Israeli troops enter Palestinian town

A boy whose relative was killed in clashes is comforted by a Palestinian policeman

JERUSALEM -- Israeli troops briefly entered the Palestinian-ruled town of Beit Jala Sunday amid gun battles in which a Palestinian man was killed.

Israeli tanks pounded buildings in the West Bank town during several hours of fighting which Palestinians said was unprovoked but the Israeli military said followed gunfire on nearby motorists.

And in a further blow to U.S. and European peace efforts, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was reported by Reuters as having swiftly rejected an international inquiry's recommendation for a freeze on Jewish settlements on occupied land.

The dead man has been identified as Mohammed Abayat. At least 20 other Palestinians were hurt Sunday, including two young children, according to hospital sources.

AUDIO CNN’s Jerrold Kessel: Israel enters Palestinian-controlled area 1.06 MB/98 secs. AIFF or WAV sound Mitchell Report denounces Jewish settlement growth 690K/64 secs. AIFF or WAV sound    TIMELINES Recent acts of violence in the Middle East:  • Bombings  • Activist deaths

The Israeli army said one of its soldiers was lightly injured.

The Israeli tanks and other armoured vehicles advanced several hundred yards into the town, witnesses said.

Beit Jala, with the nearby Jewish enclave of Gilo, has been a flashpoint between the two sides since the Palestinian uprising began in September.

Altogether the conflict has so far claimed around 500 lives -- the vast majority Palestinian.

Sunday's action was the first drive into a self-ruled West Bank area since Israel handed over Beit Jala along with other parts of the West Bank under peace deals in December 1995.

Similar Israeli incursions into Gaza have brought strong criticism from the United States and other nations.

Violence elsewhere Sunday saw a woman slightly injured by an explosive device left in a rubbish bin in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv during rush hour.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Israel would only agree to discuss the findings of the U.S.-led Mitchell Commission into the violence, as suggested by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, once the violence ends.

"It can't happen as long as there is still shooting. Either there is shooting or there are talks," Peres said in an interview with Israel's Channel Two Television.

The Mitchell Commission submitted a draft of its report Friday which did not blame either side for igniting the fighting, but called on both parties to work for an end to the violence.

Israeli secuirty forces examine the scene of an explosion

The Palestinian Authority is believed to have accepted the commission's findings as a basis for helping end the conflict.

The draft called for a halt to construction on settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, but did not recommend sending an international force to the region, as Palestinians have been demanding.

Sharon's government has said it does not plan to build new settlements, but will permit more construction at existing settlements to accommodate population growth.

The Palestinians view settlements as a major obstacle to peace and see allowances for "natural growth" as a cover for expansion.

Sharon's aide, Cabinet Secretary Gideon Saar, told Army Radio Sunday that a demand for a freeze on settlements ran contrary to the committee's own recommendation that the sides adhere to signed agreements, Reuters reported.

"In the agreements, it was never determined that there must be a complete freeze of the settlements, and certainly this is a matter which, based on the agreements, must be settled between the Israelis and Palestinians in the permanent agreement," he said.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, Sharon plans to ask his cabinet for a $375 million increase in funding for Jewish settlements.

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