Israeli occupation troops killed five Palestinians, one of them an elderly woman, and two Palestinians infiltrated an occupation army base early Thursday in the West Bank and attacked occupation soldiers.The Israeli occupation army operations came as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was conducting negotiations to form a new government on Wednesday, possibly a hawkish team that would crack down even harder on the Palestinians.

An Israeli helicopter firing a machine gun killed two Palestinians at the eastern edge of Gaza City early Thursday, across from an Israeli village, Palestinians said. Resistance fighters often set up rockets there to fire at the village, Nahal Oz, just outside Gaza. Doctors said the two men, in their 20s, were working at a nearby home for the aged.

Israeli occupation army sources said that during an operation in Gaza, helicopters fired at open spaces to deter attackers, and they were not aware of anyone being hit.

In the West Bank, also on Thursday, two infiltrators slipped into an Israeli army base on Mt. Gerizim, overlooking the city of Nablus, and carried out an attack. Palestinians who live nearby said one of the resistance fighters came from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the other was an activist in the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

On Wednesday, in Nablus, troops shot dead an 18-year-old, one of a crowd that attacked troops searching for wanted Palestinians. The occupation army said the youth fired at occupation soldiers, but Palestinians said he was throwing rocks at them.

In Qalqilya, Israeli occupation troops shot and killed a Palestinian policeman and a second man was wounded as the occupation army conducted a search operation.

Palestinian officials and residents said 10 Israeli jeeps entered the town before dawn Wednesday and fired on unarmed Palestinian police. The occupation army said its soldiers shot at the police when they tried to flee, ignoring orders to stop.

Arrests Throughout the West Bank & Demolitions in Gaza

The army arrested 22 Palestinians in raids throughout the West Bank early Wednesday. It said 15 of them were on its wanted list and seven more aroused suspicions and were taken in for questioning.

In the Gaza Strip, the occupation army demolished a Palestinian home in the Maghazi refugee camp, killing an elderly woman inside. She was the stepmother of Baha Abu Said, who broke into an occupation army outpost in November 2000, killing two Israeli occupation soldiers before escaping.

It was not clear why she was still in the house at the time of the demolition.

Troops warn occupants of a house to leave before they tear it down, though there have been instances where deaf people were left inside unaware. Abu Said's relatives said her hearing was poor, but she was not deaf.

A More Hawkish Israeli Government in the Making

Meanwhile, Israel's president, Moshe Katsav, wound up consultations with party leaders and was preparing to choose Sharon to form a new government. The process was just a formality, after Sharon's Likud Party and its hawkish allies won a clear majority in the parliament.

Sharon has said he wants to team up with the dovish Labor Party in a centrist "national unity" government, but so far Labor has refused. Labor lost considerable support in its 20 months in Sharon's previous government, perceived as giving legitimacy to Sharon's escalating military measures against the Palestinians

PHOTO CAPTION

In this picture released from the Israeli occupation army, Israeli occupation soldiers in camouflage uniforms, back dropped by a model of a Palestinian village set up by the Israeli occupation army for training in urban fighting, advance during a training session near the area of Shizason, southern Israel, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003. (AP Photo/H