HIGHLIGHTS: Occupation Army Gives Conflicting Reports on Circumstance Leading to the Fatal Shooting of Activist||An Explosion Injures an Israeli Man Near Jenin||Ben-Eliezer Claims Demolitions Deter Resistance Bombers|| STORY: Israeli occupatgion soldiers shot dead a Palestinian Resistance man in a West Bank village Monday in a new spasm of violence that underlined difficulties faced by Washington as it tries to end almost two years of bloodshed.
Israeli occupation troops killed Ghasal Israhat, a Resistance activisty from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades during a raid on the village of al-Yamoun near the city of Jenin.

An occupation army spokesman said occupation soldiers shot Israhat after he tried to escape by climbing down a drain pipe outside his family home when they came to arrest him.

Israhat's family said they were asleep in their beds when occupation soldiers burst into the house overnight and detained Israhat. Shortly afterwards they said they heard gunshots and that the occupation soldiers later told them they had killed Israhat.

Small patches of blood marked the spot where Israhat was killed behind his house next to a rusted drain pipe.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades has been behind a spate of Resistance bombings and shootings against Israeli occupation.

The incident followed weekend violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in which at least four Palestinians, including at least two Resistance activists, and one Israeli were killed.

EXPLOSION INJURES AN ISRAELI MAN NEAR JENIN

Several hours after Israhat's death was reported, an explosion injred an in Anza, a village near the West Bank town of Jenin. No Further details were immediately available.

BEN-ELIEZER CLAIMS DEMOLITIONS DETER RESISTANCE BOMBERS

The demolition of the homes of Palestinian bombers is starting to reduce the number of people willing to carry out such acts, the cabinet claimed on Sunday.

"We're seeing initial signs that this action has a certain deterrent effect," read a cabinet statement based on a briefing by Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer

Seventeen homes have been destroyed since the recent decision to begin demolitions. Human rights groups have protested the demolitions calling them collective punishment and a war crime.

Ben-Eliezer said the occupation armyhad halted all movement in the West Bank, tightened the seal around Jerusalem, and stepped up pressure on Hamas.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Palestinian boy has his hands cuffed during a demonstration in Gaza City to demand freedom for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, August 12, 2002. Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian militant early during a raid on the village of al-Yamoun near the city of Jenin, his family and the Israeli army said. (Reinhard Krause/Reuter