One Palestinian was killed and eight wounded in intense exchanges of fire in the West Bank city of Nablus as Israeli occupation forces clashed with Palestinian resistance activists, Palestinian medics said.The gun battle erupted after an Israeli armoured unit, including tanks, surrounded a building in the northern city and a crowd of around 100 youths started pelting the troops with rocks, witnesses said.

The dead man was identified as Ayman Abu Zunt, 20, a civilian who was shot in the head in the crossfire. One of the injured was also in critical condition after being hit in the head, they said.The death raised to 2,950 the number of people killed since the beginning of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000, including 2,200 Palestinians and 694 Israelis.

Israel seals off territories indefinitely, sees Iraq war as inevitable

Meanwhile, Israel indefinitely extended its closure of the Palestinian territories at the weekend after resistance men blew up a tank and killed four crewmen, but at the same time allowed a Palestinian delegation to head to London talks with a low-level Israeli team.

At the same time senior officials said that a US attack on Iraq was inevitable despite a setback for the supporters of force in the United Nations and massive worldwide demonstrations against a war.

An Israeli occupation army spokesman said late Saturday the closure of the Palestinian territories would be "extended until further notice because the number of attack threats has doubled."

The territories have been sealed off by the army since February 10 when Palestinian Muslims were celebrating the Eid al-Adha festival, which commemorates the willingness of the patriarch Abraham to sacrifice his son to God.

The extension was imposed after four Israeli soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb blew up their tank in the northern Gaza Strip, outside the Jewish settlement of Dugit.

The tank, a Magah-7 of fairly old design, was completely destroyed in the attack, army sources said, while witnesses said flames poured out of the vehicle following the blast.

Israeli General Doron Almog, commander of forces in the Gaza Strip, said the tank was destroyed when a 100 kilogramme (220 pound) bomb was detonated beside it.

He blamed the attack on the Palestinian resistance group Hamas that has claimed most of the deadliest resistance bombings in Israel during the almost 29-month Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.

The attack was claimed by Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, but also by its smaller rival Islamic Jihad which said it carried out the operation in conjunction with an armed offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

According to Israeli occupation army sources, a complete closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is to be enforced if the United States launches its planned military offensive against Iraq.

Thousands of Palestinian workers who have retained permits to earn their living in Israel despite the general restrictions imposed by the army since the start of the conflict have been hit by the tougher closure.

The blockade, frequent Israeli raids and Israel's seven-month reoccupation of the West Bank have left the Palestinian economy in ruins.

Despite the tougher restrictions on the territories, officials said that both Israeli and Palestinian delegations were to travel to London Monday for a series of meetings aimed at furthering reforms in the Palestinian Authority.

Unlike in January, when Israel blocked Palestinian officials from attending a British-sponsored conference which Israeli officials had not been invited to, the Palestinians said they had received assurances from Israel the delegation would be allowed to travel this time.

The Palestinians were to send a ministerial delegation to London, while Israel will be represented by a low-level technical team.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon let it be known last week that he has renewed contacts on security issues with senior Palestinian officials, in anticipation of expected US pressure to tackle the crisis once Washington ends its showdown with Baghdad.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Palestinian gunman carries the son of Emad Mabrouk, a senior militant in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, during his funeral in Al-Ain refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus February 10, 2003. Mabrouk, 27, was shot and killed while trying to escape arrest by the Israeli army. REUTERS/Abed Omar