Israeli forces killed four Palestinians, including a six-year-old boy, in a major West Bank raid on Monday that came in sharp counterpoint to the planned launch in Geneva of a symbolic Middle East peace accord. The push into Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s base city Ramallah also coincided with a US diplomatic mission that won an Israeli pledge to start removing Jewish settler outposts as required by an internationally-backed ‘‘road map’’ peace plan. An Israeli Army spokesman said special forces killed three Islamic militants who had opened fire at them. Palestinian medics said the boy died after being shot in the head by Israeli troops around midday in a Ramallah refugee camp. Military sources said soldiers had clashed with stone-throwers near the site and the shooting was under investigation. In house-by-house searches, soldiers arrested 30 members of the Islamist group Hamas wanted in connection with 10 bombings that had killed 68 people in Israel, sources said. In Cairo, the start of Egyptian-brokered talks with militant leaders on arranging a ceasefire were put off from Tuesday for security and technical reasons. In Geneva, those who drafted the symbolic treaty hoping to bridge the intransigence of incumbents on both sides assembled with foreign dignitaries for a glitzy dedication ceremony. World leaders gave strong backing for the unofficial Middle East peace plan denounced as treacherous by both Israeli officials and Palestinian militants. ‘‘The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has taken far too great a toll already. Both peoples have paid dearly in lives and livelihood in a war which both are losing,’’ said a statement signed by 58 politicians, including many former presidents and PMs. (Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Gwen Ackerman) (Reuters)
