An Israeli soldier searches a Palestinian youth for breaking the daily curfew in Al-Khalil

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, January 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A Palestinian fighter, who infiltrated a hardline Israeli settlement near Al-Khalil Friday, January 17, was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces early Saturday, January 18.

The resistance activist was one of two who infiltrated the settlement of Kiryat Arba outside the flashpoint West Bank city of al-Khalil where they killed an Israeli settler and wounded two others, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

One of the two fighters was shot at the scene but the other managed to break out of the settlement's security perimeter and escape towards Al-Khalil.

Israeli occupation forces had launched a massive manhunt to track him down.

Around 600 hard-core Jewish settlers (according to foreign pacifists and reporters, always heavily-armed and on the rampage most of the time) live in Al-Khalil, guarded by Israeli soldiers, separating them from the 120,000 Palestinian population of the city.

The latest Palestinian death brings to 2,873 the number of people killed since the outbreak of the Palestinian Intifada 28 months ago, including 2,133 Palestinians and 684 Israelis.

Hamas Claims Responsibility, Pledges to Continue Resistance

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Saturday claimed responsibility for the Kiryat Arba  attack.

"Two of our heroic combatants attacked an Israeli settlement near Al-Khalil in reprisal for the murder of (Palestinian) civilians and the destruction of our houses," said a statement from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

"We will pursue our operations and the resistance for as long as the (Israeli) occupation lasts," it stressed.

"Our martyrs will strike until we have recovered our lands and our rights."

On Friday, Abdelaziz Rantisi, a leading Hamas figure, said the resistance group would taker part in the Cairo inter-Palestinian talks but would not end resistance against the Israeli occupation or abide by a one-year truce.

"When Israel withdraws its tanks from our (occupied lands), when the occupation forces stop killing our people, tearing down our homes, abducting our children, women and men… We repeat, when that happens, then and only then will we stop our resistance operations, not a minute before," Ismael Abu Shanab, another Hamas leader, told al-Jazeera Satellite Channel Friday.

Hawkish Sharon Still Leading Opinion Polls

In Israel, hawkish Prime Minister Ariel Sharon maintained a comfortable lead over Labor leader Amram Miztna just 10 days before parliamentary elections, after emerging unscathed from corruption charges against both his right-wing Likud party and his family.

Opinion polls credited Likud with a lead of between 10 and 15 seats over Labor, leaving Sharon in pole position to form the next government.

But polls suggest he will need the support of at least 30 MPs from other parties to form a viable coalition.

Mitzna has pledged not to join any government led by Sharon, in a move many analysts say has cost him the support of centrists who would like to see a broad ruling coalition.

But other analysts argue that the Labor leader already has his sights on the following elections, which he believes may not be far away.

"In the long-term, it will enable Labor to be better-prepared for the next elections," the top-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper said.

"Mitzna is convinced that Sharon's government will not survive more than a year," wrote the paper's chief editorialist Nahum Barnea, arguing that a narrow right-wing coalition would collapse under US pressure for a Palestinian state or be torpedoed by Israel's mounting economic woes.

The attacks came as Palestinian factions were preparing to meet in Cairo to discuss the future of their 28-month-old uprising and as Hamas said it had no intention of declaring any truce.