HIGHLIGHTS: Incursion Appears to Be Broadest Israeli Response to a Series of Successful Resistance Attacks over the Past 2 Days||Toll in Itamar Attack now Officially Stands at Five Israeli Settlers Killed, Two Wounded||Occupation Troops Appear to Be Preparing for a Long Stay in Nablus & Other W. Bank Cities They Entered Thursday|| STORY: Israeli occupation troops entered the West Bank city of Nablus before dawn on Friday, just hours after Palestinian Resistance men killed five Israeli settlers in an attack on a house in a nearby Jewish settlement.

The incursion, involving dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, appeared to be the broadest Israeli response yet to a new wave of Palestinian attacks, including two bombings in Jerusalem, which killed 26 people.

The attacks have prompted the United States to hold off on a key policy statement outlining its view of the road to Palestinian statehood.

The Israeli army said in a statement that the toll in the Itamar settlement attack was five. Ambulance service workers had said on Thursday that six people were killed.

Two of the other settlers in the house, which burned down after a bullet ignited a gas canister, were wounded.

Jewish settlers living on land Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war have frequently come under attack during a 20-month Palestinian uprising. Palestinians consider them as legitimate targets as they see them as part of an army entrusted with grabbing more Palestinian land.

ISRAELI CABINET TO MEET

Political sources said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would convene his security cabinet on Friday to discuss a possible further call-up of army reservists and a widening of Israeli military operations in the West Bank.

Palestinian witnesses and security officials said Israeli troops entered Nablus from three directions. Occupation soldiers announced over loudspeakers that a curfew had been imposed and troops sporadically opened fire, the witnesses said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or resistance.

Israel vowed this week to retake and hold parts of Palestinian territories in response to further attacks, extending the duration of what had been regular army raids into West Bank cities to arrest Resistance activists in recent months.

Palestinian witnesses said Israeli occupation troops had stationed six mobile shelters on a hilltop overlooking Nablus, suggesting their stay in the area could be prolonged.

Since the Jerusalem bombings, Israeli troops have entered four other West Bank cities, as well as several refugee camps and villages.

Israel has lost 31 people in the three latest attacks, one of Israel's highest death tolls during any three-day period during Palestinian uprising.

5 PALESTINIANS KILLED AT EREZ CROSSING, IN GAZA
Three Palestinians were shot dead when armed Palestinian opened fire early Friday morning in the vicinity of the Erez crossing, in the Gaza Strip. Israeli occupation troops in the area fired back and killed him. Two other Palestinian laborers were killed from the Israeli fire, Israel Radio reported.

The armed Palestinian entered the crossing, opened fire, and hurled a hand grenade, Army Radio added.


PHOTO CAPTION

A patrol of Israeli occupation army vehicles passes the bombed ruins of the police headquarters in Bethlehem June 20, 2002. The Israeli occupation army reentered Bethlehem just before dawn searching houses, arresting several activists and imposing a curfew on the town. The latest action follows a policy announced by Israel on Wednesday that it would seize and hold parts of Palestinian territory in retaliation for suicide attacks. (Magnus Johansson/Reuters)