Israeli troops killed early Monday a Palestinian fighter near the West Bank city of Tulkarem. According to media reports, the Palestinian tried to place a bomb when the soldiers spotted him and killed him. Four Jewish settlers were shot and wounded near Jerusalem, Israeli official said. Palestinian gunmen opened fire on Israeli vehicles between Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Bethlehem, wounding four people. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the shooting. Earlier this month, Israel turned Bethlehem back over to Palestinian security forces under terms of the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, which calls on Israel to pull its forces out of Palestinian towns reoccupied during nearly three years of violence. Israel has urged the Palestinians to dismantle groups that have carried out attacks on Israelis - as stipulated in the peace plan - but the Palestinian Authority has argued that full confrontation with armed groups would trigger civil war. Since the main Palestinian groups declared a temporary cease-fire on June 29, violence has dropped dramatically. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said he proposed ways to make the truce permanent in talks with his Israeli counterpart, Silvan Shalom. Shaath said he told Shalom that further Israeli withdrawals from West Bank towns and other steps to allow Palestinians freedom of movement could make it possible for the Palestinian government to negotiate a permanent cease-fire with the groups. A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Shaath and Shalom discussed a permanent cease-fire, though the official said the Palestinians made an outright offer of a permanent truce. He said Shalom rejected the idea. The Israeli official said Shalom told Shaath that to accept such a proposal would give armed "extremists" the ability to resume attacks, thereby determining the course of peace talks and effectively allowing the militants veto power. In Ramallah, tensions erupted Saturday when Arafat urged a group of detained Palestinian activists to leave his compound and comply with an Israeli demand that they transfer to Palestinian custody in Jericho, said the militants' leader, Kamal Ghanam. On Sunday, Palestinian security chief Mohammad Dahlan met with Brig. Gen. Amos Gilad, head of the security and political team in the Israeli Defense Ministry, to discuss an Israeli offer to withdraw from Jericho and Qalqiliya, two other towns occupied during the fighting. Israel first proposed this last week, but the Palestinians insisted on a pullout from Ramallah instead. A statement by Dahlan's office accused the Israeli side of giving "no genuine commitment" to taking down roadblocks and other barriers around the two towns. Trying to ease the dispute over prisoners, an Israeli ministerial committee on Sunday approved the release of more than 400 prisoners among the 7,700 Palestinian prisoners Israel holds, including some members of Islamic groups, officials said. "The director general of the Justice ministry will bring a list of 447 prisoners to the committee. If all of them will be released, I can't say now," Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid told Israel TV. Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas plans to meet with faction leaders in Gaza on Monday, Palestinian officials said. He will report on his recent talks in Washington and discuss the future of the cease-fire, as well as concerns over Palestinian prisoners and charges of Israeli truce violations, they said. **PHOTO CAPTION*** An Israeli policeman secures the area following a shooting on a road connecting the Jewish settlement of Har Gilo near Jerusalem in the West Bank August 3, 2003. (REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen)