Israeli tank attack kills six Palestinians; truce teeters

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- A week-old truce was in danger of unraveling as Israeli tanks rolled into Palestinian farmland Wednesday and shelled a string of police posts, killing six Palestinians in retaliation for a lethal raid on a Jewish settlement by Islamic militants.

Israel also called off meetings with the Palestinians and declared it was not moving ahead with cease-fire commitments until Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat arrests militants responsible for attacks on Israelis.

The Palestinians said the Israeli actions were a grave violation of last week's truce deal, which called for Israel to suspend military strikes and halt incursions into Palestinian territory. But Arafat's Palestinian Authority condemned the attack on the settlement and said it would bring those responsible to justice.

Despite considerable U.S. pressure to make this cease-fire stick, violence has increased, the antagonists exchange harsh recriminations daily and militant Palestinians say they will not honor the truce.

"Yasser Arafat has made a complete mockery of this cease-fire," said Israeli spokesman Dore Gold. Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel would not return to talks "until the Palestinian Authority has taken control and stops terrorism."

But Palestinians say excessive force by Israeli troops has undermined the cease-fire. Twenty-six Palestinians and two Israelis have been killed since the cease-fire was formally announced Sept. 26.

The two Israeli victims, a 19-year-old woman and her 20-year-old boyfriend, died Tuesday night when two members of the militant Islamic group Hamas, dressed in combat fatigues, burst into the small Jewish settlement of Elei Sinai on the northern border of the Gaza Strip.