Palestinian Police

JERUSALEM - In a grisly twist to the violence between Israelis and Palestinians, a 16-year-old Israeli boy was shot to death in the West Bank town of Ramallah after being lured there to meet someone he believed was a girl with whom he had become friends through e-mail, officials said last night. Calling the death "an execution," an Israeli official said the boy had been shot 15 times. Palestinian police said the assailants were masked men. The boy, identified as Ophir Rakhum, lived in the coastal city of Ashkelon and apparently became enamored through e-mail of someone he believed to be a girl living in Ramallah, authorities said.

TEL AVIV, Israel -- When Arie Raviv discovered that his new Volvo had been stolen one January morning, the Israeli dentist didn't waste time calling the police. He dialed the number of his missing cellular phone.And the suspected thief answered. Over the phone, Raviv negotiated the return of his Volvo -- and of his cellular phone -- for $6,000."I had nothing to lose," Raviv says.The month before, thieves stole his wife's car. At the police station, Raviv called the car's phone. Then, too, someone answered and offered to return the car for a price.

TO MAKE GOOD on his plea to Palestinians, "don't go into mourning, don't lose hope," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must follow through swiftly with reasons why not. These must include speedy restoration of travel between points ruled by the Palestinian Authority and trade and job commuting with Israel. -- And positive negotiations at the Erez checkpoint toward fulfilling the commitment to redeploy troops from Hebron.Since their impromptu White House summit, Mr. Netanyahu and Yasser Arafat, head of the Palestinian Authority, have both made good on confidence-building measures.

JERUSALEM -- A Palestinian accused of selling land to Israelis has been found slain in the West Bank, in the second such killing since the Palestinian authority announced this month that it would impose a death sentence on Arabs who sold land to Jews.The victim was identified as Harbi Abu Sara, 60, a building contractor from the village of Ain Yabrud. Palestinians said that Abu Sara's body had been found in the Palestinian-ruled town of Ramallah on Saturday, and that he had been shot in the head.

JERUSALEM -- Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization stepped beyond differences over security issues and agreed yesterday to expand Palestinian control over some government functions throughout the West Bank.Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath said in Alexandria, Egypt, that Palestinians will take responsibility for education and cultural affairs in the West Bank before the end of August.They also said they would try to wrap up talks next week on turning over health care, tourism and taxation responsibilities to the Palestinians.

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip - For the past four years, Palestinian police Lt. Saifaldeen al-Saidy has retained most of the tools of his trade. He kept his olive-green uniform, floppy green beret and Kalashnikov assault rifle. What he lacked was authority to arrest anyone. For all of that time, the Palestinian government virtually disappeared, in effect giving the gunmen of Hamas and other militant groups immunity for their actions. Militants who claimed that Israel was their target became neighborhood warlords, deciding for themselves what law and justice meant.

The militant Islamic group Hamas announced yesterday that it was suspending its suicide bombing campaign in Israel, as smoldering tensions among Palestinian factions led to gunbattles in the Gaza Strip that left five Palestinians dead and more than 50 injured. Israeli officials dismissed the declaration by Hamas as a ploy to help Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority avoid complying with Israel's demand that Arafat take the politically risky step of dismantling the group and jailing its leaders.

HEBRON, West Bank -- A team of European observers arrived here yesterday while Palestinian police prepared to enter Jericho and the Gaza Strip -- new forces intended to break the lock of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.Even as the observers, clad in starched white uniforms, took up their posts, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youths played out the familiar script of exchanging stones and tear gas, the acrid smell stinging the Europeans, too.In Jericho, another West Bank town, residents waited in vain yesterday to celebrate the arrival of the first elements of a Palestinian police force.

JERUSALEM - The Palestinian Authority issued a ban yesterday on civilians openly carrying unlicensed weapons, while Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon offered rare high praise of recent Palestinian actions to rein in militants - two more significant signs of the growing momentum for peace talks. In a speech last night in Tel Aviv, Sharon said he felt mediators for the two sides were making great strides. "I believe that the conditions are now ripe to allow us and the Palestinians to reach a historic breakthrough in the relations between us," he said.

JERUSALEM -- Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed yesterday to speed up negotiations on expanding Palestinian self-rule throughout the West Bank, and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Israel will ease its closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.The reported progress comes one week after a summit between Mr. Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat produced nothing more than mutual recriminations about the deadlock in their negotiations.After last week's session, Israeli and Palestinian commentators were declaring the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord dead and predicting the collapse of Mr. Rabin's government.