GAZA CITY, 23 December 2005 — Israeli forces killed three Palestinians during a raid in the West Bank town of Nablus yesterday as Israel threatened to cut electricity supply to the Gaza Strip.

Witnesses said that one of the Palestinians killed in Nablus was the local leader of a small group. Hours later, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip launched a homemade rocket into an Israeli military base, slightly wounding five soldiers, the army said. Israel responded with an artillery barrage into Gaza.

Soldiers entered Nablus early in the day in pursuit of wanted men, and opened fire on a four-story building where Palestinian activists were holed up, the military said. One wanted man and two associates were shot as they tried to escape, it added.

Witnesses identified one of the dead men as Bashar Hanani, the Nablus leader of the small Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israel said Hanani masterminded a bombing in an open-air market in Tel Aviv in November 2004 that killed three Israelis, and planned other attacks that were thwarted.

The other two were Anas Al-Sheikh and Ahmed Jiyousi, both members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah.

The PFLP threatened revenge. “Israel will pay the price for this crime,” said Kaed Al-Ghoul, a senior PFLP leader. Some 3,000 people gathered in the afternoon in Nablus’ main square at a joint funeral for the men. Dozens of gunmen fired in the air, and the crowd chanted, “Bashar, our friend, the response will be in Tel Aviv.”

In other overnight operations in West Bank towns, troops arrested 14 other wanted men, the military said.

Israel began a campaign of raids against activists after a Dec. 5 Palestinian bombing in the coastal town of Netanya killed five Israelis. The violence came despite a shaky 10-month truce that greatly reduced the number of attacks between the two sides.

In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian activists stepped up their homemade rocket attacks on southern Israel, launching one into an Israeli military base, and another near a power station. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility. Five soldiers were slightly injured in the attack on the military base, the military said. No injuries were reported from the rocket attack near the power plant.

Israel threatened to cut off power supplies to the Gaza Strip if there is a major escalation in attacks. Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim confirmed that the idea of severing electricity supplies had been discussed recently. All of Gaza’s electricity is supplied by Israel.

“A serious escalation in violence on the part of the Palestinians could bring about this measure in the future although I hope not,” Boim told Israeli radio. “This idea has been shelved for the immediate future as its impact on an important civilian population is problematic.”

Israel criticized the Palestinian Authority for not taking action to stop the rocket attacks, and vowed to respond “in a way that we have not done until now,” said David Baker, an official in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Vice Premier Ehud Olmert said if the rocket fire at Ashkelon continues, “there will be a very fierce response, and no option can be ruled out, including a ground operation.”

Israel’s initial response was to fire artillery at fields used as rocket-launching sites. One man died during the barrage. The family of Ibrahim Naana, 21, said he was killed by shrapnel from the shelling.

The army said the fields were empty during the artillery barrage and it had no intelligence to indicate a person was killed in the strikes.

The Palestinian Interior Ministry said it was opening an investigation into the death following reports that Naana died when he handled a mysterious object that exploded.

— Additional input from agencies