Palestinians killed as blockade bites

Israeli troops are enforcing the blockade in Gaza

At least four Palestinians have been killed during clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The deaths followed Israel's re-imposition of blockades on Palestinian towns in the West Bank and Gaza.

Funerals were held on Tuesday for victims of Monday's violence which led to the blockades.

Israeli settlers have also been mourning their dead

The most violent incident was at the funeral for three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis where gunmen fired shots into the air and crowds called for revenge.

In the ensuing fighting, two Palestinian youths, one of them a 13-year-old, were killed. Another teenager was shot dead at a military post near Ramallah in the West Bank.

And a 50-year-old man was reported to have died following violence also near Ramallah.

Tighter blockade

The Israeli commander in the West Bank, Major General Yitzhak Eitan, said the closure orders would be more stringent than in the past with only food and medicine permitted to enter or leave the blockaded areas.

A Palestinian teenager watches a burning tyre in Gaza

However, the BBC Jerusalem correspondent Paul Adams reports that closure is not as absolute as might be expected.

At several checkpoints Palestinians found that little had actually changed, and at one, Jewish settlers took matters into their own hands and blocked Palestinian cars themselves.

Strong action

The Israeli prime Minister, Ehud Barak, is to chair an emergency meeting of his security Cabinet on his return from the United States where he met US President Bill Clinton.

Ehud Barak: Returning home early from foreign trip

After the talks Mr Barak accused the Palestinian leadership of encouraging violence and calling for holy war against Israel.

He promised strong action against those responsible for attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers.

Ambush

The clampdown is a return to the widespread sanctions against Palestinians that Israel lifted in mid-October after committing itself to a ceasefire accord brokered by the US at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Correspondents say Monday's violence confirms an apparent change of tactics by the Palestinians, who are reported to be carrying out more ambushes of Israeli settlers and soldiers.

This coincides with a call by Yasser Arafat's Fatah party for the Palestinians to drive out Israelis from occupied land by Wednesday

Hamas meeting

This date - 15 November - marks the 12-year anniversary of a symbolic Palestinian statehood declaration.

Mr Arafat has held direct talks with the militant Hamas movement in what is seen by observers as part of his efforts to unify Palestinian political and military policy towards Israel.

The meeting between Mr Arafat and senior Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal - the first in five years - took place on the sidelines of the Islamic summit in Qatar.

Hamas, the leading opposition movement to Mr Arafat in the Palestinian territories, has called for a intensification of the Palestinian intifada and attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers.