Israeli occupation army bulldozers demolished three Palestinian houses and two shacks Wednesday near a Jewish settlement in the southern West Bank, Palestinians said. The Israeli occupation army did not immediately comment.Palestinian witnesses said the houses may have been used as refuge for two activists who attacked the settlement of Otniel last month, killing four seminary students before the attackers were shot and killed.

The occupation army has been demolishing the family homes of resistance activists to deter attacks, as well as buildings used as cover to stage attacks. Palestinians say the practice constitutes collective punishment.

The homes of the resistance men who carried out the attack in Otniel were destroyed on Dec. 30.

On Tuesday, Israeli occupation forces destroyed 62 shops in the Palestinian village of Nazlat Issa, the biggest demolition in the West Bank in years.

Israel says the shops were built illegally. Village Mayor Ziad Salem accused Israel of waging war on the Palestinian economy.

The 170-shop market in Nazlat Issa drew many Israeli customers before the outbreak of fighting in September 2000. Salem said Israel officials informed the shopowners that the entire market would be demolished.

An Israeli official said it took 10 years to take down the shops because a series of court and committee hearings must precede the demolition of illegal structures in the West Bank.

Israeli occupation troops have demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes in the past 28 months of fighting. In Gaza alone, more than 5,700 Palestinians have been made homeless, according to Palestinian officials.

Also Wednesday, two resistance Islamic groups said Wednesday they were ready to participate in talks on ending attacks on Israeli civilians now that the Egyptian hosts have agreed to invite more Palestinian factions.

Moussa Abu Marzook, a leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement, better known as Hamas, had said Tuesday Hamas was not attending the talks because not all Palestinian factions were invited. Islamic Jihad said the same on Tuesday, and the twin stance could have torpedoed Egypt's efforts to engineer a Palestinian cease-fire.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Palestinian woman navigates her shopping cart loaded with supplies between barbed wire and road blocks as she passes an Israeli occupation soldier in the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003. Parts of Hebron remain under intermittent curfew. (AP PHOTO/Nasser Shiyoukhi)