Arafat tells parliament he will step aside if desired

Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat has told his parliament he was ready to relinquish his executive power if the Palestinian Legislative Council wanted him to step down.

Mr Arafat also again condemned attacks on Israeli and Palestinian civilians in a policy statement to a rare session of the parliament.

After 50 years of struggle and bloody suffering, enough is enough. Enough of the struggle and enough bloodshed Palestinian President Yasser Arafat

"Our national interest is to preserve international support for our legitimate right to resist the military and settlement occupation," Mr Arafat told Palestinian lawmakers in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"The peace of the brave is still ahead of us and is not behind us," Mr Arafat said. "After 50 years of struggle and bloody suffering, enough is enough. Enough of the struggle and enough bloodshed."

Mr Arafat said the steadfastness of the Palestinian people depended on "the strength of our institutions and first of all on the legislative, the judiciary and the executive... unless you want to bring someone to replace me."

"I wish you would, and give me a rest," he said with a smile, eliciting laughter from assembled lawmakers. Mr Arafat then went on to reaffirm plans for elections in January. His aides have said he will run for re-election, and opinion polls show him the clear favourite to win.

Israeli soldiers stop Palestinian man at a checkpoint in Hebron

Seventy-five of the Palestinian Legislative Council's 86 legislators took part in the session. Forty-seven attended the meeting in Ramallah and 28 participated in the Gaza Strip via a video-link due to the refusal of Israel to grant them travel permits, alleging they were involved in terror.

The 86-member parliament has had few meetings since the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation in September 2000.

On the eve of the session under Israeli guns in Ramallah, Israel armour and infantry raided the central Gaza Strip, destroying a suspected militant's home and an alleged weapons factory before withdrawing hours later.

An Israeli tank shell killed two Palestinians near the southern Gaza town of Rafah, Palestinian security officials said. Israeli military sources said an Israeli force had opened fire at figures crawling towards an Israeli border fence.