GAZA
CITY, November 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Four
Palestinians were killed Saturday, November 8, by Israeli troops in
separate incidents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and his Premier Ahmed Qorei met to
finalize the line-up of a new cabinet.
In
the northern West Bank town of Jenin, a Palestinian teenager was
killed by Israeli fire in the village of Birkin Saturday morning in
the second fatal clash around this town, Palestinian security sources
and medics told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Separately,
a Palestinian youth was shot dead by Israeli soldiers Saturday morning
during clashes in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.
Mowataz
Amudi, 15, died and two other Palestinians were wounded as stones were
being hurled at Israeli troops, the sources said.
Two
Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers overnight near the
northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun, Palestinian and Israeli
sources told AFP Saturday.
An
Israeli military spokesman said troops had "spotted during the
night two suspects crawling toward the fence, in a prohibited zone
that has been the scene of numerous attacks.
"The
soldiers opened fired and the two bodies were recovered Saturday
morning," he said, without elaborating whether arms or explosives
had been found on them.
The
bodies of the two still-unidentified men were turned over to the
Palestinian Authority and taken to a Palestinian hospital, the
Palestinian sources said.
According
to Israeli daily Ha'aretz, an Israeli soldier was
lightly wounded Saturday during a patrol in the southern Gaza Strip,
near the border between Israel and Egypt.
The
new deaths bring to 3,603 the number of people killed since the
September 2000 outbreak of the Palestinian Intifada, including 2,688
Palestinians and 849 Israelis.
Qorei-Arafat
Finalize Deal
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A file photo of Arafat (R) and Qorei
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As
Israeli attacks continued to harvest more Palestinian lives, Arafat
met Qorei to finalize the line-up of the new cabinet after a
late-night compromise between the two in a row that has blocked the
government's formation for days.
At
Friday's crisis talks, Qorei gave in to Arafat over his choice of
Interior Minister.
The
premier's preferred candidate, General Nasr Yussef, has been dropped
to make way for close Arafat associate Hakam Balaawi, sources close to
the Palestinian leader told AFP.
But
Balaawi's responsibilities will be limited to civil issues, while the
all-important job of security will be handed to the Supreme National
Security Council, of which both Arafat and Qorei are members.
Yussef
may also be named as one of four deputy premiers in the new cabinet,
sources in the Fatah movement said.
However,
Qorei suggested that the issue still had to be resolved after his
one-hour meeting with Arafat Saturday.
"Discussions
are under way for the formation of the new cabinet," the premier
told AFP.
Friday's
compromise on the Interior Ministry followed three days of fierce
negotiations within the Fatah leadership over the key security
responsibility in the new government.
The
U.S. State Department said Tuesday it wanted the Palestinian premier
to have control of all Palestinian security forces.
The
new and enlarged cabinet, expected to be submitted to the Palestinian
Legislative Council Monday, will have around 20 members, including the
seven ministers in Qorei's outgoing "emergency cabinet".
