Militants threaten to attack on Israel

TULKAREM, West Bank -- Militants said Thursday they will renew attacks on Israel, despite a six-month cease-fire, after Israeli soldiers killed five Palestinians in a West Bank arrest raid.\nThe killings and the threat of revenge ended a lull that accompanied Israel's just-completed withdrawal from 25 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.\nRussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Quartet of Mideast mediators -- the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia -- will meet Sept. 20 in New York to discuss establishing Palestinian control over the evacuated settlements.\nPalestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas urged militants to hold their fire and respect the cease-fire, but also accused Israel of intentional provocation. Troops were targeting fugitives from the Islamic Jihad group, which carried out two suicide bombings in Israel in recent months.\nThe arrest raid late Wednesday came hours after a Palestinian stabbed and killed an ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary student from Britain in Jerusalem's Old City. The two incidents appeared unrelated.\nIn the Tulkarem arrest raid, each side accused the other of opening fire first.\nAccording to Palestinian witnesses, young Palestinians were sitting outdoors, snacking on sunflower seeds and chatting with a well-known militant leader when undercover Israeli troops jumped out of a Mercedes.\nPalestinian witnesses said soldiers ordered everyone to stand up and shone a red laser at the group before opening fire. \n"A car came, and armed men got out and shot toward us. I was hit in the shoulder. They were wearing mostly white shirts," said Samer Murai, 15. He said a gunfight ensued, and several of his friends were also wounded.\nRaanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said soldiers had come to arrest the group, and only fired after being shot at by the gunmen.\nThe Israeli army said all five had been armed militants. Among those killed was Adel Abu Khalil, 26, an Islamic Jihad leader who Israel said was involved in the Netanya attack and a February suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. But Palestinians said at least two of those killed were unarmed teenagers.\nThe militant groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades immediately vowed to take revenge.\n"The Zionists should prepare ... bags to collect the remains of their soldiers and settlers because we are going to hit in the depths of the entity," said Abu Abdullah, an Islamic Jihad commander in the Gaza Strip.\nHours later, militants fired two homemade rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, the army said. There were no injuries or damage.\nThe raid was one of the bloodiest since Israel and the Palestinians declared a cease-fire in February. The truce has brought a sharp drop in violence, although there have been sporadic flare-ups.