Israel rethinks Arafat blockade

Talks between the two sides will resume on Sunday

Israel's security cabinet are meeting on Sunday to decide whether to lift the blockade on the West Bank headquarters of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

Left-wing ministers favour ending Mr Arafat's confinement after he ordered the arrest of three men suspected of killing an Israeli minister in October, but it is not clear whether Prime Minister Ariel Sharon supports the move.

Right-wing ministers in the coalition cabinet are fiercely opposed.

Sharon's popularity has declined sharply in recent weeks

Renewed efforts to try to ease the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians are also planned for Sunday with security officials from both sides and representatives from the United States due to meet.

An uneasy period of relative calm after a week of spiralling violence was tested on Saturday when an unarmed Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli soldiers.

But the BBC's Jerusalem correspondent says the latest incidents are not on the scale of the past week's upsurge, which left more than 50 people dead.

Walk-out threat

Israel has confined Mr Arafat to his presidential compound in Ramallah since mid-December following a wave of deadly attacks on Israelis by Palestinian militants.

The Israeli Government said the blockade would only be lifted when Mr Arafat arrested the men suspected of killing Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi.

Arafat has been confined since December

On Thursday the Palestinian Authority announced that three suspects had been arrested.

The Israeli Infrastructure Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has threatened to withdraw his party from the coalition government if the restrictions on Mr Arafat are eased.

Mr Sharon could raise his demands by calling for the detainees to be handed over to Israel to stand trial - a condition correspondents say Mr Arafat would almost certainly reject.

Call for restraint

The Israeli army has been told to exercise restraint and refrain from initiating attacks inside Palestinian-controlled areas, government sources say.

The sources described the measure as a tentative agreement between security officials and say it will last for several days.

The past week has seen some of the worst violence yet

However, Israel insists it reserves the right to respond to threats to Israeli security.

Palestinian and Israeli security officials will meet on Sunday to discuss ways of easing the situation further.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, will hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Fresh violence

On Saturday, several outbreaks of violence underlined the fragility of the brief respite.

An unarmed young Palestinian man, Firas al-Bau, was killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Hebron.

The army said he was shot as he ran threateningly towards an isolated military outpost.

In the southern Gaza Strip, masked Palestinian gunmen clashed with Israeli troops near Rafah. At least 16 Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire, hospital officials said.

And in the West Bank, Palestinian gunmen wounded two Israelis in a shooting on a road near Ramallah, Israeli security sources said.