Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians in violent confrontations that erupted following the death of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat today, Palestinians medics said.
Three Palestinians were killed, at least two of them gunmen, in fighting that erupted when militants from an armed group in Arafat's Fatah faction attacked a Jewish settlement in central Gaza after learning of the Palestinian leader's death.
Another Palestinian was killed in stone-throwing clashes in the West Bank, Palestinian medics said. The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said the attack against the heavily fortified Netzarim settlement signalled a new round of clashes against Israel to avenge the death of the 75-year-old Palestinian leader.
A spokesman for the al-Aqsa brigades, said it held Israel responsible for Mr Arafat's death, said: "Our groups together with brothers from other factions took to the battlefield with the enemy to make it pay the price. . . . The next days will witness violent clashes with the Zionists everywhere."
Israel has sealed the West Bank and Gaza Strip and sent troop reinforcements to the areas this morning in response to Mr Arafat 's death.
Immediately following the announcement early today that Mr Arafat had died in a French hospital, the Israeli army began deploying reinforcements around towns and Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The increased security means that West Bank Palestinians with valid work permits are barred from entering Israeli territory until further notice. The Gaza Strip is under permanent isolation.
Amid fears of a possible outbreak of anti-Israeli attacks, Israeli police sent extra officers to take up positions along the "green line" that separates the West Bank from Israeli soil, and encircles the Gaza Strip.
Israeli police will also send reinforcements to east Jerusalem to head off any violence.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed offshoot of Mr Arafat's mainstream Fatah party, had urged militants to attack Israel to avenge the "Zionist assassination" of their beloved leader.
Announcing a state of high-alert across the Palestinian territories, it called on people to "hit out and strike the occupation everywhere. This crime will not go without punishment".
Israel's deputy defence minister Mr Zeev Boim said Israeli and Palestinian officials would "co-ordinate their efforts, as we have a common interest in ensuring that events in Ramallah remain under control".
Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinian fighters near the West Bank city of Nablus this morning, Palestinian security sources said. One of the dead in the raid at Rajeeb, a farm near Balata refugee camp, was the alleged recruiter of a suicide bomber who killed three Israelis in a market in Tel Aviv last month.