HIGHLIGHTS:Resistance Says it Has Destroyed a Markava Tank in Beit Hanoun||Occupation Forces Arrest Ten Palestinians in Gaza||Peres & Ereqat Meet to Reduce Tension; Ben-Eliezer & Yahya to Meet to Discuss Handing Back the West Bank City of Hebron, Al-Khalil||Arafat Opposes Appointment of Premier to Take Some of his Responsibilities||Parliament to vote on Cabinet Later Wednesday|| STORY: Al-jazeera TV correspondent in the territories says that Palestinian Resistance has destroyed an Israeli tank after luring it to a location where an explosive device was planted. The tank was destroyed as Israeli tanks rolled into a Palestinian-controlled area of the northern Gaza Strip early on Wednesday, triggering sporadic gunbattles before withdrawing several hours later, witnesses said.

No comment on the destruction of the tank was immediately available from the Israeli occupation Army sources.

The occupation army said it arrested four men during the raid in the village of Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza City, and arrested six people in other parts of Gaza during the night.

A Reuters correspondent in Beit Hanoun said about 25 tanks and bulldozers rumbled into the village under cover of darkness, drawing fire from Palestinian Resistance men.

Sporadic shooting continued for several hours as residents gathered in the street, throwing stones and shooting at the tanks and then running away as occupation soldiers opened fire.

There were no reports of any casualties in the raid, the latest of many occupation army incursions into Palestinian-ruled areas since the Palestinians rose up against Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza almost two years ago.

Residents said local mosques had been searched. Some had damage to doors and outside walls.

Witnesses said four tanks had also blocked roads into nearby Beit Lahiya before the occupation army finished the raid after dawn and pulled out of the area.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN TOP OFFICIALS MEET TO REDUCE TENSION

The raid came just hours after senior Israeli and Palestinian officials met to consider ways to reduce tensions. The Israeli team was led by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and the Palestinian one by Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat.

They discussed releasing Palestinians from an Israeli chokehold that dates from mid-June, when Israeli occupation forces took control of seven of the eight main Palestinian towns and cities in the West .

Last month, Israel and the Palestinians agreed that Israel was to turn control of parts of Gaza, along with the West Bank town of Bethlehem, back to Palestinian security, as a test case for easing tensions in the West Bank.

Israel pulled its troops out of Bethlehem but charged that in Gaza, the Palestinians did nothing to stop Resistance men from carrying out attacks, and the plan was not implemented there. Palestinians charged that Israel was stalling and trying to sabotage the agreement.

At the Tuesday meeting, it was agreed that Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and the Palestinian security chief, Interior Minister Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, would meet again to discuss handing the Palestinian section of Hebron back to Palestinian control, apparently bypassing Gaza, at least for now.

Hebron is the only West Bank town that is divided into Palestinian and Israeli-controlled zones. About 450 Jewish settlers live in the center of the city, and Israeli soldiers patrol the zone to protect them.

Peres said that Israel has no intention of reoccupying Palestinian areas.

ARAFAT OPPOSED TO APPOINTING PRIME MINISTER TO TAKE SOME OF HIS RESPONSIBILITIES

Talking to reporters late Tuesday, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat spoke out against a proposal to appoint a prime minister to take some of his responsibilities. Some Palestinian legislators, unhappy with the state of affairs, have been pressing to reduce Arafat's near-dictatorial powers.

Arafat agreed that a prime minister could be appointed, but only after a Palestinian state is created.

The parliament was to vote Wednesday on Arafat's new Cabinet, appointed in June as a step toward reforms demanded by the United States, Israel and many Palestinians.

Some legislators have said they will oppose the Cabinet. They say that while Arafat appointed five new ministers, he did not dismiss those tainted with suspicion of corruption.

However, Arafat said that according to Palestinian law, the parliament vote must be over approval only of the five new Cabinet ministers and not the whole Cabinet.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat flashes a hand signal after addressing members of the Palestinian parliament in the West Bank town of Ramallah Monday Sept. 9, 2002. Next to Arafat at right is Ahmed Qureia, also known as Abu Ala, speaker of the parliament. Qureia, a key player in previous peace talks with Israel, was re-elected as speaker of the parliament. Others are unidentified. (AP Photo/Hussein Hussein, Palestinian Authority/HO)
- Sep 09 12:45 PM