TEHRAN The Israeli Army stormed into Palestinian territory in a predawn raid on Friday, pounding the West Bank city of Al-Khalil with tank fire. A Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops in the north of the Gaza Strip, as 10 months of violence showed every sign of worsening between the two sides.

An electricity cut put out the night-lights in divided Al-Khalil as Israeli troops, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, poured into Palestinian areas of the flashpoint West Bank town and pounded buildings with tank and machine-gun fire.

A Palestinian checkpoint was destroyed along with an outpost of Force 17, the elite guard of Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat.

Three Force 17 troops and at least 14 Palestinian civilians were wounded as Israel unleashed the heaviest firing in Al-Khalil since the Palestinian uprising, Intifada, began in late September.

The Israeli Army has rounded up a total of 1,000 Palestinians since the start of the current Intifada on September 28, an Israeli general said Thursday, in a report carried by public radio.

The detentions have taken place during operations carried out by the army in the Palestinian territories, said Yitzhak Eytan, the general with command over the West Bank.

The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on Israel to end immediately its policy of demolishing Palestinian homes, a spokesman said Wednesday.

"The secretary general believes that actions such as the demolition of Palestinian homes which took place on July 9 and 10 only aggravate the already extremely tense situation in the occupied Palestinian territory," spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

"He strongly urges the Israeli authorities to halt such actions."

Also, the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said on Friday that Sharon is leading the Middle East into a "vicious circle" of violence, and warned the world's patience with him was growing thin.

"Israel's actions practically negate any desire to reach peace," he told reporters, citing the destruction of Palestinian homes and the suffering of the Palestinian people during the past nine months of violence.

"Israel is not the only player on the field. There are international forces which feel totally that they have begun to be annoyed by Israel's practices because they expose the whole region and its interests to danger," he said.

"What Sharon is doing is to light the fires of frustration and desperation and bring the region to a vicious circle of violence," he said, ahead of a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres in Cairo Sunday.

The Bait-ul-Moqaddas Orthodox Church blasted Israel for a "flagrant violation" of religious freedom by interfering in its choice of a new patriarch for Bait-ul-Moqaddas by rejecting five potential candidates.

"This decision is a most unacceptable interference of your government in the life of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Bait-ul-Moqaddas, which is the oldest church in the world and mother of all churches," the patriarchate said in a statement.

The outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Israel said on Thursday that Washington has so far been unable to get Iran to temper its foreign policy under reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

Martin Indyk said in a farewell address evaluating the state of Middle East peace that Iran's opposition to the peace process remains a big problem.

The Egyptian official's anti-Israeli remark comes while Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin ben Eliezer and Egypt's Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman held a meeting on Wednesday.

It seems that contrary to Egyptian official's pro-Palestinians words, Cairo is trying to provide the Zionists with the information they need about the Palestinians. Sympathizing with the oppressed people of Palestine, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi on Thursday strongly condemned the latest move of the Zionist regime of demolishing Palestinian homes and farms.

Rejecting peace-seeking slogans delivered by the Zionist regime, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the continuation of Zionists' aggressive policies and excessive demands and ignoring of legitimate rights of the Palestinian people in its latest move of demolishing the homes of defenseless Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are all blatant acts of oppression against the real owners of the territory.

According to world media reports, Israeli forces cleared away 24 houses and shops in the Rafah refugee camp located on the volatile border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt early Tuesday, leaving scores of Palestinians homeless and triggering running gunbattles that caused injuries on both sides.

On Monday, Israel destroyed 14 homes in an overcrowded refugee camp in East Bait-ul-Moqaddas triggering clashes between residents and Israeli forces.

The Zionist radio said the scope of Iran's influence not only includes such Palestinian Islamic groups as Jihad and Hamas, but also the Fatah organization.

It is said that the Zionist regime is to hire spies in order to gather information on Intifada and Palestinian activists.

In a rare move the Zionist intelligence organization, Mossad, published an advertisement in Zionist press calling on those interested to register in Israeli Army.

An informed Palestinian source said in Lebanon that the advertisement mentions that those invited to register should have good command of foreign languages and interested in visits to foreign countries.

According to another report, Sharon said on Wednesday he has plans to transfer about one million Jews from different countries to the occupied Palestinian lands during the coming years.

The editor-in-chief of **** Crescent International **** said that the European countries oppose policies adopted by Zionist regime's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Iqbal Siddiqi, speaking to the Overseas Service of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), said during his visit to European countries, Sharon is to publicize its policies toward the Zionist regime.

He said the International Criminal Court of The Hague is not impartial and pursues the interest of the U.S. and the European countries. The court does not summon Sharon for its atrocities because he is the representative of U.S. and European countries in the region.