Palestinian gunmen kill 3 Israelis

JERUSALEM -- Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a crowded bus stop near a Jewish settlement in the West Bank yesterday, killing three Israelis, in the deadliest Palestinian attack since Israel evacuated settlers from the Gaza Strip in August.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a group closely affiliated with President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack, which violated a loose cease-fire in place since February.

Shortly after the attack, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian militant in a gunfight near the West Bank town of Jenin.

The shooting was another sign that Abbas, who opposes attacks on Israel, has only tenuous control over the West Bank and Gaza. His failure to disarm militant groups is sure to be raised at his scheduled meeting in Washington this Thursday with President Bush.

Abbas condemned the anti-Israel violence.

The attackers discharged rounds of automatic gunfire from a speeding car during afternoon rush hour. At least six people were hit by bullets at the bus stop near Gush Etzion, a large block of settlements south of Jerusalem, doctors said. A 15-year-old was among the dead.

''There were people on the floor, wounded and bleeding," said Benny Kadosh, 44, a resident of Gush Etzion and a former security chief who rushed to the scene after getting a call on his cellphone.

''I've seen enough of them [attacks] in my time, and this one was a very bad one."

Minutes later, another Palestinian cell fired at Israelis near the West Bank settlement Eli, seriously wounding a 14-year-old boy. It was not immediately clear whether the two attacks were coordinated.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz of Israel convened top security officials, ordered the army to put more soldiers at checkpoints in the West Bank, and announced further restrictions on the movement of Palestinians, a measure viewed by rights groups as collective punishment.

''The Palestinians should know that whatever action they fail to take [to stop attacks], we will take," Mofaz told reporters before the meeting.

Shooting attacks at Jewish settlers, who number around 220,000 in the West Bank, had been a regular feature of the Palestinian uprising until Abbas corralled most armed groups into a truce with Israel eight months. Since then, violence against Israelis has dropped sharply.

Last month, Hamas militants abducted an Israeli civilian, Sasson Nuriel, intending to exchange him for Palestinian prisoners, but killed him before initiating negotiations with Israel.

Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, rejects demands by Israel and the United States to collect weapons from the factions, which include the Islamic Hamas group and gunmen identified with his own Fatah movement. In some areas of the West Bank, the plethora of guns has fueled an urban lawlessness. Gaza was the scene of a major gun battle between Hamas and Palestinian security forces earlier this month.

Lately, the internecine violence has surged. The Haaretz newspaper reported last week that for the first time since the uprising, more Palestinians died in the past year in internal fighting than in clashes with Israeli troops.

Ghassan Khatib, a Cabinet member in Abbas's government, said the Palestinian leader should be credited for bringing down the level of violence with Israel. But he said Abbas had failed to act against Fatah members who reject his policies.

''In Palestine, Fatah people are divided and though Abu Mazen is relatively popular, he needs to be more decisive with his own faction," he said in an interview.

Khatib said Abbas's critics intended to weaken him before his meeting with Bush. ''People in Washington should look at this incident as an attack physically on Israelis but politically on Abu Mazen and instead of blaming him, see how they can empower him."

Khatib said Abbas wants US pressure on Israel to stop settlement expansion and resume peace negotiations.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel has opted instead for unilateral measures, including the construction of a contentious barrier in the West Bank and the withdrawal this summer of troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip. He has also approved broad housing construction in some West Bank settlements.

Some of Sharon's right-wing critics said yesterday the Gaza pullout had emboldened Palestinian militants, contributing to the latest violence. ''The perception is that Israel is running away," Shaul Goldstein, head of the Gush Etzion regional council, said in an interview. ''Every time the Western world runs from terror, terror reaches out and attacks."

Goldstein said the army had relaxed its presence on the roads and at checkpoints throughout the West Bank in recent weeks to ease life for the Palestinians. ''The terrorists see this and they react."

Globe correspondent Alon Tuval contributed to this report.