JERUSALEM - Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a bus stop in north Jerusalem late Monday, capping a day of violence in which five people were killed and two pregnant women, one Israeli and one Palestinian, were shot at roadblocks and then gave birth to healthy babies. <br>
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The bus stop attack took place in Neve Yaakov, a Jewish neighborhood in a disputed part of Jerusalem claimed by both sides. Two Palestinians started shooting at Israelis, wounding at least 10, including three policemen, police and witnesses said. Police shot and killed one of the gunmen. <br>
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Eyewitness Yulia Kizgila, 23, saw one of the gunmen. "He ducked behind a car and fired," and police fired back, she said. The car was riddled with bullets and the street was smeared with blood. <br>
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Police charged the gunmen, said Jerusalem police commander Mickey Levy. The one who was not killed escaped into a nearby Palestinian village, Dahiyat el Barid, he said. The village was closed off and police and soldiers "are making a house-to-house search," Levy told Israel TV. <br>
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In Nablus, the Al Aqsa Brigades said one of the attackers belonged to the group, linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. The organization also claimed responsibility for another attack on Israelis on Monday. <br>
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Earlier Monday, Israel pulled back the tanks surrounding Arafat's compound in the West Bank. Angry Palestinian officials said the move was meaningless because of the continued restrictions on the movements of the Palestinian leader. <br>
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The day's violence began in the West Bank, where two Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli troops in separate confrontations at military checkpoints. Shortly before the bus stop attack, two Israelis died in a gunfire attack at a roadblock near the isolated Jewish settlement of Nokdim, south of Bethlehem. <br>
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One of the Palestinians killed was taking his pregnant wife to the hospital in Nablus. The woman, who was slightly injured, gave birth to a girl shortly after her husband died. It was the second day in a row a pregnant Palestinian woman heading to the hospital was wounded by Israeli gunfire at the same checkpoint in Nablus. <br>
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In both shootings, the Israeli military said soldiers opened fire after the cars ignored orders to stop and tried to drive around the roadblock. Israeli soldiers at checkpoints have been especially wary since six soldiers were killed by Palestinian gunmen in a roadblock attack last week outside the West Bank city of Ramallah. <br>
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In the nighttime attack on Israelis in which two men were killed, a pregnant woman was seriously wounded and gave birth to a healthy baby. One other person was injured in the shooting, for which the Al Aqsa Brigades claimed responsibility. In another attack, near Hebron, a 16-year-old Israeli boy was seriously wounded, the military and Jewish settlers said. <br>
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Also Monday, a Palestinian girl was killed when she ran toward an army checkpoint near Tulkarem brandishing a knife, the army said. Soldiers shot her after calling on her to stop and firing warning shots in the air, the army said. <br>
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The girl's father, Jamal Shalhoub, said his 16-year-old daughter, Noura, had been deeply affected by the violence and that apparently moved her to attempt an attack on Israeli soldiers. <br>
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In another checkpoint incident, Israeli soldiers near Ramallah opened fire Sunday night on a car belonging to a senior Palestinian official, Ahmed Qureia. His car was hit by bullets, but no one was hurt. <br>
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Israel, which has kept Arafat confined to Ramallah for nearly three months, withdrew tanks early Monday that had been about 100 yards outside his government compound. <br>
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However, Israeli troops will remain posted around the city's perimeter, the army said, and Arafat will not be allowed to leave the city, the Israeli government said. <br>
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The Palestinians had hoped last week's arrests of three top suspects in the October killing of Israeli Cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi might end Arafat's confinement. But Israel on Sunday demanded again that they be handed over to Israel and that other suspects be arrested as well. <br>
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Arafat has been restricted to Ramallah since early December, shortly after a wave of suicide bombings in Israel. <br>
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Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the withdrawal of the tanks "changes nothing" because Arafat had been able to get around Ramallah already. In recent days he prayed at a mosque about a mile from his compound and attended the opening of a play. <br>
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On the diplomatic front, Secretary of State Colin Powell is encouraging Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to keep working on a proposal under which the Arab kingdom would recognize Israel and the Jewish state would give up all of the West Bank, Gaza and part of Jerusalem. <br>
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Powell telephoned Abdullah on Sunday. He told reporters Monday the proposal was an important step that he hoped would be fleshed out in the next few weeks. <br>
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In Monday's shooting of the pregnant Palestinian woman, Mohammed Hayek was driving his wife Maysoun from their West Bank village to the Rafidia hospital in Nablus after she went into labor. <br>
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As they approached a checkpoint, Mohammed Hayek was hit in the neck by a gunshot, his wife said afterward at the Rafidia Hospital. <br>
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According to the army, soldiers opened fire when a car tried to get past an earthen barricade blocking the road, and ignored soldiers' orders to stop. When the driver attempted to reverse to detour around the temporary roadblock, soldiers shot at the car, the army said. <br>
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After the car came to a stop, Hayek opened the door and began yelling, "baby" in English, she said. Soldiers approached, and began administering first aid, placing her and her critically wounded father-in-law on stretchers, she said. <br>
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