Israel closes Gaza highway after attacks

Israel closed the main highway in the Gaza Strip to Palestinian traffic this morning after militants fired anti-tank missiles…

Israel closed the main highway in the Gaza Strip to Palestinian traffic this morning after militants fired anti-tank missiles at a Jewish settlement.

Witnesses said Israeli army jeeps and cement barriers blocked Palestinian vehicles from travelling freely, reversing a move that earlier this week reopened Gaza's central artery to Palestinians after two-and-a-half years.

An Israeli military source said three people had been hurt by the anti-tank missile fire overnight at the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom.

Earlier, Israeli soldiers shot dead a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades affiliated to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.

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The Israeli army confirmed its troops shot and killed an armed Palestinian during an arrest raid in the West Bank city of Qalqilya this morning. A second member of the Brigades was wounded and arrested by Israeli soldiers, the Palestinian security sources and Israeli army said.

The bloodshed was the latest violence that has left three dead since leading Palestinian militants declared a halt to attacks on Israelis earlier this week.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades lack a central command and are divided over suspending attacks on Israelis in a 33-month-old Palestinian uprising for statehood.

The group claimed responsibility for a West Bank shooting attack on Monday that killed a Bulgarian road worker. Mr Arafat said that the gunmen responsible were arrested by Palestinian security forces.