In efforts to facilitate a U.S.-mediated cease-fire with the Palestinians, Israeli forces withdrew overnight from Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Hanoun. According to agreements reached at trilateral security talks Monday, PA forces were to assume responsibility for areas vacated by the IDF. But a continued wave of Palestinian terror attacks threatened to jeopardize truce possibilities and the mediation missions of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and special envoy Anthony Zinni.

Lt. Tal Tzemach, 20, from Kibbutz Hulda, was killed when two Palestinian gunmen opened fire early Tuesday morning on an army base in the northern Jordan Valley. The terrorists, armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and fragmentation grenades, fired at a tent in a training area west of Shdemot Mehola. Soldiers on duty returned fire, and company commander Tzemach engaged the terrorists in a gun battle.

Reinforcements arrived, led by the base commander and Col. Yehiel Sofer, commander of the Jordan Valley Brigade. Tzemach was killed and three other soldiers were lightly wounded before the terrorists were shot dead.

"The two terrorists apparently made their way in the darkness and opened fire at the soldiers," Sofer told Army Radio. "Most of the soldiers were sleeping. The guards returned fire," he said.

Sofer yesterday resigned his position after a military investigation found serious faults in the response of a Nahal battalion under his command to a terrorist shooting attack on Moshav Hamra on February 6. Sofer said that he had no plans to retract his resignation in the wake of last night's terrorist attack.

Rocket attacks, terrorist actions in Gaza Strip
Palestinians fired two Kassam rockets at Israeli targets north of the Gaza Strip Monday evening. Remnants of the rockets were found in an open field near Kibbutz Zikim, south of Ashkelon. In another incident, a mortar landed near the border fence, west of Sderot.

IDF forces killed three armed Palestinians in two separate incidents in the Gaza Strip overnight. A terrorist, armed with a Kalashnikov rifle and grenades was shot dead near the Kissufim Crossing. In the second incident, IDF troops spotted a group of Palestinians attempting to plant a roadside bomb near the entrance to the Gush Katif bloc of settlements. Soldiers opened fire, killing two of the men. According to some media reports, one of the terrorists was wearing an explosive belt.

Palestinian gunmen opened fire Monday evening on an Israeli civilian bus near the settlement of Netzarim. There were no casualties in the attack, but damage was caused to the bus.

Earlier Monday, security forces arrested two Palestinians suspected of planting an explosive device in the car of Ganei Tal resident Adi Assis on Sunday afternoon. An explosives workshop and several bombs were discovered in the home of one of the suspects.

Elsewhere, a major terror attack was prevented in the Afula area when Border Police apprehended two Palestinians armed with an automatic rifle, grenades and other explosives. The men were spotted as they were crossing fields in an ATV (all-terrain vehicle) in the Ta'anachim area.

"We stopped the vehicle… and demanded that [the suspect] take off his shirt (fearing he might be wearing an explosive belt), and we arrested him," said one of the police officers. Later police discovered a bag containing the terrorists' weapons, which they apparently discarded in the field when they were spotted.

"It is not something new, including the use of four-wheeled vehicles or all-terrain vehicles, and we have been prepared for such eventualities," Northern Region Border Police Chief Cmdr. Jihad Kabalan told reporters.

Palestinians pursuing terror, despite Zinni
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday that the Palestinians are not combating terror infrastructure and are preparing for additional attacks during Zinni's cease-fire efforts in the region. Ben-Eliezer promised an IDF withdrawal from Area A, which was one of the Palestinians' conditions for a cease-fire, but said the IDF would not rule out a return to Palestinian territories.

"We reserve the right to act against terrorism and respond to it as necessary," he said.

Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz told Army Radio today that Israel "doesn't see or identify a change on the Palestinian side, despite the fact that we have done everything that was agreed regarding IDF actions and Israel's obligations (to withdraw from PA territories)."

Palestinian security sources said that the IDF's redeployment would make it easier to persuade the Fatah and Tanzim to adhere to a cease-fire, but admitted that it would be more difficult to control the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, Ha'aretz reported.

"The Palestinians already tried the path of negotiations, and it didn't bring any results," said Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. "Only violent resistance will bring real achievements and it will continue," he promised.

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