HIGHLIGHTS|||*|Israel Uses a Predator Drone, Similar to that Used in Yemen, to Assassinate Hamed Sadr of Hamas Killing Another Palestinian in the Attempt in Nablus|*|Netanyahu Launches Campaign to Unseat Sharon|*|Palestinian & EU Officials Voice Concern Early Israeli Elections Would Stir More Turmoil in the Middle East Before the Nationwide Vote|*|
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STORY: After a period of relative calm, the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians flared again, with Israeli fire claiming eight Palestinian lives in 24 hours and a resistance bomber killing one person in Israel.

In the West Bank town of Nablus, a senior military leader of the Palestinian resistance Hamas group and another man were killed when their car exploded in the west of the city. The blast, which also injured two bystanders, was blamed on Israel.

The Hamas leader was identified as Hamed Sadr, 35, whose nephew blew himself up taking down with him three Israeli occupation soldiers in a resistance bomb attack on the Jewish settlement of Ariel last week.

Witnesses said a drone was overflying the area when the explosion blew the car, which had yellow Israeli license plates, to pieces.

A Palestinian security official accused Israel of "booby trapping the car and blowing it up by remote control."

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat denounced the explosion as "a war crime reflecting Israel's desire to carry on its assassinations which are aimed at destroying the Palestinian people."

A few hours later, a resistance bomber blew himself up in the Israeli town of Kfar Saba, on the northeastern rim of metropolitan Tel Aviv and only five kilometres (three miles) from the reoccupied Palestinian town of Qalqilya.

The bomber killed one other person and injured around a dozen, according to rescue services quoted by Israeli television.

In the Gaza Strip earlier, five Palestinians were killed.

Three were shot dead overnight by Israeli forces on the border between the Gaza Strip and southern Israel.

The three men entered a restricted zone near the border fence between the Gaza Strip and the Israeli kibbutz, or collective village, of Nahal Oz and Israeli forces opened fire.

The bodies were found later when the occupation army sent out a patrol to investigate, although no weapons were discovered with them.

None of the men were identified by the occupation army, which handed their bodies over to Palestinian medical authorities.

Another two men were killed in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, which lies on the border with Egypt.

One was shot dead late Sunday after Israeli troops saw him behaving suspiciously and entering the prohibited security zone around a roadblock manned by Israeli soldiers. The man's identity was not released.

A second man was shot in the town later on Monday, in circumstances which were not clear, hospital sources said. Ahmed Abdelkadr Othman, 24, was shot in the head and died shortly afterwards.

Four other Palestinians, including a five-year-old boy and an 18-year-old girl, were injured Monday by Israeli fire in Rafah, medics said.

Another man from Khan Yunis, just north of Rafah, who was shot by Israeli occupation troops on Saturday died of his wounds Monday, Palestinian medics said.

Two Israeli helicopters also fired three rockets at an unknown target in an industrial zone in Nablus Monday evening, Palestinian witnesses said.

The choppers fired at an area in the east of the city, which was quickly closed off by the occupation army, the witnesses said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

NETANYAHU LAUNCHES BID TO UNSEAT SHARON

The violence came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called early elections by February. Hours after that, right-wing challenger Benjamin Netanyahu launched his own campaign to lead Israel, vowing to get tough on the Palestinians.

Appearing on television, Netanyahu wasted no time flashing his hawkish credentials in the run-up to a Likud Party vote that will decide which of the two men heads the party list in a general election expected on January 28.

Netanyahu, 53, is due to be sworn in on Wednesday as foreign minister in Sharon's minority government, returning to a political stage he largely abandoned after the Labor Party's Ehud Barak ousted him as prime minister in a 1999 election.

Palestinian officials and European Union diplomats voiced concern Sharon's decision to hold elections nine months ahead of schedule would stir more turmoil in the Middle East Before the nationwide vote.

Israel's two main parties -- Sharon's right-wing Likud and Labor -- will hold leadership elections. Netanyahu said he would challenge Sharon

PHOTO CAPTION

Mourners pray over the bodies of four Palestinians, covered with green Islamic, Palestinian and Islamic Jihad flags, at Alawdeh mosque during their funeral in Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday Nov. 5, 2002. (AP Photo/Yakoub Galow