Three Israelis, four Palestinians killed as Sharon heads to U.S

JERUSALEM -- In a trio of deadly episodes Saturday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian gunmen killed a pregnant woman, her husband and an Israeli soldier at a mobile home settlement, while at least four armed Palestinians died.

The bloodshed came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon headed to Washington to tell President Bush that peace talks should not be restarted until the more than 20 months of violence ends.

Sharon, on his sixth trip to the White House in a little more than a year in office, has received strong backing from the Bush administration.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with Bush Saturday seeking a timetable for reviving peace negotiations that collapsed last year, but Bush said he wasn't prepared to set a schedule.

"We're not ready to lay down any specific calendar, except to say that we have to get started quickly," Bush said after seeing Mubarak at Camp David, Md.

Sharon, who was leaving Israel late Saturday, is to meet with Bush on Monday. The talks are not expected to produce any major developments, and are seen as the latest installment of close U.S.-Israeli consultations on the Mideast conflict.

Israeli authorities reported these incidents Saturday:

About 3 a.m., two Palestinians, one wearing an Israeli army uniform, fired automatic rifles at a cluster of 15 mobile homes just outside the fenced Jewish settlement of Karmei Tzur in the West Bank south of Jerusalem.

A young woman nine months pregnant and her husband, an off-duty soldier, were killed, Israeli television said. An Israeli soldier in uniform also died and four other Israelis were wounded, the army said. Soldiers killed one gunman, but the second escaped to the nearby Palestinian village of Halhoul.

Two armed men were spotted swimming in the Mediterranean Sea near the Jewish coastal settlement of Dugit and were shot dead by soldiers, the army said.

The body of one washed ashore, but the second was believed dead as well. The two men were carrying automatic rifles, grenades and civilian clothes that they planned to wear after reaching shore, the army said.

The bodies of two Palestinians were found after an explosion went off along the fence that separates Gaza and Israel, the army said. It said the men were carrying bombs.

In another development, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is likely to announce a Cabinet reshuffle soon, "probably in the next 48 hours," Cabinet minister Nabil Shaath said Saturday evening.

Arafat, who is under international pressure to reform his administration of the Palestinian autonomous areas and improve security, is expected to reduce his Cabinet from 32 ministers to about 19 and will bring in new faces, Palestinian officials have said.

Another Palestinian official, speaking anonymously, said Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, 73, a former guerrilla commander, would be named head of the streamlined security forces.

Yehiyeh has not held any high-profile positions recently, and his selection would bypass more prominent figures. Some Israeli analysts have said such a selection would allow Arafat to give the appearance of putting someone new in charge of security, while wielding power himself behind the scenes.

Sharon has said he does not believe any meaningful negotiations can take place as long as Arafat remains in power.