Israelis kill four in firefight

Israeli raids on Nablus are frequent

Israeli soldiers have killed at least four suspected Palestinian militants in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Troops hunting militants behind recent attempts to send suicide bombers into Israel came under attack in the casbah or old quarter, army sources said.

They said one man tried to run at soldiers with a bomb and three gunmen opened fire from a rooftop. However local people reported five deaths.

The clash comes as Israel prepares to outline plans for the West Bank.

Speculation is high about the contents of a speech Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is due to make on Thursday evening after he recently spoke of unspecified "unilateral steps" in the West Bank in the event of the US-led "roadmap" peace process failing.

Such talk has made both the Palestinians and the Americans nervous, the BBC's Barbara Plett reports from Jerusalem, as they fear Mr Sharon is suggesting there may come a time when he will give up on a negotiated settlement and impose his own.

Fierce fighting

Israeli soldiers backed by armoured vehicles moved into the Nablus area on Tuesday to search for militants from Tanzim - a group said to have with links to Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.

Palestinian hospital sources told the French news agency AFP that that one of those killed overnight was a 25-year-old bakery worker, named as Alaeddin Dawayeh, who was hit by 15 bullets. Another man was wounded, the same sources said.

Other Palestinian witnesses quoted by the agency said Mr Dawayeh had been on his way to work when he was shot.

The Israelis said they had come under fire from masked gunmen who came out in succession to shoot at them with automatic weapons.

Our correspondent says the fighting overnight was some of the fiercest reported in weeks.

'No surprises'

Some believe that Mr Sharon's reported plans involve evacuating some isolated Jewish settlements in the West Bank while seizing more land ahead of the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

SETTLEMENTS FACTS 220,000 settlers in the West Bank and Gaza 130 settlements authorised by Israeli Governments Approximately 100 un-authorised settlements, 60 built during Ariel Sharon's government Israel spends about $500m on settlements annually - excluding security Sources: Peace Now and Haaretz newspaper Maps: West Bank settlements

But an unnamed aide to Mr Sharon was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying the speech would not contain "any major surprises" for the United States, the sponsor of the roadmap for peace.

"The prime minister will reiterate his commitment to seeing the roadmap through and his willingness to take unilateral steps should the Palestinians not make implementation possible," the aide said.

Mr Sharon is due to address a security conference in the Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya.