LOU WATERS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the Middle East, where fresh violence has broken out in the West Bank and in Gaza, even as Israeli and Palestinian leaders work to end the unrest that has claimed more than 100 lives within the past three weeks. Our Jerusalem bureau chief Mike Hanna joins us now with the latest from the Middle East -- Mike.</s>MIKE HANNA, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, the most serious of the clashes that occurs on this day, a gun battle near the West Bank town of Nablus -- different accounts as to how it started. Palestinian sources insist that a group of Jewish settlers opened fire on Palestinian in an olive grove. The Israeli defense force says that a group of Israeli hikers were fired upon by Palestinian gunmen. Whatever the result -- whatever the cause, however, there are at least two dead; one Palestinian, one Israeli. As many as four Israelis have been wounded, as many as 11 Palestinian are reported to have been wounded. Well, the situation, the gun battle, still ongoing and the Israelis have deployed their combat helicopters. the Israelis say that the helicopters used only machine gun fire. They did not fire any missiles because of the high density of the civilian population in that particular area. From the Palestinian side, the accusation that this is a flagrant violation of the truce that is supposed to be in place. The Palestinians have demanded that the American-chaired security committee immediately investigate the sequence of events that led to this gun battle. From the Israeli side, the accusation that the Palestinians have violated the truce. So, the ongoing accusation from one side to the other that the other was responsible for the incident. The 34-year-old Palestinian who was killed at the beginning of this gun battle was the first fatality since the agreements were reached at Sharm. The first fatality in an attack, that is -- and the sequence of events with the Israeli civilians reportedly still being trapped up in that mountain where the gun battle is happening. This is very, very serious threat to the truce that was supposed to have been in place. Back to you.</s>WATERS: Jerusalem bureau chief Mike Hanna.
Israeli-Palestinian Gun Battle Threatens Recent Truce