DATE=03/14/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-287539

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L)

BYLINE=MICHAEL DRUDGE

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Fighting continues between Israelis and Palestinians just hours before the arrival of an American Middle East mediator. At least three Israelis and three Palestinians have been killed in the latest violence. We get more from Correspondent Michael Drudge.

TEXT: The Israeli army says three Israelis were killed early Thursday when Palestinians detonated a roadside bomb near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip.

Israel Radio says the blast occurred near a tank that was escorting a civilian convoy. Residents say Israeli tanks drove into Palestinian areas after the incident in a search for the attackers.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, fighting continued between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the city of Ramallah. Palestinian security officials say three Palestinians gunmen were killed in combat early Thursday.

Area residents say Israeli tanks remain deployed in Ramallah and the West Bank town of Bethlehem, despite earlier reports of a pullback.

The violence flared just hours ahead of the arrival of American Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni. He is a retired Marine general under orders from President Bush to mediate a cease-fire between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Leaders on both sides are holding out little hope of progress for the Zinni mission given the current level of conflict.

Dore Gold is a senior Israeli foreign policy adviser. He says Israel must keep its guard up as long as it is threatened by what he calls "terrorist assault."

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We hope that General Zinni's mission works, but at the same time we will do what is necessary to defend our people from this illegitimate form of warfare imposed on us by Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.

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Officials close to Mr. Arafat say there can be no cease-fire as long as Israeli troops are deployed in Ramallah, the political and commercial center of the West Bank.

Israel moved into Ramallah following a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed 11 people and wounded more than 50 others at a Jerusalem cafe last Saturday. (Signed).

NEB/MWD/KL