Undercover Israelis shoot two dead in West Bank

Just two days after Ariel Sharon was re-elected Prime Minister, Israeli tanks were back in action yesterday, demolishing a Palestinian vegetable market in Hebron.

In Tulkarem on the West Bank, Israeli undercover soldiers shot dead two Palestinians. The army said both were militants. Palestinians said one was an innocent bystander. Reports said one of the men killed was Fayez Jabr, the local leader of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group which has connections with Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

In Hebron, the Israeli army searched private homes and Palestinian Authority offices and closed three police stations, two television channels and a radio station.

Palestinians threw stones at soldiers, who replied with live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets. The incursion follows the killing of three Israeli soldiers near a Jewish settlement outside Hebron a week ago.

Hours before the Hebron incursion Mr Sharon dismissed an offer from Mr Arafat of talks and a ceasefire. Mr Sharon's spokesman said the offer was "duplicity and deception". Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian cabinet minister, said Mr Sharon's refusal to talk was "a reflection of the policies of the next government of Israel – a frozen peace process, deterioration and escalation, and attempts to dictate rather than negotiate".