Palestinian official: Jewish settlers assault Palestinian civilians

Yasser Abd Raboh, the Palestinian information and culture minister, said that the Israeli army and the government are inciting the settlers to attack the Palestinian villages in the different areas, adding that this could form a serious escalation that reveals the intention of Barak's government to expand the confrontation range."

In another development, all of the Palestinian factions attended for the first time since the establishment of the national authority a meeting by the cabinet of the Palestinian government under the chairmanship of President Yasser Arafat.

After the meeting, Ismail Abu Shanab, one of Hamas leaders said that "it was agreed during the meetings to discuss sufficient means to raise the uprising level and to confront the challenges."