HIGHLIGHTS|| Palestinians under 35 Barred from Travel Abroad|| Israel's Supreme Court to Rule on Arab Candidates This Thursday|| Israel Appears Resolved to Weather Pressure From London & Washington to Reverse Decision to Bar Palestinians From Attending London Peace Talks|| However, Blair Pushes Ahead with Plans to Hold Meeting on Jan 14, 2003, Stressing Importance of Mideast Peace to Western Arab-Muslim Relations|| STORYIsraeli occupation troops shot dead a Palestinian man outside an internationally illegal Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Palestinian witnesses said, as the occupation army cracked down in response to resistance attacks which killed 22 people on Sunday.

The witnesses and medical officials said the 30-year-old, from Khan Younis, central Gaza, was shot in the head as he watched occupation soldiers at the garrison at the nearby internationally illegal settlement of Neve Dekalim.

It was not immediately clear if he was affiliated to Palestinian resistance groups waging a 27-month-old uprising for independence.

Occupation troops shot dead two Palestinian resistance activists and a policeman on Tuesday in a raid on the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said. An armed group, the Al-Aqsa Brigades vowed revenge.

PALESTINIANS UNDER 35 BARRED FROM TRAVEL ABROAD

As part of the clamp down, Israel also imposed new travel bans on the West Bank and Gaza on Tuesday, weathering pressure from Britain and the United States to reverse its decision to bar Palestinians from attending peace talks in London.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's response to the attack was seen as a deliberate effort to look tough to Israeli voters, who have turned sharply to the right amid a wave of Palestinian bombings and are widely expected to re-elect him.

The diplomatic row and fresh Israeli-Palestinian violence clouded the buildup to Israel's January 28 general election as parties kicked off campaign broadcasts to air their differences over how to deal with the Palestinian uprising.

Further tightening restrictions, Israel banned all travel by Palestinians, including ministers and senior officials, between Palestinian towns and cities, officials on both sides said.

Palestinian officials said Palestinians under 35 were also being prevented from going abroad.

Israeli occupation forces, which reoccupied most of the West Bank last summer and keep a tight grip on the fenced-in Gaza Strip, had already forbidden most Palestinian travel and had required officials to coordinate their movements with the occupation army.

ISRAELI COURT TO RULE ON ARAB CANDIDATES

Israel's high court heard appeals from two leading Arab legislators Tuesday who were barred from running in upcoming elections - a case viewed by some as an example of a troubled Arab-Jewish relationship.

A ruling by the 11 justices on the fate of Azmi Bishara and Ahmed Tibi was expected Thursday.

The case has also generated widespread attention abroad. A quarter-page ad in the International Herald Tribune asked Israel to allow Bishara to run for re-election and included the names of 100 lawmakers and academics, most from Europe.

Bishara and Tibi were disqualified last week by Israel's Election Commission, while the panel, voting largely along party lines, upheld the candidacy of a far-right Jewish extremist, Baruch Marzel. In its decisions, the commission went against recommendations by its chairman, Supreme Court Justice Mishael Cheshin.

In Tuesday's hearing, state attorney Talia Sasson denied the state was trying to curb the political rights of Israel's 1.2 million Arab citizens.

"DOUBLE STANDARDS"

British Prime Minister Tony Blair pushed on with plans to host the January 14 talks with Palestinians on peace and reforms despite Israel confining the officials to Palestinian areas.

In a speech to a gathering of British ambassadors, Blair said commitment to an elusive Middle East peace was essential to winning support for a U.S.-led drive to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of suspected weapons of mass destruction.

"The reason there is opposition over our stance on Iraq has less to do with any love of Saddam, but over a sense of double standards. The Middle East peace process remains essential to any understanding with the Muslim and Arab world," Blair said.

Blair had invited the Palestinians for talks with a "Quartet" of Middle East mediators -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- to discuss sweeping changes demanded by Washington as a condition for statehood. The United States backed Britain's call for the meeting to go ahead.

But Israeli ambassador to London Zvi Shtauber told BBC radio there was no point in such talks while Arafat remained in power.

PHOTO CAPTION

Protesters are symbolically gagged January 7, 2003 during a demonstration in Jerusalem against the disqualification of the Hadash and Balad parties from Israel's upcoming general election. Israel's central election committee voted to bar the two parties over their alleged support for attacks on Israelis. Leaders from both parties have denied backing violence and have asked Israel's Supreme Court to overturn the ruling. Photo by Gil Cohen Mag