Two killed as Israelis raid camp

Moussa al-Mekayad, 14, shot by Israeli troops on Monday, was buried in Gaza

Israeli troops killed two Palestinian militants and seriously wounded a third in a raid in the West Bank.

The deaths came as troops raided Tulkarm refugee camp and conducted house-to-house searches.

Israel said armed men had approached the soldiers and were shot before they had a chance to open fire.

The third wounded militant was taken to a local hospital, but troops later seized him and transported him away in an Israeli ambulance.

In Gaza, three Palestinians were found dead at the scene of a blast that was initially thought to have been caused when a rocket aimed at Israel exploded prematurely.

However, Hamas said one of the three, a member of the group, had detonated an explosives belt when the other two prevented him from crossing onto Israeli territory.

Hamas described the two as armed "collaborators" for Israel. Another would-be bomber escaped with slight wounds, Hamas said.

The violence came as Israel marked its independence day with noisy celebrations and fireworks.

Likud discord

A ceremony in Jerusalem highlighted a disagreement between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and senior Likud party colleagues over his plan to pull out unilaterally from Gaza and some West Bank settlements.

Parliamentary speaker Reuven Rivlin dedicated a flame to Jewish settlers who will be uprooted from the Israeli-occupied territories as part of Mr Sharon's disengagement plan.

Mr Sharon predicted that at next year's independence day holiday the disengagement from Gaza would be under way.

Independence celebrations follow memorials for Israel's war dead

"This is good for Israel, good for Israel's security, good for the economy and good for peace, which I believe will come one day," he said in an Israeli television interview.

Likud rank-and-file members will vote on the plan on 2 May.

Palestinian freedom of movement has been severely curtailed during the Israel independence day holiday for fear that militants might use events to launch attacks against Israelis.

In Ramallah, the main city in the West Bank, a Palestinian boy died of injuries he received during clashes with Israeli soldiers following the assassination by Israel of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi earlier this month.

The 14-year-old had taken part in stone-throwing protests and was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers.

On Monday, soldiers killed a 15-year-old Palestinian in the village of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza when they opened fire on a group of stone-throwers, witnesses said.

Israeli military sources said the troops had used "non-lethal ammunition" to disperse a group of stone throwers at an army position guarding a Jewish settlement.

Reports say at least 34 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops since the air strike against Rantissi on 17 April.

Palestinian attacks have cost one Israeli life in the same period - a border policeman shot dead on Sunday night as his patrol was driving near the southern West Bank town of Hebron.