The Palestinians are trying to provoke Israel into a new crackdown during the ongoing Arab summit by stepping up attacks on Israelis, foreign minister Shimon Peres said on Tuesday.

The latest attacks are aimed at pushing Israel into reacting harshly during the Arab summit in Amman, Peres told an international conference of mayors taking place in Jerusalem.

He gave no indication of how Israel would react to a car bomb earlier today in Jerusalem which slightly injured three people, and the killing of a Jewish child in Hebron on Monday blamed on a Palestinian sniper.

Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer told Israeli public radio after the Hebron incident, the army will strike those responsible for this horrible act.

"It will not take us long to know who fired and who gave the order to fire and we will act in a manner and at a time we judge best," he added.

The Israeli army imposed a complete blockade around Hebron and slapped a curfew on Arab residents in the Israeli-controlled sector after the killing of a 10-month-old.

Jewish settlers also set fire to Palestinian offices in the West Bank city after trying to storm the Arab area from which the shots came.
Israeli media said yesterday that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had ordered the military to show restraint during the summit. Bureau Report