In the West Bank city of Jenin, two armed Palestinian were found shot to death in the street in the early morning. Palestinian witnesses said Israeli soldiers had raided their hideout and shot Kamal Silawi of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and another Palestinian, Samir Qandil.

On Thursday night, Israeli security forces erected roadblocks throughout the seam area between Israel and the West Bank, after highly specific intelligence information regarding a resistance bomber infiltration into Israel. The roadblocks were set up on all major roads near Taibeh, Kochav Ya'ir and Tzur Natan. In addition, the police presence in the area was beefed up.

Shortly before midnight, security sources said that the number of specific alerts had fallen, but that they would remain on high alert and the roadblocks would stay in place until Friday morning at the earliest.

For Israel, Oslo accords no longer exist: Sharon

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview that for Israel, the 1993 Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians no longer exist.

In an interview in the Maariv daily to mark the Jewish New Year Friday, Sharon said the same fate had befallen the offers made by his predecessor Ehud Barak at talks in Camp David in the United States and Taba in Egypt in 2000.

"Oslo doesn't exist any more, Camp David doesn't exist any more, neither does Taba. We will not return to these places," he told the mass-circulation daily.

"Real damage only occurs when it is impossible to go back. But this is not the case. Apparently God has come to our aid. It is not because of the wisdom of the Jews, but solely because of the bad plans the Palestinians made," he said.

"Since the beginning, (Palestinian leader) Yasser Arafat's aim has been to bring about the end of Israel. There were some naive people, or people who wanted to be led on, or made wrong assessments," Sharon said.

"The problem is more fundamental than terrorism. It stems from the Arab and Palestinian refusal to recognize the Jewish people's right to exist in their state and their homeland."

"The Palestinians were convinced we were incapable of taking the blow.

But the fact is we have not been broken, and if they could, they would neutralize Arafat and stop him exerting any influence on their security or financial apparatus."

Sharon Plays Down Israeli Left Efforts to Revive Negotiations for Peace

The right-wing premier also played down diplomatic efforts by the Israeli left to revive political negotiations for peace.

"There are all sorts of people who have contacts, sign all sorts of papers, travel to Egypt. But, in line with the Americans, they know very exactly that in Israel there is a government of national unity and there is only one prime minister," Sharon added.

In another interview with the daily Yediot Aharonot, Sharon said "Arafat will not manage to finish me off ... His existence must simply be ignored."

PHOTO CAPTION

An Israeli policeman secures Jerusalem's main market September 6, 2002.. (Nir Elias/Re