of the militants remained in Greece and seven others boarded again for their onward flight to Spain.

Spain and Italy are taking three men each, Greece and Ireland two each and Portugal and Belgium one apiece.

The deal to end the siege at one of Christianity's holiest shrines was believed to be the first in which Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat agreed to the exile of a Palestinian by Israel.

Of the 13, three are members of the Islamic militant group Hamas and most belong to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade. Hamas and Al-Aqsa are responsible for most of the 60 suicide bombings that killed dozens of Israelis since the current bout of Palestinian-Israeli violence began nearly 20 months ago.

They were among about 200 Palestinians, including several dozen gunmen, who ran into the Bethlehem church on April 2 to flee Israeli troops advancing as part of a major offensive in the West Bank following a wave of suicide bombings in Israel.

Also on the West Bank Wednesday, Palestinian witnesses say Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian near a checkpoint on the road from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. The army had no immediate comment on the incident.

Israeli forces also arrested a Palestinian woman in the West Bank city of Tulkarem. Israel Radio said she is a suspected suicide bomber.

The army also announced Wednesday it has blocked off a main intersection in Gaza, cutting off the movement of Palestinians between the northern and southern parts of the Strip in response to mortar bomb attacks on Jewish settlements.

In political developments, Arafat hosted diplomats from the United States, United Nations, Russia and the European Union, and they endorsed his proposals for new elections and government reforms.

The reforms "are an important first step toward the achievement of the vision which we all share, the establishment of a democratic, secure and economically viable Palestinian state, alongside and at peace with Israel," U.N. Mideast envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said after the talks at Arafat's office in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

Arafat has come under pressure from Western countries, as well as the Palestinian people, to restructure his government, widely seen as corrupt and inefficient. While he issued a general call for changes last week, he has not announced an election date or said when other changes might take place.