Military

DATE=01/25/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (S)

NUMBER=2-298783

BYLINE= LARRY JAMES

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Israeli forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun Saturday after an operation that left one Palestinian dead and some 20 injured. Larry James reports from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Troops blew up four bridges overnight that Israel says had been used to fire rockets at the nearby town of Sderot. One such rocket hit the town Friday.

The operation came hours after Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz warned that military forces would conduct operations to destroy what he called the "terrorist infrastructure" of Palestinian organizations in the area.

Earlier Friday in the West Bank, Israeli forces shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian man and a woman in her forties who the army said tried to ambush soldiers near the city of Nablus.

Meanwhile, representatives of militant Palestinian factions are meeting in Cairo for talks on ending the 28-month-old Palestinian uprising. Egyptian officials say they hope to get the groups to agree to a one-year halt in suicide attacks against Israeli citizens as a way to spark a renewal of the Middle East peace process.

NEB/LDJ/MAR