HIGHLIGHTS: More Arrests in Gaza & Nablus||Palestinian-Israeli Security Talks Planned for Sunday||No Palestinian Unity if Dependent on Acknowledgment of Israel, Says Hamas|| STORY: Palestinians in the divided West Bank city of Hebron chafed against the Israeli curfew reimposed Saturday while a report of an army contingency plan to expel Yasser Arafat further inflamed Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Palestinian residents of Hebron said the curfew was not enforced for a week. But Saturday morning, as residents shopped, visited or strolled the streets, the curfew suddenly intruded again.

Witnesses in Hebron said Israeli occupation troops rounded up several dozen Palestinians as shopkeepers and vegetable vendors remained open and people refused to return to homes where they have been confined virtually continuously since Israeli-Palestinian violence erupted in September 2000.

Israeli military sources said a few people were detained briefly for violating the curfew.

Israel said its occupation troops imposed curfews on Hebron and six other West Bank Palestinian towns and cities to stop militants from entering Israel and launching attacks, including Resistance bombings.

Palestinians trapped in their homes for days at a time complain of frustration and boredom and accuse Israel of collective punishment, while the measures have devastated the Palestinian economy.

Hebron, home to about 140,000 Palestinians, is the only West Bank city divided into Israeli and Palestinian zones. The center of the city, where about 400 Israeli settlers live, is under Israeli control.

ARRESTS IN GAZA, NABLUS

Also Saturday, the army reported that it arrested three "wanted Palestinians" in Gaza near the Egyptian border.
Witnesses also said Israeli security forces grabbed an activist of the Hamas militant group from his Nablus grocery store Saturday.

SECURITY TALKS PLANNED FOR SUNDAY

Israeli television said more Israeli-Palestinian security talks were planned for Sunday. Talks have stalled over an Israeli proposal called "Gaza first."

Under the plan, Israel would pull its forces back from the outskirts of Palestinian population centers in Gaza and turn security over to Palestinian forces as a test case. If successful, Israel would implement the same procedure in the West Bank.

Palestinians rejected the plan, insisting a withdrawal from Gaza be accompanied by the removal of troops from at least one West Bank town.

NO PALESTINIAN UNITY IF DEPENDENT ON ACKNOWLDGING ISRAEL

Hamas spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said Saturday that agreement between all Palestinian parties is forbidden if it is dependent on the acknowledgment of the State of Israel. Yassin was speaking in an interview with the Arabic satellite station Al-Jazeera.

Yassin said there was no disagreement within the Hamas over attacks against Israel. Every one within the Hamas agrees they have to continue, said the Sheikh.

Yassin also said that contacts with other Palestinian groups over a joint policy statement were continuing, rejecting Palestinian Authority statements accusing the Hamas of torpedoing the talks.

Senior Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip Abdel Aziz Rantissi slammed Palestinian cabinet Minister Nabil Shaath, accusing him of trying to foment hatred towards Hamas, Israel Radio reported.

Shaath had earlier accused the Hamas of dividing the Palestinian people and being responsible for a breakdown in talks over the joint policy

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinians make their way over a pile of rubble left in the Old City of the West Bank town of Nablus Saturday Aug. 17, 2002 after a night of Israeli tank shelling, according to witnesses. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishteye