Scuffles Kill Four In Mideast

An Israeli soldier and a Palestinian gunman died in a night-long gun battle in the tense city of Hebron, ending early Tuesday when Israeli forces destroyed a building where the gunman was holing up. In Gaza, Israeli forces killed two armed Palestinians near a Jewish settlement.

Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat spent Tuesday studying a parliamentary measure to name a prime minister with authority over internal affairs, sending the bill to a committee instead of signing it as expected.

The Palestinian parliament on Monday approved the new position of prime minister as part of reforms sought by the United States, Europe and Israel to curb Yasser Arafat's near absolute powers.

Arafat nominated his deputy, Mahmoud Abbas, an advocate of peace with Israel and critic of the Palestinian uprising.

However, CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger reports the powers of the prime minister appear to fall short of U.S. and Israeli demands: Arafat will retain control of security forces and peace talks. The new prime minister will deal largely with internal affairs, including naming and supervising Cabinet ministers. The U.S. and Israel want to sideline Arafat because of his alleged involvement in terrorism.

Israeli spokesman Ra'anan Gissin called Abbas a good choice but "we want to see what kind of authority this new prime minister will have."

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher emphasized that the prime minister must have powers and authority.

"I think the bottom line for us is that there was a significant definition of powers and that we look forward to seeing it work out in practice and how it works out in practice," Boucher said.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom on Tuesday, according to a statement from Shalom's office.

It said Shalom told Powell of the importance of giving Abbas "responsibilities over the areas of security and foreign affairs, because if Arafat continues to concentrate authority over those areas in his hands, there will be no progress in relations between us and the Palestinians."

President Bush has said the Palestinians have to choose new leaders as a precondition for statehood.

Meanwhile in Hebron, Israeli soldiers early Tuesday fired a tank shell at a building and then tore it down after an exchange of fire with Palestinian gunmen that went through the night. The body of a gunman was found in the rubble.

An Israeli soldier was killed and five wounded in the exchange, the Israeli military said. The Islamic Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical PLO faction, claimed responsibility for the shooting.

The confrontation took place along a road used by Jewish settlers to walk from Kiryat Arba to Hebron, a few hundred meters away, on their way to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, burial side of biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and three of their wives. The site is holy to Jews and Muslims.

Arafat reluctantly agreed last month to name a prime minister, after balking at the idea — which has become popular among Palestinians as well — for months. His critics remain skeptical about Arafat's intentions, saying that while the appointment of a prime minister could be presented as genuine reform, they expect the Palestinian leader to put up a fight over relinquishing power.

"It would be a radical change for someone other than Arafat to be exercising broad powers," legislator Ziad Abu Amr said Monday. "I don't think it will be easy for this prime minister to extract power from President Arafat."

Israel and the United States insist that Arafat hand over authority to a powerful prime minister, retaining only a ceremonial role for himself. The two countries have banned their officials from meeting with Arafat, charging that he has not taken steps to stop Palestinian violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ruled out peace talks with the Palestinians until 29 months of violence are halted, but he has had meetings with Abbas.

Many Israeli leaders have met Abbas and favor his appointment, noting that he is an outspoken critic of attacks on Israelis.