by Reuters / AP 

Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi was shot in the head and neck Wednesday during an assassination attempt

JERUSALEM (Reuters) October 17, 2001 - Suspected Palestinian gunmen shot and seriously wounded Israeli right-wing, anti-Arab cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi in an assassination attempt on Wednesday, dealing a serious blow to U.S.-led peace efforts.

The radical Palestinian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) group said it tried to kill Zeevi in retaliation for the assassination of PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa by Israeli forces in August.

``The Israeli government, by killing Abu Ali Mustafa, has opened the gates of hell on itself and now the fire is approaching it,'' PFLP spokesman Ali Jaradat said.

Israeli television said all cabinet ministers had been ordered to stay at home or to go to ``secure areas.''

Zeevi, 75, who tendered his resignation from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet on Monday, was shot three times in the head and the neck at the door to his room in the Hyatt Hotel in Jerusalem.

``His condition is very, very, very serious,'' Health Minister Nissim Dahan told Israel Radio.

Police said Zeevi's wife found him in critical condition outside his hotel room. Israel Radio said he had no pulse when rescue workers arrived at the scene.

Police did not give the identity or nationality of the gunmen but said they were hunting for them. Israeli radio said there had been two gunmen.

Zeevi has taken vehemently anti-Arab positions in his many years in parliament and has pushed for a ``transfer'' policy that would mean moving Palestinians outside the country. He opposes Israeli-Palestinian interim peace agreements.

Zeevi, a father of five, had an illustrious military career and served as a general in several branches of the Israeli army.

He joined the broad left-right coalition formed by Sharon in March after his election as prime minister in February.

Zeevi tendered his resignation as tourism minister with the far-right National Union and Yisrael Beitenu bloc on Monday because of differences with Sharon over the handling of the Palestinian uprising that began a year ago.

Right-wing Israelis have expressed dismay at Sharon's decision to ease a blockade of Palestinian areas and to withdraw troops from some recently captured Palestinian-ruled areas.

VIOLENCE CONTINUES DESPITE TRUCE EFFORTS

More than 800 people have been killed since the uprising began after peace talks stalled. They include at least 626 Palestinians and 175 Israelis.

The two sides are under fierce pressure from the United States to end the fighting, which Washington believes is an obstacle to Arab support for the global anti-terror coalition it has been seeking to form since last month's attacks on the United States.

Violence has continued despite cease-fire talks on September 26 between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

Three members of the militant Islamic group Hamas have been killed in the past three days. Hamas, which has spearheaded a campaign of suicide bombings against Israel, blamed the Jewish state for all three deaths.

Israel said it shot dead a militant on Sunday but did not confirm it was responsible for the other two deaths in explosions on Monday and Tuesday.

Hamas has not retaliated since Israel renewed its lethal strategy this week against Palestinians it says have been behind attacks on Israeli targets during the year-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.

The most prominent victim of this policy was PFLP leader Mustafa, who was killed by an Israeli missile in the West Bank city of Ramallah in August.

Peres said on Tuesday Israel would end its policy if Palestinian authorities rounded up more than 100 wanted activists on Israel's list. The Palestinians have so far refused to carry out sweeping arrests.

SUPPORT FOR PALESTINIAN STATE

The United States and Britain have said they support the creation of a Palestinian state. Sharon set out sweeping security conditions on Tuesday for the potential recognition of a Palestinian state.

He told members of his right-wing Likud party that a Palestinian state would have to be created as part of a treaty that fulfils ``all of our security demands.''

A return to peace talks depends on both sides implementing a U.S.-backed truce-to-talks plan.

Sharon has said in the past he would accept a Palestinian state as the eventual outcome of a peace deal, but he has indicated borders that Palestinians say fall far short of their demands -- including their claim on Arab East Jerusalem for a capital.

Palestinian cabinet minister Hassan Asfour told Reuters in response that Sharon's remarks ignored the Palestinians' internationally recognized rights for independence.