HIGHLIGHTS: ||Making the Arrest of 175 Palestinian Resistance Activists, Israeli Officials Say it's Now Evident for them that the Activists Are Determined to Continue their Intifadha, Uprising against Occupation||Palestinians Say Israelis Have Only themselves to Blame for Relentless Resistance Attacks||Palestinian Parliamentary Debate Postponed Monday After Israel Refused to Issue Travel Permits to !3 Palestinian Deputies||Occupation Forces Demolish 4 Palestinian Houses in Jenin & Kill a Palestinian Stone Thrower in Tulkarm||
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STORY: Palestinian parliament meets in Ramallah Tuesday to approve new government as Israel captures 175 Palestinians suspected of plotting resistance bomb attacks. Israeli officials confirmed the news Monday, saying the figure shows that Palestinian resistance activists are relentless in trying to attack Israelis.

Since Sept. 2000, 83 Palestinians have blown themselves up, killing 296 Israelis on buses, in malls, at gas stations and in cafes.

The Palestinians say harsh Israeli military strikes and strict travel bans in the West Bank and Gaza Strip provoke further bombings and shootings.

CONFLICTING EXPLANATIONS ON DETENTIONS

Israeli officials, meanwhile, gave conflicting explanations regarding the 175 would-be bombers in custody.

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told the Maariv daily that "up to now, we have in our hands 175 male and female 'resistance activists' ," suggesting that this is the total number taken into custody since the outbreak of fighting.

However, Defense Ministry officials said 175 have been taken into custody since a military offensive in March. An Israeli government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the count started at the beginning of 2002.

Occupation army officials said most of the bombers were captured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in Israeli raids based on intelligence information. A smaller number were intercepted while en route to Israel.

Raanan Gissin, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Israel has remained on high security alert "because the motivation for attacks by Palestinians has intensified both individually and collectively."

PALESTINIAN PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE OPENS IN RAMALLAH TUESDAY

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has denounced attacks on civilians, and was to repeat such a condemnation Tuesday, in a speech to the Palestinian parliament.

"Such attacks do not help our national interest in having our independent state, nor the Israeli interest of having security and peace," said a draft of the Arafat speech obtained by The Associated Press.

The parliament was to have met Monday, but Arafat postponed the session for a day after Israel refused to issue travel permits to 13 of 87 legislators for security reasons.

Parliament was to vote on Arafat's new Cabinet, after reform-minded lawmakers last month forced the old Cabinet to resign.

The session will be held in a refurbished annex of Arafat's office in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Nearly all buildings in the headquarters compound were destroyed in a 10-day Israeli siege last month.

Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Rdeneh accused Israel on Monday of trying to "sabotage the efforts to continue the reform process and the preparations for elections." Legislative and presidential elections are planned for January.

Israel and the United States have demanded that the Palestinian Authority make major political and economic reforms.

OCCUPATION FORCES DEMOLISH FOUR HOUSES IN JENIN AND KILL STONE THROWER IN TULKARM

Also Monday, in the West Bank town of Jenin, Israeli occupation troops demolished four homes that belonged to Palestinians involved, or suspected of involvement in violence against Israel, the occupation army and witnesses said.

The occupation army said two of the houses belonged to the families of two bombers who carried a bombing last week that killed 14 Israelis.

Palestinian witnesses confirmed the house demolitions, saying that one of the structures was a three-story building. At least 50 Palestinians were made homeless by the destruction, local residents said.

In other violence Monday, a 16-year-old Palestinian was shot in the chest and killed when Israeli soldiers began firing at stone throwers in the West Bank town of Tulkarem, Palestinians said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Protestors chant anti-Israeli slogans during a demonstration supporting Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and protesting against Thursday's clashes between Palestinian prisoners and Israelis at Ketziot prison in southern Israel, at the Palestinian Legislative council in Gaza city, Monday Oct. 28, 2002. Protestors wave red Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, white Fatah (news - web sites) and Palestinian flags and some are carrying pictures of Palestinian prisoners. (AP Photo/Adel