Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops in northern Gaza, and Israel's prime minister indicated that Israel will keep targeting militants for death despite international peace efforts. At first, Palestinian security officials said Israeli tanks fired shells late Sunday at a group of militants from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, affiliated with the mainstream Fatah, killing three men and wounding four others in the town of Beit Hanoun. Another died later in a hospital, doctors said. Occupation troops also killed 27 years old Palestinian women near Jewish settlements 'Morag'. **Mideast Security Talks Making Progress: Powell*** After intense talks over the weekend, Israel and the Palestinians are making progress towards an agreement transferring security responsibility for the Gaza Strip, US Secretary of State Colin Powell. "The last two and a half weeks we have seen progress, we have seen intense discussions between the two sides," Powell told a news conference in this Dead Sea resort. Powell said Washington was paying particular attention to restoring cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian security services. "We are working hard to improve coordination between Israeli security forces and elements and the Palestinian Authority security forces and elements, as we go forward, as we try to achieve the transfer of responsibilities for Gaza," he said. The secretary of state acknowledged that the peace process remained vulnerable to militant groups on both sides, but insisted they were small in number and should not be allowed to hold the region's future to ransom. "There are those in Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Brigades and similar organizations that do not want to see progress toward peace and they will continue to try through terrorist acts to frustrate those efforts, to blow up the roadmap," said Powell. Powell addressed the news conference on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum alongside US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher and Jordanian Commerce and Industry Minister Salah Bashir. Powell's comments came as four Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip in what Palestinian sources said was an Israeli attack and Israeli military sources described as a "work accident". **Why We Didn't Kill Arafat*** Israel's military chief revealed that the security forces had discussed killing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Speaking to a chamber of commerce conference Sunday night, army chief of staff Moshe Yaalon said that "the Question of why we didn't kill Arafat is worth a discussion." This is the first time that a senior Israeli official has openly discussed plans to assassinate the veteran Palestinian leader who has been confined in his partially destroyed compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah for the last 18 months. "There were discussions about it in the past, but after weighing up the gains and benefits ... we rejected the idea outright," Yaalon said. Sharon also told his Cabinet on Sunday that Israel could build inside existing settlements as long as it keeps quiet about it, despite a road map clause to the contrary. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Palestinian children peer from their window as the funeral for Hassan Abu Eida, 55, of Gaza City, passes by, Saturday, June 21, 2003. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)