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Two Palestinians Killed in West Bank Gun Battles
Two Palestinians were killed Monday in gun battles in the West Bank between Israeli troops and armed Palestinians, Israel's Army Radio reported.
One Palestinian was killed as clashes broke out at al-Khader junction near Bethlehem, eight kilometers south of Jerusalem, and the second died in exchanges of fire in the Ramallah area.
Another Palestinian was also critically wounded in the fighting near Bethlehem.
After weeks of relative calm in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which have witnessed more than four months of bloody clashes, violence flared anew late Sunday, when Palestinian gunmen opened fire at Jewish neighborhood of Gilo on the southern outskirts of Jerusalem, and an Israeli motorist was killed on the road linking Jerusalem and the Gush Etzion settlement, southwest of Jerusalem.
There were also gun battles overnight between Israeli troops and armed Palestinians in Bethlehem and near the Gush Katif settlement in the southern Gaza Strip.
The rise in clashes came at a time when Israeli Prime Minister- elect Ariel Sharon was trying to forge a coalition government following his landslide victory in last Tuesday's election.
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