Yasser Arafat accuses Israel of escalating attacks

JERUSALEM -- Israeli troops shot and killed three Palestinians on Monday, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accused Israel of stepping up its military actions a day after he made a strong appeal for an end to the Mideast fighting.

Also Monday, Israeli police briefly detained Sari Nusseibeh -- the Palestinians' chief envoy in the city they see as their capital and an advocate of peacemaking and nonviolence -- while he was holding a Muslim holiday reception in Jerusalem.

Nusseibeh said the event was to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. But Israeli authorities said it violated peace agreements that prohibit the Palestinians from holding "nationalist" events in the disputed city.

In a shooting in Hebron, the Israeli forces attempted to arrest a member of the Hamas movement, Yacoub Aidkadik, 28, at his home, the army said. Aidkadik tried to flee, and soldiers told him to stop. He kept running and was shot dead, the army added.

"I am sorry to say that still the Israelis are escalating their military activities," Arafat said of the shooting. Asked if he viewed the Israeli action as a response to his speech, Arafat replied, "It looks like that."