Israel has closed off the Palestinian territories after Israeli soldiers killed a leader of the Islamic Jihad movement and three other Palestinians in raids in the Gaza strip and the West Bank. Gunmen killed an Israeli soldier during the raids, which immediately prompted some of the bloodiest clashes in weeks. The violence has dealt yet another blow to slim hopes of progress on a US-backed peace "road map" after three years of violence. Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has told Israeli television that Hizbollah prisoners are being held in Europe and could be used as bargaining chips to secure the release of an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three soldiers held by Hizbollah. Also, Secretary of State Colin Powell is looking for help from Europeans, Russia and the United Nations in dismissing Yasser Arafat as a failed Palestinian leader. However, Powell's demand at the so-called Quartet meeting on Friday had limited prospects. Unlike Washington, other nations see him as the legitimate leader of the Palestinians. Before the meeting of the Quartet group that set out a road map designed to establish a Palestinian state in 2005, Powell was less optimistic about progress in peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians. "We believe firmly in the concept of the road map," he said. "And it is still there." But Powell said, "We are waiting for the Palestinian side to determine the makeup of its new government so that we have a partner we can work with." **PHOTO CAPTION*** A Palestinian man stands outside his damaged house after an Israeli raid at al-Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip September 25, 2003. (Suhaib Salem/Reuters)