Talks to end Arafat siege to resume Tuesday

A Palestinian man passes Israeli soldiers as he walks to his car Monday near Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Negotiations are set to continue Tuesday over the transfer of six Palestinian men accused of terrorism from the compound of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to a Jericho jail in exchange for Israel lifting its blockade of the compound, according to Palestinian sources. (Arafat compound)

Palestinians said they were waiting for a letter of guarantee from the United States and Britain that the jail facility would not be subject to raids or bombings.

U.S. and British officials plan to visit the jail site in Jericho Tuesday before continuing their meetings with the Palestinians.

In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was dispatching a State Department official to join the British advance team meeting with Israelis and the Palestinians, and that he expected the final details to be worked out within the next 24 to 48 hours.

"Hopefully a transfer will take place that will then allow Chairman Arafat to have the flexibility needed for movement around the occupied territories so he can take up his responsibilities once again to end the violence, end terrorism, and to rebuild the functioning structures, re-create functioning structures within the Palestinian Authority," Powell said. (Full story)

The U.S. and British unarmed civilians monitors would be used to make sure the prisoners were not released. In the past, Israel and the United States have accused the Palestinians of arresting suspected terrorists only to let them go a short time later.

U.S./BRITISH PLAN -- Israel will end monthlong siege of Arafat's Ramallah compound and allow him to move freely in West Bank and Gaza.  -- U.S. and British monitors will supervise six Palestinians wanted in Israel.     IN-DEPTH  CNN NewsPass Video    •  Palestinian politics  MORE STORIES   •  IDF: Arms workshops destroyed in Rafah  EXTRA INFORMATION   •  Gallery: Palestinian fatalities  RESOURCES   •  Victims of terror   •  TIME.com: Orchestrating a common ground

Israeli troops surrounded Arafat's compound shortly after they launched an offensive against Palestinian terrorists in West Bank towns in late March. The Israelis were responding to a wave of terror attacks against Israelis, including an attack on a hotel on the first night of Passover.

Four of the Palestinians in Arafat's compound are wanted by Israel for last October's killing of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.

Last week, a makeshift court in the compound convicted and sentenced the four for their roles in the killing. The men received prison sentences ranging from one to 18 years. Israel rejected the Palestinian action and demanded the right to try the four in an Israeli court.

Israelis enter Hebron

As things appeared to cool off in Ramallah, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict flared up in the West Bank city of Hebron, where seven people were killed and at least 25 hurt during an overnight incursion by the Israeli military, Palestinian security sources said.

The Israel Defense Forces said its troops arrested at least 17 Palestinians and seized suitcases filled with explosives, Kalashnikov and M-16 rifles, short-range missiles and other weapons.

Israel said the raid was directed against the "terrorist infrastructure" in Hebron, not at the Palestinian Authority, and said its forces would stay in the West Bank city for a limited time until the operation is complete.

Palestinian security sources said ambulances were not allowed into the city, and said the IDF had established control throughout the city and imposed a curfew.

The incursion into Hebron followed an attack Saturday in which Palestinian gunmen killed four Israelis in the nearby Jewish settlement of Adora. (Full story) Israel Radio reported that at least one of the gunmen in the Adora attack was killed Monday in Hebron.

In Bethlehem, Palestinian sources said 15 civilians not wanted by Israel would leave the Church of the Nativity Monday. However, an Israeli spokeswoman said "issues remained" and the 15 would not be coming out.

Negotiators have been working on a plan that would settle the fate of about 30 other Palestinians inside the church whom Israel says are terrorists. Israel says it would accept a plan under which they are put on trial in Israel or allowed to go into exile in a third country.

U.N. mission still on hold

Palestinian women sit outside a damaged house at the Jenin refugee camp Monday.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday there is an urgent need for a fact-finding team to get to work in the Jenin refugee camp, but in Jerusalem the Israeli Cabinet put off a discussion over its cooperation with the mission for the third time.

Dore Gold, a key adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told CNN Monday the team's mandate must be clarified.

"If you have a team that is coming here and the terms of reference doesn't specifically state, 'We are here to find out what went on in Jenin,' this could be an opening to all kinds of other U.N. activity that goes beyond our understanding how the peace process is constructed," Gold said.

Israel also wants the U.N. team to look into terrorist activity and to include military experts as full team members. (Full Story)

Palestinian officials say hundreds of Palestinians died in what they call a massacre at the Jenin camp during Israel's military offensive in the West Bank. The Palestinian allegations have not been independently corroborated.

Israel vehemently denies the accusation, saying about 50 Palestinians, most of them fighters, were killed. Israel says it lost 23 soldiers in the fighting, 13 of them in one incident.