A Palestinian man has died after being shot and critically wounded in a village on the edge of Bethlehem.
He is the third Palestinian to be killed in the area today.
Israeli forces have reportedly withdrawn from another besieged West Bank village as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, facing intense US pressure, called a high-level meeting to consider a further pullout from Palestinian areas.
There was no official word on a wider withdrawal from other West Bank areas, but Israeli radio stations said troops would start withdrawing by tomorrow.
A PLO faction vowed today to avenge the Israeli army's "massacre" during an incursion in the West Bank village of Beit Rima that killed several Palestinians.
"The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) pledges that the massacres of [Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel] Sharon and the occupation army will not go unpunished," the Damascus-based DFLP warned in a statement.
It said the intifada would continue until the Israeli troops and Jewish settlers leave.
The Palestinian Authority said nine Palestinians were killed in yesterday's army raid on Beit Rima. The Israeli military has handed over five bodies for burial.
Israel said the raid at Beit Reema was intended to arrest militants and those behind the assassination of Tourism Minister Mr Rehavam Zeevi last week.
Palestinian leaders have put the death toll in Beit Reema at 10 or higher, describing the Israeli army's actions as "a massacre".
They said at least four other Palestinians were killed elsewhere in the West Bank yesterday bringing the death toll since Israeli action began last week to at least 30 Palestinians and one Israeli.
AFP &