An Israeli armoured unit entered the Khan Yunes sector of the southern Gaza Strip, razing the home of a resistance attacker and wounding two Palestinians.The occupation troops destroyed a three-storey house belonging to the family of Ismael Ashur Brif, 25, who was shot dead Wednesday after killing two people at the Rafah Yam settlement where he worked.

During the incursion several hundred metres (yards) inside the autonomous zone, two Palestinians were wounded, one of them critically.

Brif, who had worked in the settlement for several months, smuggled in a pistol and two hand grenades. He killed his employers and tried to seize a vehicle before being shot down by the head of security.

The attack was claimed by the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of the Islamist movement Hamas.
An Israeli occupation army spokesman confirmed Friday's operation to AFP.

Nearly 70 houses have been razed in similar operations since the start of August. Human rights organizations have condemned them as "collective punishment" while the Israeli occupation army says they are "dissuasive" measures.

Israeli police beef up Jerusalem security for Ramadan

More than 2,000 Israeli police were deployed in Jerusalem as a precaution against possible unrest on the first weekly day of prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as deadly violence continued in the West Bank.

A Palestinian was killed early Friday by Israeli occupation forces inside Tulkarem refugee camp, in the northern West Bank.

Increased police presence was visible Friday morning in Israeli-annexed Arab east Jerusalem and in the city's western, Jewish part, an AFP reporter observed.

The road outside Jaffa Gate, one of seven entrances to Jerusalem's Old City, had been closed to traffic.

A police statement said additional checkpoints will be set up throughout the city, while police patrols will be reinforced and a surveillance helicopter brought in.

Thousands of Muslim believers are expected to participate in prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City on Friday, a work-free day devoted to worship.

The compound is Islam's third holy site after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. It is also holy to Jews, who know it as Temple Mount.

It is there that the intifada, or Palestinian uprising, broke out in September 2000 when Ariel Sharon, now Israel's prime minister, entered the compound on a controversial visit.

Muslims fast from dawn-to-dusk during Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam, which marks the revelation of their holy book, the Koran, and is also a period of alms giving.

On the ground, violence continued overnight with the killing of an armed Palestinian resistance man by Israeli occupation forces in Tulkarem and the demolition of a house in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation army said 25-year-old Radi Balawni, an armed resistance man from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, was on its wanted list for anti-Israeli attacks.

Balawni was shot dead as the occupation army entered the refugee camp to arrest him and he tried to escape, an occupation army spokesman told AFP.

His death brings to 2,651 the number of people killed since the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000, 1,961 of them Palestinians and 641 Israelis, according to an AFP tally.

Meanwhile, two Palestinian were wounded, one of them critically, when an Israeli armored unit entered the Khan Yunis sector in the southern Gaza Strip to raze the home of a resistance bomber.

The occupation troops destroyed a three-storey house belonging to the family of Ismael Ashur Brif, 25, who was shot dead Wednesday after killing two people at the Rafah Yam settlement where he worked.

Brif, who had worked in the settlement for several months, smuggled in a pistol and two hand grenades. He killed his employers and tried to seize a vehicle before being shot down by the head of security.

The attack was claimed by the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed branch of the Islamist movement Hamas.
Nearly 70 houses have been razed in similar operations since August.

Human rights organizations condemn house demolition as "collective punishment," while the occupation army says they are "dissuasive" measures aimed at deterring further anti-Israeli attacks.

Fresh opinion polls showed differences on the prospects of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon staying at the head of the right-wing Likud party in its upcoming primary.

A survey published by the 'Jerusalem Post' showed that Sharon challenger Benjamin Netanyahu would defeat the Israeli premier 40.9 percent to 40.5 percent.

However, a poll published in 'Maariv' gave Sharon a 10-point lead over Netanyahu at 48 percent against 38 percent.

Palestinian killed by Israeli occupation army in West Bank

A Palestinian was killed overnight by Israeli occupation forces who had come to the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank to arrest him.

The spokesman said the man, 25-year-old Radi Balawni, was an armed resistance man from Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction and had been wanted for anti-Israeli attacks.

"He fled as the occupation soldiers tried to arrest him and they opened fire," an Israeli occupation army spokesman said Friday. Another Palestinian was wounded in the shooting.

Balawni's death brings to 2,651 the number of people killed since the Palestinian uprising in September 2000, 1,961 of them Palestinians and 641 Israelis, according to an AFP tally.

PHOTO CAPTION

Israeli occupation forces demolish a Palestinian house in the Gaza Strip