The Palestinian Authority refused today to arrest any of the seven men on an Israeli most-wanted list that could mark them for death under a widely condemned hunt-and-kill policy.
Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said Israel must first take action against its own militants before the Authority Could consider demands to detain the seven Palestinians.
"The Israeli government should arrest 50 persons...armed settlers -- and they are active as terrorists and killers," he said, citing the killing last month by suspected Jewish vigilantes of three Palestinians including a baby boy.
Releasing its list on Sunday, the Israeli Defense Ministry said the seven men, from several Palestinian factions, "continue to carry out attacks" despite Israeli appeals to the Palestinian Authority to arrest them and dozens of other activists.
In the West Bank on Sunday, suspected Palestinian gunmen shot dead a settler woman and wounded three other passengers in a car that came under attack in the West Bank.
The day of violence included a Palestinian shooting attack that wounded 10 people near Israel's Defense Ministry.
In yet more bloodletting in a 10-month-old Palestinian uprising for independence, an Israeli helicopter missile strike killed a Muslim militant in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, an attack branded an assassination by Palestinians.
Later on Sunday, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian who the army said was planting a bomb in the West Bank.
Israeli Channel Two television's military affairs reporter hinted that the most-wanted register was effectively a hit list, saying the seven "could get hurt in future (Israeli) attempts to foil terrorist attacks."
Reading between the lines, an Israel Radio commentator said: "If the Palestinian Authority does not round them up, it's clear what their fate will be -- although it doesn't say so in the statement."