Israel demands that Palestinians disarm militant groups

JERUSALEM -- Israel declared yesterday it would not hand over any more West Bank towns to Palestinian security forces until their government moves to disarm militant groups.

Exacerbating growing tensions between the two sides, a pair of Palestinian teens were shot to death by Israeli troops in the West Bank during a stone-throwing clash. Such deadly confrontations were common at the height of fighting over the past 4Æ years, but have become rare since a truce was struck in February.

The Israeli Army said the shootings in the village of Beit Lakia, 5 miles west of Ramallah, occurred after an army patrol was surrounded by a crowd of about 300 Palestinians, some of them hurling chunks of concrete.

A military spokesman said the soldiers opened fire with live ammunition after unspecified nonlethal measures -- a term the army generally uses to describe stun grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets -- failed to disperse the crowd.

''It was an absolutely last resort, used because this was a life-threatening situation," said the spokesman, who requested anonymity.

The confrontation erupted during a demonstration against the security barrier Israel is building in the West Bank. Palestinian medics and witnesses identified the two slain teens as cousins, ages 14 and 15.

Earlier, Palestinians angrily protested the Israeli decision to suspend troop pullbacks from Palestinian cities and towns. At a summit in Egypt nearly three months ago, Israel pledged to hand over control of five Palestinian communities to Palestinian security control.

Only two, Jericho and Tulkarm, have been turned over to Palestinian forces. Yesterday Israel put an indefinite hold on transfer of the remaining three towns: Kalkilya, Ramallah, and Bethlehem.

Palestinians voiced disappointment over the decision, which came at a meeting of Israel's security Cabinet, a small group of senior officials.

''The Israeli government is looking for excuses, however false, to avoid carrying out its commitments," said Nabil abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. ''This does not benefit efforts to build confidence."

Israeli media reports said there was no formal vote on freezing the handovers, but that the security body had acted in line with a recommendation by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz.

In recent weeks, Israel has been voicing increasingly sharp criticism of Abbas, saying he has not moved to rein in militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

How to deal with the militant organizations is a central point of contention between Israel and Abbas. The Palestinian leader has extracted a conditional pledge of calm from the main militant factions and has said repeatedly that he wants to use dialogue rather than head-on force to prevent a resumption of attacks.

Abbas has said that any attempt to seize the militants' weapons could lead to civil war, a view echoed yesterday by his security chief, Rashid abu Shbak.

''We are not going to let anyone push us into such a confrontation," Abu Shbak told reporters in Gaza City. ''The weapons of the resistance will not be touched."

One Israeli official said no move toward resuming negotiations is possible until Abbas's government cracks down on militants.

''It's regrettable, but there's no way we can progress if they don't dismantle the terrorist organizations," said Ranaan Gissin, an official in the prime minister's office. ''These groups are a major threat to [Abbas] to his rule, to the rule of law . . . They're holding a loaded gun to his head."

Although Palestinian militants have not carried out a suicide attack in Israel for more than two months, several would-be bombers have been apprehended recently, and Israel says many more plots are being foiled.

Israel also has complained about what it calls a revolving door when it comes to militants who are jailed by Palestinian authorities. A member of Islamic Jihad who was killed Monday in a shootout with Israeli forces in the West Bank had earlier escaped from a Palestinian jail. An Israeli soldier also died in the shootout.

Palestinians today hold elections for seats on 84 municipal councils in the West Bank and Gaza. Hamas, which won a first round of voting in January, was expected to again pose a strong challenge to Abbas's Fatah faction.