Gunmen Kill Jewish Settler in West Bank

A Jewish settler was shot to death Friday by Palestinian militants in the southern West Bank, the latest spasm in nearly two weeks of scattered, back-and-forth violence.

The drive-by shooting occurred hours after Israel reinstated a ban on Palestinians entering the country and launched airstrikes in the Gaza Strip in response to rocket salvos by militants.

Israeli authorities said Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a car in which the victim, 35-year-old Yossi Shok, was traveling near Hebron, an area where tensions between Jewish settlers and Palestinians run high. Three Israelis were fatally shot several miles away during a drive-by attack in October.

The militant group Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militia loosely tied to the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, jointly claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.

“Today’s attack is another example of what happens when the Palestinian Authority does not take any discernible measures to prevent terror against Israel,” said David Baker, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Israel imposed the new restrictions on the West Bank and Gaza Strip days after it had relaxed an earlier travel ban that followed a Dec. 5 suicide bombing. That attack killed five Israelis in the coastal city of Netanya.

Since that bombing, hostile exchanges between the two sides have escalated, with Palestinian guerrillas firing rockets from the Gaza Strip and Israeli forces hitting back with artillery rounds plus aerial strikes against militant leaders and launch sites in Gaza.

Early Friday, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at a series of sites in Gaza from which Kassam rockets -- unguided, homemade projectiles -- had been lobbed into southern Israel, including one that hit the outskirts of the city of Ashkelon. Gaza residents said the predawn hours echoed with repeated explosions from Israeli missiles and sonic booms from military jets flying overhead.

During the last eight days, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have killed six militants, including a group of four slain Wednesday while allegedly en route to bomb the Karni crossing, the main cargo port between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Israel cited the violence in announcing that it was delaying the launch of bus convoys to shuttle Palestinians between Gaza and the West Bank. The shuttles, which would cross about 30 miles of Israeli territory, were to have begun Thursday under terms of an agreement brokered last month by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

American officials hailed that agreement, whose centerpiece was the opening of a Palestinian-controlled crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, as a breakthrough stemming from Rice’s intense personal involvement.

Since then, U.S. and European officials have pressured Israel, without success, to allow the convoys to start as scheduled.

An Israeli spokesman said Friday that talks between Israel and the Palestinians about the convoys would resume next week. But it was unclear when the shuttles would begin after Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz decided to postpone them at least past next week.

Palestinians have said they must be granted more freedom of movement if the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza last summer is to translate into better lives and improved economic prospects for them. The crucial Karni crossing remained open Friday.

Abbas, meanwhile, continued facing a rebellion within the ranks of Fatah, the dominant force in Palestinian politics for four decades. A faction of younger party activists showed no signs of relenting to pressure to withdraw its list of candidates for parliamentary elections set for Jan. 25.

Fatah faces a stiff challenge in that race from the militant group Hamas, which captured surprisingly large majorities in municipal elections Thursday in the West Bank cities of Nablus and El Birah, according to unofficial results. Hamas also appeared to have won the local council race in Jenin.

Preliminary results showed Hamas winning all but two of 15 seats on the Nablus council. Final results from all 40 municipalities are expected Sunday.