HIGHLIGHTS: Hamas Vows Revenge||All Talks with Israelis Should be Suspended: Abed Rebbo||Palestinians Said to Appoint Hana Siniora, New Washington Representative||'If Arafat Leaves West Bank, He Won't be Allowed to Return,' Sharon|| STORY: Palestinians on Monday dismissed the Israeli army's plans to launch an investigation into the killings of Palestinian civilians as a propaganda ploy that would lead nowhere.

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer ordered the probe into operations this past weekend that killed 11 Palestinians, including two children in a helicopter strike, and revived criticism of tactics used to combat the Palestinian uprising.

The deaths, described by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat as "massacres," led Israeli President Moshe Katzav to call for an inquiry into accusations the army had become "trigger happy."

Arafat accused Israel of trying to sabotage steps to end the 23 months of bloodshed. The killings have dimmed prospects for new Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at a gradual truce.

The Palestinian Resistance group Hamas, vowed revenge.

Keeping up the criticism on Monday, senior Palestinian cabinet member Saeb Erekat predicted the Israeli investigation would come to nothing.

"The calls for an investigation are meant for media consumption because we have never heard of any result of these panels created after the killing of Palestinian civilians," he told Reuters. "We place full responsibility on the Israeli government for these crimes and this bloodletting."

But Israeli Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh, a member of the center-left Labour Party, said a "deep examination" was needed to avoid damage to the so-called army's image.

"There must be no impression of indifference to human life. Hurting the guilty hurts terror, but hurting the innocent increases terror," he told Army Radio.

ALL TALKS WITH ISRAELIS SHOULD BE SUSPENDED

International and domestic criticism of the occupation army's operations against Palestinian Resistance activists has grown since an Israeli air strike against a top Hamas military commander killed 14 civilians, nine of them children, in Gaza City on July 23.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Sunday that "all talks with the Israeli side should be suspended after all these massacres."

PALESTINIANS SAID TO APPOINT HANA SINIORA, NEW WASHINGTON REPRESENTATIVE

Hana Siniora, a Palestinian newspaper publisher and advocate of non-violent protest against Israeli occupation, said Monday he was named the Palestinian Authority's new representative in Washington.

Officials in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's office were not immediately available for comment.

A senior member of Arafat's Fatah movement said he had heard of plans to appoint Siniora, 65, and said there was strong opposition to the choice in Fatah.

Siniora, editor and publisher of The Jerusalem Times, a Palestinian English-language newspaper, said he would take his post in October.

SHARON: ARAFAT CAN'T LEAVE WEST BANK

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has told his Cabinet that if Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat leaves the West Bank, he will not allow him to return, an Israeli newspaper reported Monday.

The Yediot Ahronot daily reported that Israel's defense minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, disagreed with the prime minister, saying that expelling Arafat would serve to strengthen his international standing, which is currently weak.

Sharon told Cabinet ministers Sunday that Israel had not received a formal request from the Palestinian Authority to allow Arafat to leave, Yediot reported.

PHOTO CAPTION

Two Palestinian policemen walk in front an Israeli vehicle blocking the main Gaza north-south road near the Netzarim Jewish settlement in the central Gaza Strip, September 2, 2002. The road, which has been sealed off by Israel a year ago, was supposed to be reopened partially on Monday but has not yet been opened. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah
- Sep 02 6:42 AM ET