Quds city, May 2, SPA -- A Palestinian man and an Israeli soldier were killed early Monday in a shootout during an Israeli military operation near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, a spokeswoman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. The American Television Network "CNN" quoted the IDF spokeswoman as saying the Israeli army was conducting an operation in a village north of Tulkarem -- a village still under Israeli security control -- to arrest a wanted Palestinian. The Israeli forces were fired on, the spokeswoman said, and one Palestinian and one Israeli soldier were killed in the resulting exchange of gunfire. One other Israeli soldier was wounded, she added. Israeli security sources identified the Palestinian killed as Shafik Adel Mustafa Aani, 38. The presence of the Israeli military near the West Bank city is likely to cause some concern, as Tulkarem was one of three cities returned to Palestinian control beginning in March. The IDF spokeswoman said the site of the operation was a village still under Israeli security control. On February 8, Israel pledged to gradually cede control of all five major Palestinian population centers during peace talks in Egypt. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat on Monday called on the Quartet -- the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations -- to intervene directly to preserve the cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians.
