Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians in the West Bank today as Israel's rightwing prime minister-elect Ariel Sharon sought to forge a unity government.
Mr Sharon's right-wing Likud party was due to hold new talks with the centre-left Labour party to try to forge a broad coalition to try to contain the violence.
But the latest killings underlined the challenges facing Sharon, who won a crushing victory over outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak in elections last Tuesday.
Soldiers killed Ziad Abu Sway when they opened fire on a bus carrying Palestinian labourers near the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Palestinian witnesses and hospital sources said.
Atef Ahmed al-Nabulsi was shot dead near the West Bank city of Ramallah and was taken by Israeli soldiers to a military base. Israeli security sources confirmed Nabulsi had died.
The deaths followed the killing by Palestinian gunmen of Jewish settler Tsahi Sasson, 35, as he drove along a road outside Jerusalem yesterday.
Reuters