The Israeli Army is reported to have taken control of a Palestinian-ruled area of the divided West Bank city of Hebron tonight. The move comes after two Jewish settlers were wounded in a gunfight.
Latest reports say that two people have been killed in the incursion. More than 15 armoured personnel carriers and military jeeps are said to have overrun a hill that overlooks the Jewish settler enclave.
The Palestinian President said earlier that he remained ready to meet the Israeli Foreign Minister. Yasser Arafat said that he was willing to discuss ways to end eleven months of conflict with Shimon Peres. He added, however, that details of the proposed meeting had yet to be finalised.
Mr Arafat's comments, made during a trip to India, came as an Israeli missile was fired at the car of a Palestinian official near the West Bank City of Nablus, wounding him and two others.
Israeli military sources said that Israel had tried to kill the man because he had been involved for several years in attacks against Israelis in the area of Nablus. The man was reported to be an official of President Arafat's Fatah faction.
Reports from the region also suggested that three Israeli tanks had entered a refugee camp in the West Bank, although no injuries were reported.
The German Foreign Minister is believed to be trying to organise the meeting between Mr Arafat and Mr Peres in an attempt find a resolution to the dispute, which has claimed 700 lives in less than a year. Joschka Fischer visited the West Bank this week on a mediation mission.
