An assailant stabbed and wounded a rabbi inside his Paris synagogue Friday, authorities said. Gabriel Farhi, 34, was treated for a stomach injury and released from Yves Harel, a hospital spokesman. The attacker fled and was still at large late Friday. There was no immediate word on a motive for the attack. Delanoe underwent emergency surgery in October after being stabbed in the stomach at City Hall. A suspect was taken into custody shortly after the attack.

Israel Destroys Militant's House, Drawing U.S. Criticism

Israel destroyed the West Bank home of a Palestinian resistance activist leader on Friday in a measure it said was intended to deter violence but that the United States said could fuel the conflict.

The occupation army and Palestinian security sources identified the activist as Mohammed Brewesh, a leader of the Palestinian Jihad resistance group which has carried out bombings and gun attacks on Israelis in a Palestinian uprising now in its third year.

"We recognize Israel's need to take legitimate anti-terrorist action," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

"However, steps such as displacement of people through the demolition of homes and property exacerbate the humanitarian situation, and undermine trust and confidence."

In the Rafah refugee camp in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, Israeli tanks stood guard on Friday as bulldozers knocked down four homes, which did not belong to activists, Palestinian witnesses said.

The United States, Israel's guardian ally, has been calling for calm in the Middle East to avoid complicating its plans for a possible military campaign against Iraq, which Washington accuses of seeking weapons of mass destruction.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian boys look at a car among the debris of houses, which were destroyed by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Hebron on January 3, 2003. Photo by Loay Abu Haykel/Reuters