Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat toured battle-scarred West Bank cities Monday just hours after Israel's ruling Likud party voted never to accept the creation of a Palestinian state. Arafat visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, site of a five-week Israeli siege, and Jenin, scene of devastation during a recent Israeli offensive, in his first trip since Israel lifted his confinement in his Ramallah compound on May 2.

Arafat's mission to reassert his authority in the battered West Bank cities began after the right-wing Likud dealt a further blow to Middle East peace prospects by voting against any future establishment of a Palestinian state.

In Jenin, the Palestinian leader predicted a "liberation of the occupied territories."

The Likud vote at a heated party convention in Tel Aviv on Sunday night marked a victory for former Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a looming battle for the party leadership.

Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said it showed Israel's true intentions and would increase Palestinians' frustration in their latest 19-month-old uprising against Israeli occupation.

European officials also said it would harm the search for peace and the United States, Israel's strongest ally, reiterated it supported an eventual Palestinian state.

In further West Bank violence, Israeli security services said they killed two Palestinian gunmen in two incidents before dawn Monday.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat waves as he arrives in the West Bank city of Jenin May 13, 2002. Arafat visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, site of a five-week Israeli siege, and Jenin, scene of devastation during a recent Israeli offensive, in his first trip since Israel lifted his confinement in his Ramallah compound on May 2. REUTERS/Ammar Awad