The IDF thwarted two terrorist infiltrations in northern Gaza Strip Sunday night. An IDF armored unit killed three Palestinians, apparently on their way to a terrorist attack near the settlement of Alei Sinai. Two hours later, three terrorists equipped with explosive belts were killed after they tried to enter Israel through a breach in the security fence near Sderot.

The terrorists in the second incident were detected by an elite IDF anti-terrorism unit, near the fence separating the Gaza Strip from Israel. According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office, the soldiers used megaphones and ordered the men to halt. One of the terrorists opened fire, and reportedly tried to set off a bomb he was carrying. Soldiers returned fire and killed the three.

The terrorists were wearing explosive belts and were

"This is no cease-fire'' - PM Ariel Sharon's spokesman Ra'anan Gissin

heavily armed, security sources said. Lt.-Col. Yisrael Ziv, commander of the IDF's Gaza Brigade, told Army Radio that "the quantity of weapons and explosives the terrorists had with them proves that they planned to perpetrate a major terror attack."

Earlier, three Palestinians were killed on the perimeter road separating the settlements of Alei Sinai and Nisanit from the Jabaliya refugee camp and the town of Beit Lahiya. Initial reports indicated that the Palestinians had opened fire on an armored personnel carrier, but the army later retracted the statement. Soldiers from the Givati Brigade's Shaked (Almond) unit opened fire on the men when the suspected gunmen came within twenty meters of them. A tank fired at least four shells, killing two of the terrorists. The third was shot and killed as he attempted to flee the scene.

IDF sources said the three were attempting to attack army forces on the road, and were not planning an attack on a nearby settlement, Ha'aretz reported. "We believe they were armed, but we are waiting until daylight to approach them and examine the bodies," an IDF officer said.

"The soldiers spotted the terrorist cell at a distance of a kilometer and a half from the settlement and killed them," said Avi Farhan, one of the founders of Alei Sinai. "This is exactly the same area where Baruch Singer was murdered (in a shooting attack on December 3)."

Farhan said residents of Alei Sinai received orders to stay in their homes. On October 2, two Hamas gunmen infiltrated the settlement and killed two Israelis before IDF snipers managed to shoot and kill them. Farhan called on Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer "to begin erecting a security fence" around Alei Sinai and Nisanit to prevent additional terrorist attacks.

Since the Alei Sinai infiltration, the IDF has made substantial changes in its troop deployments in the northern Gaza Strip, Maariv reported. Lt.-Col. Ziv met with Alei Sinai residents over the weekend due to their fears of additional terrorist attacks in the area. He said that the IDF had implemented its changes based on lessons learned in the earlier terrorist attacks.

"We have made a major change in our security concepts in northern Gaza Strip," a senior IDF officer told Maariv. "Therefore we were successful in shooting down this terrorist cell within minutes."

"These two incidents in Gaza prove Israelis don't want calm," a senior Palestinian security official said. "They're trying to provoke a Palestinian reaction in order to destroy the peace efforts."

Drop in Palestinian terror attacks
Sunday's incidents came after spokesmen for the IDF said that Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis had dropped by nearly 50% in the two weeks since PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's speech calling for a cease-fire.

Palestinian attacks -- including shootings, bombings, grenade attacks, assaults and stabbings -- have dropped from an average of 18 a day before Arafat's speech to 11 a day since his speech, according to the army.

"Attacks are going down, but there are still alerts for suicide bombings and car bombings. This is no cease-fire,'' said Ra'anan Gissin, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman. "Arafat still hasn't made the strategic decision to implement one.''

The Palestinian Authority rejected Israeli claims that it is not doing enough to clamp down on terror, and said that it had prevented an attack on a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip on Friday. On Sunday, Palestinian police arrested four men in the village of Beit Rima, suspected of involvement in the assassination of Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi. Additional Islamic Jihad and PFLP activists were arrested over the weekend.

"The PA is now acting seriously to prevent terror, in cases where they are given 'hot' alerts about a concrete action that is being planned," one Israeli security source told Ha'aretz.

But Major General Amos Gilad, government coordinator in the territories, warned Sunday that the "Palestinian terrorist infrastructure is preparing for a wide-scale escalation, and is just waiting for Arafat to give a green light to release the terrorists." Gilad said that Arafat is not taking real actions against terrorists because "it is his interest to safeguard the terror option if diplomatic negotiations fail."

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