Palestinian policeman, Jewish settler killed

From CNN Correspondent Jerrold Kessel

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- A Palestinian policeman was killed in an exchange of gunfire with Israeli troops Tuesday in southern Gaza just hours after a Jewish settler was shot and killed on the West Bank.

The violence continued as Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres visited the United States saying the Israelis and Palestinians now had an "understanding" of how a cease-fire might work.

Palestinian officials, however, dispute that there is any understanding.

AUDIO CNN's Jerrold Kessel: Wave of attacks amid violent rhetoric   800K/74 sec.   AIFF or WAV sound Peres and US talks bring hope for a truce   980K/90 sec.   AIFF or WAV sound     MESSAGE BOARD Mideast peace

The Palestinian policeman was killed during a gunfire exchange at Rafah near the border with Egypt, according to Palestinian officials.

The Israel Defense Forces said their tanks and bulldozers were fired on by Palestinians and IDF troops responded.

The settler, Assaf Hershkovitz, 31, was killed when his car was ambushed and overturned between Ofra and Beit El on a bypass road, Israeli officials said.

Hershkovitz' father was killed in January when his car was attacked in a similar ambush on another West Bank road.

Israeli authorities said another Israeli motorist, from Beit Shean was lightly wounded after Palestinians opened fire on his car in a drive-by shooting Tuesday near Nablus, north of where Hershkovitz was attacked.

The militant wing of the Islamic group Hamas claimed responsibility for the killing of Hershkovitz. It said his death was in retaliation for the killing of two Hamas activists when a bomb exploded in a house in Gaza on Monday.

Another explosion ripped through a house Monday night in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank city of Ramallah, killing three people, including two children, and injuring several others people, the Palestine Red Crescent said.

Palestinians charged that Israel was behind the West Bank bombing, saying the man who was killed was wanted by the Israelis for allegedly luring an Israeli man into an area where he had been killed.

Palestinian Minister of Information Yasser Abed Rabbo said the bombings appeared to be a serious escalation.

"Well, these explosions are very serious incidents and we are investigating them and it looks like Israeli agents were behinds these incidents," he said. "This is a very dangerous escalation from the Israelis and this will lead to more deterioration in the situation. The Israelis are claiming that they want a cease- fire but at the same time they send their agents to explode civilian targets killing children and here in Ramallah yesterday we lost two children and there were other victims in Ramallah and Gaza."

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer denied that Israel was behind the bombings. He called them workplace accidents and said Palestinian accusations were "preposterous."

Marwan Barghouthi, a leader of the Palestinian Fatah movement in the West Bank, said Palestinians would escalate their intifada against Israel.

Dore Gold, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, blamed the Palestinians for the continued violence.

"Israel has been willing to work with the Jordanian-Egyptian initiative to bring the current round of Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians to an end. Unfortunately, this morning we have seen the response from the Palestinian side to the Jordanian-Egyptian initiative. The murder of an innocent Israeli civilian by Palestinian terrorists," said Gold.

Peres was at the United Nations Monday where he told U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan that Israel was taking steps to ease the lives of Palestinians in a gesture aimed at coming to terms on a cease-fire.

Peres, who visited Amman and Cairo over the weekend to discuss the Jordanian-Egyptian peace proposal, also will meet with President Bush.

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