Israeli occupation troops raided a suspected resistance group's hideout Wednesday, killing one Palestinian who fired at occupation soldiers, while Yasser Arafat met with top officials to map out leadership changes in the Palestinian Authority . Occupation soldiers in the West Bank village of Saida stormed a hideout used by the resistance Islamic Jihad group and were fired on by three activists , the occupation army said. A 21-year-old was shot and killed while two others were injured and arrested. One occupation soldier was slightly injured in the clash.

Occupation troops backed by tanks entered the Palestinian-controlled village before dawn, imposing a curfew and searching men between 15 and 55, the occupation army said. Occupation soldiers arrested five men.

The village is known as a base of support for the Islamic Jihad, which has taken responsibility for bombings that have killed dozens of Israelis.

Israel has taken control of most West Bank towns and villages in response to bombings in recent months and to hunt down activists . The occupation army has also imposed closures preventing Palestinian laborers from reaching jobs in Israel.

Arafat was meeting with officials from his Fatah Party Wednesday to discuss the expected appointment of Mahmoud Abbas for the new position of prime minister and the naming of a new Cabinet.

Arafat decided Tuesday to send to committee a bill creating the post of prime minister that passed two readings of the Palestinian Legislative Council on Monday. Aides said he was expected to sign it by Thursday.

International pressure forced Arafat to agree to create the position. But even with the new post, Arafat will still have authority over security forces and peace negotiations, which are key areas Israel and the United States hoped the prime minister - not Arafat - would control.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has refused to talk to Arafat, insisting that he is responsible for the 29 months of fighting and branding him a terrorist.

Sheik Ahmed Yassin, spiritual leader of the resistance Hamas group that has claimed responsibility for dozens of deadly attacks against Israelis, said the appointment of Abbas would accomplish nothing.

"This is an insignificant development, the Palestinian Authority is itself under occupation and it doesn't have the freedom of action necessary for government operation," Yassin told Arab satellite TV, Al-Arabiya.

In the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, 26 families affected by the fighting were to receive 260,000 dlrs in aid from the Arab Liberation Front, a Palestinian resistance group financially backed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein .

Some of the money is to go to families who have had their homes demolished during Israeli raids while others will receive payments for relatives who have died.

Saddam Hussein has frequently voiced support for the Palestinians in their fighting against Israel and has given money to the families of resistance bombers and Palestinian casualties of the fighting.

The Palestinian Authority publicly embraced Saddam Hussein's cause during the 1991 Gulf War , but has refrained from doing so as the U.S. prepares for another military offensive.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinians run away from tear gas used by the Israeli occupation army after an apartment building was demolished at the spot where one Israeli soldier was killed and five wounded in the ambush late Monday in the West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, March 11, 2003. After the ambush, a resistance man ran into the nearby apartment building that was targeted with a tank shell by the occupation army at daybreak after ordering residents to evacuate it. Despite the shelling, there was shooting from the building as an armored bulldozer wrecked it. Later, the body of a resistance man was found in the rubble. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukh