HIGHLIGHTS: Two Occupation Soldiers Wounded in Gun Battle in Jenin||Occupation Army Captures Palestinian Infiltrator from Egypt||Palestinians Condition Security Talks on Withdrawal from Ramallah|| STORY: Secretary of State Colin Powell will meet a Palestinian delegation that is visiting Washington Thursday and Friday, the State Department said on Tuesday.

The meetings will be the highest-level contact between the Bush administration and the Palestinian Authority since President Bush called in June for Yasser Arafat to be sidelined as Palestinian leader.

The delegation will comprise Cabinet minister and senior negotiator Saeb Erekat, Interior Minister Abdel Razzak al-Yahya, who is also in charge of Palestinian security forces, and Trade Minister Maher al-Masri, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told a news briefing.

"The purpose of these meetings will be to hold discussions and exchange views on a wide range of issues including Palestinian civil reform efforts, a renewal of security cooperation, progress on political dialogue," Reeker said

TWO OCCUPATION SOLDIERS WOUNDED IN GUN BATTLE IN JENIN

Two occupation army soldiers were wounded Tuesday after Palestinian Resistance men opened fire on the troops.
Earlier in the day a third soldier was lightly wounded by stones thrown at him.

OCCUPATION ARMY CAPTURES PALESTINIAN INFELTRATOR

Israeli Police and occupation army troops captured an armed infiltrator after a manhunt throughout the day in the southern Arava .

Initially the infiltrator was reported to have come from Jordan. The occupation authorities believe he entered from Egypt on Monday.

Occupation soldiers concentrated their searches in the Be'er Ora area of the Arava. A warning had been issued to hikers to beware of wandering the area on their own.

PALESTINIANS CONDITION SECURITY TALKS ON WITHDRAWAL FROM RAMALLAH

Palestinian Interior Minister,Abdel Razak al-Yahya, said Tuesday that he had demanded that Israel begin their phased withdrawal from the city of Ramallah first.

In an apparent policy shift from avoiding contacts with Palestinians amid Resistance attacks.

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer met Monday night with three senior Palestinian officials to propose a new security plan.

Ben-Eliezer met in Jerusalem with the Palestinian Interior Minister Abdel Razak al-Yahya, the head of Palestinian Intelligence Amin el-Hindi, and Mohammad Dahlan, an advisor to Palestinian Authority head Yasser Arafat

According to Yiheye, Ben-Eliezer offered the Palestinians a first withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and either Bethlehem or Hebron. Yiheye insisted that Ramallah be first as it is the center of Palestinian political power.

Ben-Eliezer proposed a security plan whereby Israel and the PA would transform the Gaza Strip and the city of Jericho into a model for security cooperation that could be later copied elsewhere in the West Bank. They also discussed easing of closures restrictions in the West Bank.

PHOTO CAPTION

The United States confirmed August 6, 2002 that Secretary of State Colin Powell will meet a Palestinian delegation this week, the highest-level U.S.-Palestinian contact since June. Powell is seen during a press conference at the presidential palace in Manila on August 3. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)