MIDDLE EAST 3 Palestinians killed after firing on Israelis

Palestinians say their attacks on Israeli settlers are driving them out.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli troops exchanged fire with Palestinian gunmen near an Israeli settlement in the Northern Gaza Strip, killing at least three of the assailants, the army said.
The militant Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades -- a violent group linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement -- claimed responsibility for the botched attack early today in a phone call to the Associated Press.
In the West Bank, army jeeps briefly entered the towns of Jenin and Tulkarem, but soldiers made no arrests, Palestinian security officials said.
The fighting came a day after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party set April 29 as the date for a vote on the hotly contested plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. The referendum among 200,000 Likud members is to be followed within days by votes in the Cabinet and in parliament.
Sharon is taking a gamble since approval is far from assured. If he loses the referendum, there would be growing pressure on him to resign.
The prime minister was leaving today for the United States, where he will meet with President Bush to seek backing for the Gaza plan.
Sharon said Sunday that his plan would help Israel's security, improve its standing in the international community, boost the economy and lift peace efforts. "There is no doubt that this plan opens a way in the future for a process of peace," he said.
Palestinian militants contend their attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers in Gaza are driving Israel out.
Gunfight
Early today, several armed Palestinians opened fire on Israeli troops near the Israeli settlement of Netzarim in Gaza, the army said. The army confirmed at least three Palestinian gunmen were killed after drawing return fire from Israeli soldiers guarding the settlement.
The army said troops are searching the area for a possible fourth gunmen.
The extent of U.S. support for the plan remains unclear. Sharon sent several senior aides to Washington over the weekend to work out final details on the agenda of the meeting.
Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they hope to win a U.S. promise that Israel would not have to withdraw fully from the West Bank under a permanent settlement with the Palestinians. Israel also wants assurances that millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants will be barred from returning to Israel.
Road map
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said today that any U.S. guarantees that jeopardize final status negotiations with Israel would not be recognized by the Palestinians.
The United States has said it supports the idea of a Gaza pullout, but only as part of the internationally backed "road map" peace plan.
The road map calls for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, with the final borders to be negotiated between the two sides. The plan, however, has been stalled for months amid Israeli and Palestinian violations.
The U.S. administration wants to show progress to its Arab allies in the face of mounting criticism of its handling of the crisis in Iraq. Bush is to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today.
Mubarak will be concerned in his visit at Bush's ranch to know how the Israeli plan will link up to the U.S. "road map," which is meant to produce an independent Palestinian state in 2005.
Like other Arab leaders, Mubarak is leery that the Israeli plan might be Sharon's way to hold on indefinitely to other occupied Arab land. Although the proposal calls for closing all 21 Gaza settlements, it would shut down only four of 140 Jewish settlements on the West Bank.
In a letter to Bush, Jordan's King Abdullah II expressed his strong support of America's two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the official Petra news agency said Sunday.
For Bush and Israel, a key issue is the kind of role Mubarak would play to keep a lid on the volatile Gaza area. Gaza borders Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, and Egypt administered the strip before the 1967 war.
The United States would like Mubarak's help in ensuring that Gaza does not fall into anarchy, which would make it a haven for terrorist elements.
Egypt can control the border so that weapons do not cross into Gaza and could mediate between various Palestinian factions.