Mourners carry the bodies of two Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Jenin Friday

GAZA CITY, February 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Israeli occupation forces gunned down a Palestinian early Saturday, February 1, near Rafah, as the Palestinian leadership reaffirmed readiness to discuss a ceasefire with Israel and revive peace talks.

Palestinian security sources identified the new martyr as Tamer Heder, 19, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Earlier, Israeli public radio quoted the army as claiming that a man armed with an assault rifle had been killed near the border with Egypt.

Heder's death brings to 2,916 the number of people killed since the September 2000 outbreak of the Palestinian Intifada against the Israeli occupation, including 2,173 Palestinians and 687 Israelis.

Separately, Israeli forces razed to the ground three homes and seriously damaged five others during an incursion into Rafah and carried out an incursion in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian security sources confirmed.

Palestinian Leadership Ready for Ceasefire

In a state broadcast Saturday by the official WAFA news agency , the Palestinian leadership said it was ready to discuss a general ceasefire with the Israelis and immediately restart peace talks under the guidance of the Mideast Quartet committee.

"The Palestinian leadership said it was ready to conclude a general ceasefire agreement in all the regions and restart negotiations as soon as possible under the aegis of the quartet," the leadership said after its meeting late Friday, January 31, in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The Quartet, which comprises the U.S., E.U., Russia, and the U.N., is due to propose a peace plan expected to call for a Palestinian state by 2005 and guarantees of Israeli security.

The leadership also said it was "surprised at the negative response of the Israeli government which has rejected a call for a re-launching of dialogue and prefers the road of military escalation."

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who has been a virtual prisoner in Ramallah for 14 months, has twice this week expressed his willingness to meet with re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but has been rebuffed.

The leadership gave its backing to a dialogue between Palestinian factions last month in Cairo aimed at coordinating stances. Another meeting is set for the Egyptian capital on Tuesday, February 4.

"We support this national dialogue and call for national unity which will allow us to reach our objectives, an end to the Israeli occupation, establish an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as capital and solve the (Palestinian) refugee question," it said.

It urged the factions to "put aside their ideological considerations and ideas and put first the national interest."

Mubarak Invites Sharon to Cairo

In a related development, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak invited Sharon to Cairo for talks aimed at reviving the Middle East peace process, an official newspaper said Saturday.

Such a meeting, which would be Sharon's first with an Arab leader since he took office nearly two years ago, was announced by Sharon's office on Wednesday, January 29, but was not confirmed in Egypt.

Ibrahim Saada, editor in chief of the weekly Akhbar al-Yom, wrote of the telephone call Mubarak made to Sharon to congratulate him on his re-election and "his invitation to meet with him in Cairo to discuss (ways of) stopping the violence and re-launching the peace process."

Saada, who is a confidant of Mubarak, did not give further details on any trip.

Sharon's office had announced Wednesday that Mubarak had proposed when the two spoke on the telephone that they meet after the premier formed a new government.

Egypt's official MENA news agency confirmed the telephone conversation, but mentioned nothing about the invitation.

Mubarak told Al-Ittihad newspaper in Dubai on Tuesday, January 28, that he felt Arab governments had to "deal with the Israeli prime minister in a new way" in order to re-launch the Middle East peace process.

Speaking of Sharon's imminent re-election, the Egyptian leader said it would be "inopportune to stay quiet."

In July, Mubarak accused Sharon of deliberately "torpedoing all initiatives".

Egypt recalled its ambassador to Israel in November 2000 just after the start of the Intifada, condemning "excessive use of force" by the Israeli occupation army against innocent Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Since then relations between the two countries have been cool, although Egypt has been trying to play the role of an intermediary to revive the peace process.