Israeli occupation soldiers shot dead three Palestinians, including two Hamas Islamic resistance men , in the Gaza Strip on Monday, Palestinian witnesses said.They said occupation troops killed the two Hamas members as they tried to sneak through a security fence into Israel near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun and killed another Palestinian as he walked past an occupation army checkpoint.

Israeli military sources said the third man may have been among a group of gunmen who shot at occupation soldiers guarding a Jewish settlement in the central Gaza Strip. The sources said occupation soldiers returned fire but could not say if they hit anyone.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has showed no sign of abating despite Washington's call for restraint as it seeks Arab backing for a possible war on Iraq.

Hamas said on Sunday it was not prepared to enter any dialogue aimed at stopping "resistance" against Israel, which it said should continue even inside the Jewish state.

Hamas is the main resistance group behind a series of resistance bombings that have killed scores of Israelis since the start of a Palestinian uprising for independence in September 2000.

On Sunday, Israel's cabinet decided to bar Palestinian President Yasser Arafat , a Muslim, from visiting Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, for Christmas for a second year running.

Israel controls West Bank roads and airspace, making it impossible for Arafat to travel from his battered compound in Ramallah to Bethlehem, a West Bank town some 20 km (12 miles) away, without Israeli approval.

Israeli officials accuse Arafat of complicity in attacks on Israelis, an allegation the Palestinian leader denies.

Israel said occupation troops would likely stay over the holiday in Bethlehem. The occupation army reoccupied Bethlehem three weeks ago after 11 people were killed in a resistance attack on a Jerusalem bus.

Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rdainah said the decision was an attempt to provoke Palestinians "and belittle international efforts exerted to salvage the peace process."

Looking toward possible U.S. war against Iraq, Israel sent Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to the United States to meet Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell  and Condoleezza Rice , the U.S. national security adviser.

At least 1,722 Palestinians and 670 Israelis have been killed since the uprising began.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian doctors wheel a seriously wounded girl Sawsan el Salaq to the emergency room at Al-Najar hospital in Rafah southern Gaza Strip , Sunday Dec. 15, 2002. Palestinian security officials said seven houses were demolished and two teenage sisters seriously injured when tanks and bulldozers moved into the outskirts of Rafah, a few hundred meters (yards) from the Jewish settlement of Morag, southern Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamr