Israel is braced for another round of Hamas suicide bombings, following the weekend killing by Israeli troops of an 11year-old Palestinian boy during clashes on the Gaza-Egypt border.
At the funeral yesterday of Mr Khalil Mughrabi, shot dead by the Israeli soldiers at whom he was throwing stones on Saturday night, Hamas leaders warned they had "10 martyrs waiting inside Israel" who were "ready at any moment to get revenge".
In the last major suicide bombing outside a Tel Aviv beachfront nightclub on June 1st, 22 Israelis were killed. That bombing, in turn, led the Palestinian Authority (PA) President Yasser Arafat to issue an unprecedented Arabic-language ceasefire call to Hamas and other violent militants.
But while Mr Arafat says he has done his best since then to rein in the militants, Israel claims he has made no effort to arrest Hamas and other Islamic extremists whom it alleges are planning further bombings.
In Hebron yesterday, Israeli undercover troops seized a Hamas leader, Mr Ayoub Asharawi, whom Israel claims has been sending out gunmen to attacks Israeli targets.
Palestinian officials said that Mr Asharawi was seized in `Area A' territory that is supposed to be under full PA control.
Describing Saturday's violence, Mr Suleiman Akhras (14), a friend of Mr Mughrabi's, said that the Israeli soldiers had opened fire suddenly on their group of stone throwers: "I found my friend, Khalil, lying near me . . . He stopped talking," said Mr Akhras.
The killing brought to 17 the number of Palestinians who have died since an American brokered ceasefire supposedly took formal effect three-and-ahalf weeks ago. Nine Israelis have been killed in the same period. Despite the ongoing violence, the US has now reportedly begun counting down a seven-day "period of calm" which is to precede a new phase of peace moves.
Israeli radio said the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, informed Israel's Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, of this in a weekend phone call. Mr Sharon, however, is adamant that no such countdown can begin until all violence halts.
Mr Arafat has been sending letters to world leaders urging that they press Israel to move ahead with the next stage of the American-backed peace effort.
Reuters adds: Israel yesterday demanded an uncensored viewing of a videotape made by UN peacekeepers in Lebanon which it says may shed light on the abduction of three Israeli soldiers by Hizbullah guerrillas.
The Israeli Defence Minister, Mr Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, said in a letter to UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, that the viewing arrangements offered by the UN were "disappointing and disturbing".
The UN, which originally denied having the tape, said it would blur the faces of non-UN personnel and allow Lebanese representatives, as well as Israeli officials, to view the footage, shot a day after the soldiers' capture on October 7th.
The UN said the tape, recorded by a peacekeeper, showed two abandoned vehicles believed to have been used in the frontier abduction. UN uniforms and small bloodstains were found inside the vehicles, which bore fake UN plates.
Several Hizbullah guerrillas are shown preventing UN peacekeepers from towing away the vehicles.
The UN said it decided to mask the faces of Hizbullah fighters because the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was not allowed to deliver intelligence to either side.
Both Lebanon and Hizbullah have denounced the UN plan to show Israel the videotape. Mr Ben-Eliezer said that allowing Lebanese representatives to view the tape would be "inappropriate and inexplicable". Earlier, Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon, said any attempt to censor the tape would strengthen suspicions some UN forces "are collaborating with terrorists".
Thirteen Jordanians will appear before the state security court in Amman tomorrow on charges of having planned "terrorist acts", the main defendant's lawyer said.
A judicial source said the 13 men were Islamists and were suspected of plotting attacks on Israeli and Western targets inside Jordan, which has been at peace with Israel since 1994.