Violence in Gaza follows talks

GAZA CITY -- Violence has erupted in northern Gaza as Israeli troops continued their search for Qassam rocket launching sites. The operation took place hours after Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials held security talks designed to quell clashes that have killed more than 50 people -- including Israeli military personnel, Palestinian militants and civilians on both sides -- in one week. During Sunday's search in Beit Hanoun for launch sites for Qassam -- a homemade rocket with a range of up to five miles [eight kilometers] that has been used against Israel -- Israeli military sources said soldiers encountered Palestinian gunfire and returned fire. There were no casualties on the Israeli side, military sources said, adding that they did not know if there were any on the Palestinian side. A doctor at Shifa Hospital said Ahmed Zanin, 32, died in the fighting. "He was left to bleed from a gunshot wound to his thigh on the right side," Dr. Mraweoia Hasaneen said. "He did not receive any medical help as there was no one there to provide it." Video from The Associated Press also showed several wounded Palestinians brought to Shifa Hospital. Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops on the West Bank Saturday left a 19-year-old Palestinian man dead near the Askar refugee camp, near Nablus, the Palestine Red Crescent said. Israeli media reported that the man -- identified as Khaled Sakr -- had been throwing stones at a tank, and said three other teens were hurt. The high-level security talks in Jerusalem on Saturday night were described by one Palestinian source as "positive." No decisions were made, the source said, but "momentum is building," and the sides could hold another meeting in the next few days, as soon as Sunday. Palestinian sources also told CNN that an Egyptian delegation will on Sunday meet the leaders of several Palestinian militant groups -- including Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmad Yassin -- in an effort to negotiate a cease-fire. At Saturday's three-hour meeting were Israeli Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad, the coordinator for Israeli activities in the territories, and Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan. Dahlan helped organize the first Palestinian intifada, from 1987 to 1994. He later participated in peace talks at Wye River in 1999 and Camp David in 2000. Dahlan came in with specific demands, primarily Israeli withdrawal from all of Gaza, the source said. He also requested freedom of movement in Gaza for Palestinians, along with the removal of Israeli checkpoints, an end to the "assassinations" of Palestinians and an end to the demolition of Palestinian houses, the source said. "The most effective means of delivering Israelis their security is by ending the occupation and delivering Palestinians their freedom," Dahlan told Gilad, according to a Palestinian news release issued after the meeting. The source said the Palestinian side also discussed certain confidence-building measures, such as the release of Palestinian prisoners and the ability to rebuild the Gaza airport. The Palestinians at the meeting also discussed their security taking control of one or two towns in the West Bank, but the source would not say which. The Israelis wanted to take a look at the Palestinians' plan and would hold another meeting in the near future to discuss it, the source said.