Palestinians search through the rubble of a building dynamited by the Israeli army in Askar refugee camp in Nablus

NABLUS, West Bank, Aug 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli occupation forces stormed this West Bank town Friday, August 8, killing four Palestinians and wounding five others, triggering criticism from the Palestinian Authority and retaliation threats from the resistance group Hamas.

According to Palestinian sources, Israeli occupation forces besieged a four-storey house near a chewing gum factory overlooking Askar camp.

"Believing Hamas cadres were inside, Israeli soldiers broke into the building, backed by helicopter gunships which fired missiles on the third floor causing its collapse and killing two Hamas activists," they added.

The Israeli Yediot Aharonot reported, for its part, that Israeli commandos pushed into Nablus late Thursday to hunt for "wanted" Hamas members.

After laying siege to a residential building and asking those holing inside to get out, Israeli forces came under fire from the third floor window, triggering a shootout, the paper argued.

It said that with the early hours of Friday, the Israeli army ordered residents of the building's lower floors to evacuate, and then blasted the whole building to make sure that no one would survive.

The two Hamas activists killed in the Israeli incursion were identified as Khamis Abu Salem, 22, while the second was identified as Fayez Assader, 26.

An Israeli army spokesman was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as claiming Abu Salem was not the target of the raid and was gunned down after opening fire on Israeli troops.

A 20-year-old Palestinian died from bullet wounds after throwing stones at Israeli troops in a street protest over the incursion while another, 41, died after inhaling tear gas sprayed by Israeli soldiers.

Five other Palestinians were moderately injured in the same incident, sources in the local hospital said.

The Israeli army had earlier announced that Staff Sergeant Roi Oren, a 20-year-old marine commando, had died in an exchange of fire.

The deaths brought to 3,393 the number of people killed since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, including 2,557 Palestinians and 775 Israelis, according to an AFP count.

Not To 'Stay silent'

Smoke rises from a building during the Israeli army incursion that left four people killed

Responding to the Israeli killing of its two members, Hamas vowed it would "not stay silent".

"This is flagrant violation of the truce by the Zionist enemy," Ismail Abu Shanab, a senior Hamas political leader in Gaza, told AFP.

"Hamas will discuss this aggression but we cannot be silent about this violation and aggression."

Hamas was one of a several  Palestinian resistance groups which announced it was suspending attacks against Israel for three months to give room for the implementation of the roadmap peace plan.

But it attached a raft of conditions to the truce, including "an immediate halt to all types of Zionist aggressions".

Violence has drastically diminished in the past few weeks but Israel says the truce is unilateral and it is not bound by its terms.

"This violation shows the Zionists have no respect for the hudna," Shanab added, using the Arabic for truce.

However, senior Hamas leaders said the group was still committed to its decision to halt anti-Israeli attacks.

Its armed wing, the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, explicitly called on members to avenge Friday's killings.

A statement issued by the Brigades called "on all cells to answer this crime and teach the enemy the right lesson.

"The crimes of the Zionist enemy, perpetrated against our people, and its daily violations will not go without the enemy paying a commensurate price."

Asked whether the statement meant the truce was over, Hamas political leader Abdelaziz al-Rantissi said: "Hamas is still committed to the truce it declared but, as it said in recent statements, Zionist violations will not go without being answered."

More Clashes

In another Israeli aggression, three members of Fatah military wing were injured in an ambush by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Israeli forces blocked and opened fire on ambulance vehicles while trying to evacuate the wounded, al-Jazeera reported, quoting Palestinian sources as saying one of the wounded was still held by the occupation forces.

The Israeli army broke into a neighborhood in the city under allegations of hunting "wanted" Palestinians, but were met by stiff resistance, the Qatar-based channel reported.

The Fatah military wing Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades vowed "harsh" response to the ambush of its members.

Fatah had declared a six-month suspension of attacks against Israeli targets on June 29.

"Local inhabitants were used by the sweeping forces as human shields to break into and destroy the house and others nearby," the Authority charged in a statement.

Lead To 'Failure'

Palestinian government officials also said the ceasefire and any possible extension may have been compromised by the bloody Nablus incursion.

"Are these brutal aggressions a practical translation of the roadmap as understood by the Israeli government,?" The Palestinian Authority wondered in a statement.

It stressed that Israel should be held accountable for the repercussions of its aggressions and disrespect of the ceasefire.

The PA statement, carried by the Palestinian news agency, accused the Israeli occupation forces of using Palestinian civilians as human shields in storming the building in Askar camp.

Palestinian Culture Minister Ziad Abu Amer recalled "we had a lot of meetings last week and we reached a very positive positions from factions.

"But I see the Israeli army are trying to prevent us from reaching any positive agreement with the factions," added the man who was a key figure in negotiating the ceasefire with the resistance groups.

Amr predicted the truce could collapse as a result of Friday's assassinations.

"The continuance of this action from the Israeli army will lead for sure to a failure of the truce," stressed the Palestinian minister.

Also, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's aide Nabil Abu Rudeina lambasted the Israeli incursion as a brazen "violation of the truce."

Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush signed Thursday, August 7, a six-month executive order authorizing the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to maintain its offices in the U.S., the White House said.

The order extends similar ones signed by Bush to conform with a congressional vote on U.S.-PLO relations.

The State Department 2003 budget bill passed by Congress alludes to the PLO's 1993 commitment to recognize Israel's right to exist, accept U.N. Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 (which Israel refuses to implement), peacefully resolve its differences with Israel and renounce terrorism and all other acts of violence.

'Indicted'

"I see the Israeli army are trying to prevent us from reaching any positive agreement with the factions," said Amr

In the meanwhile, two Israeli settlers were formally indicted Friday for possessing explosives which had been stolen from the army to carry out anti-Arab attacks, according to judicial and security sources.

Yitzhak Pass from the Jewish quarter of Al-Khalil (Hebron) and his brother-in-law Mattatyahu Shvu were arrested last month.

They have been accused of transporting four kilograms of explosives which had been stolen from an army base in occupied Jerusalem with a view to carrying out anti-Arab attacks, judicial sources said.

Eight blocks of explosives were discovered in Pass's car when it was stopped on July 17, a statement from the Shin Beth security service added.

The international community deems Jewish settlements illegal since they are built on Palestinian land captured by Israeli army.