Violence clouds Sharon's US visit

Israel says Yasser Arafat is behind Palestinian attacks

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has arrived in Washington for talks with US President George W Bush that have been overshadowed by renewed violence in the Middle East.

We have recently seen increased efforts by Hamas... to send these missiles to cities near Israel

Brigadier-General Gershon Yitzhak

As Mr Sharon left Jerusalem, Israeli jets struck Palestinian buildings in the West Bank town of Nablus.

They were retaliating for an attack by a lone Palestinian gunman on the nearbly Jewish settlement of Hamra in which three Israelis and the gunman died and a number of others were left wounded.

Israel has also put on display missiles from a Palestinian truck captured in the West Bank that were capable of hitting Israel's coastal cities.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is seeking to reassure the United States that the Palestinian Authority is doing everything it can to quell Islamic militants and stop attacks against Israelis.

In an interview with the BBC he repeated that he was making a 100% effort to curb the violence in the Middle East. However, Mr Arafat told the BBC that his hands were tied because he was virtually under siege in the town of Ramallah.

But Mr Sharon is expected to put the blame for the violence squarely on Mr Arafat's shoulders when he meets President Bush on Thursday.

Jordan valley bloodshed

The Israeli army says its planes attacked a Palestinian military site in the West Bank town of Nablus, following the attack by a gunman who took over a house in the Jewish settlement of Hamra in the Jordan valley.

Reports say the attacker shot dead a soldier as he was cutting through the wire fence surrounding the settlement.

Settlers have again been targeted by Palestinian militants

The attacker was killed when Israeli commandos stormed the house. A woman and her 11-year-old daughter who also died during the fighting will be buried on Thursday.

At least four people were wounded, including a child and two soldiers, reports said.

Israel responded swiftly, with F-16 fighter planes bombing a Palestinian security installation.

The Israeli army displayed eight Qassam-2 missiles at a news conference on Wednesday, saying they had been found hidden in a Palestinian truck travelling from Nablus to Jenin in the West Bank.

Israeli Brigadier-General Gershon Yitzhak said the missiles had a range of 10 to 12 kilometres (six to seven miles) and said they were going to be used by Islamic militant groups.

Arrest on bus

"We have recently seen increased efforts by Hamas and other organisations apparently with the backing of the Palestinian Authority to send these missiles to cities near Israel," he said at a military base near Nablus.

A Hamas official, quoted by the Reuters news agency, said its military wing "has declared they have these weapons".

The discovery of the missiles, coupled with separate incidents of violence, will give Mr Sharon new material to use against Mr Arafat when he meets President Bush.

The Palestinian Authority says it has acted against militants

On Wednesday, a Jerusalem bus driver alerted Israeli police to a suspicious passenger who was found to have explosives strapped to his body, police said.

The bus had been travelling from Jerusalem to the Jewish West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim when the driver became suspicious and stopped at a border checkpoint.

Police overpowered the man and arrested him.

In another incident, Palestinian sources said a teenager had been killed by Israeli troops in the southern Gaza Strip.

Palestinian overtures

The BBC's Caroline Hawley, in Jerusalem, says that over the past few days the Palestinians have been scrambling to show the Americans they are committed to ending militant attacks.

In a document obtained by the Associated Press news agency, the Palestinian Authority tells the US it has arrested 195 militants over the past few weeks and frozen 56 suspect bank accounts.

It says it has also moved against militant mosque preachers, shut down 79 unregistered charities and closed 15 illegal ammunitions factories.

In a fresh attempt to create the conditions for a lasting ceasefire, US Vice President Dick Cheney's will visit Israel and eight Arab countries next month.

A senior US administration official said Mr Cheney would focus on talks with government leaders on the next phase of the war on terror.