An 18-year-old Palestinian man was killed when Palestinian resistance activists tossed a homemade grenade at a funeral procession in the southern Gaza Strip  on Monday, hospital officials said. The youth, Said Mabi, was badly wounded by shrapnel and died before reaching the hospital, said Dr. Ali Moussa at Rafah hospital. Mabi was part of a procession at the funeral of two Palestinians killed Sunday.

During funerals, Palestinian resistance activists routinely fire automatic rifles into the air and call for revenge against Israel. It appeared the grenade was thrown as a show of strength and was not intended to harm anyone, witnesses said.

In the West Bank town of Hebron, the Israeli occupation army said it found a bomb and carried out a controlled explosion at a house belonging to a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a resistance group loosely linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat 's Fatah movement.

The occupation army said that occupation forces searched Hazem Qawasmeh's house and found the bomb, along with two assault rifles. The occupation army then detonated the bomb, which badly damaged the two-story house.

Relatives said Qawasmeh has been in Israeli custody for over a year, which the occupation army denied. His brother Hatem, and another man, were arrested by occupation troops during Monday's operation, witnesses said.

The occupation army said it arrested 12 other people in the West Bank overnight, including members of the resistance Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Curfews were lifted Qalqiliya, Hebron, Ramallah, Jenin and Tulkarem in the West Bank Monday, the occupation army said.
The lifting of the curfew meant people were free to move around in those areas.

However, the occupation army has imposed a blanket closure to prevent Palestinians from entering Israel proper. The closure was to remain in effect through Israel's election on Tuesday and is to be lifted Wednesday, Israeli officials have said.

PHOTO CAPTION

A Palestinian woman weeps as she stands near her home in Hebron, on the West Bank, after it was demolished by the Israeli occupation army using explosives on Monday, Jan. 27, 2003. Israeli occupation forces barred Palestinians from entering Israel on Monday in advance of Israel's general election on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)