Israeli forces arrested over 30 Palestinians in a major West Bank raid on Monday as a senior U.S. envoy sought to revive a "road map" peace plan by pushing for an Israeli-Palestinian summit.

The Israeli army sweep into the Palestinian political center of Ramallah unfolded shortly before a symbolic peace deal conceived by Israeli left-wing opposition figures and senior Palestinian politicians was to be launched in Geneva.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (L) looks on during a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on November 30, 2003, as Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) reads a newspaper.  [Reuters]

It also occurred a day before Palestinian factions including militant leaders were to meet in Cairo to discuss a cease-fire which new moderate Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie wants to present to Israel for its agreement.

Israel's right-wing government said the Ramallah raid was meant to pre-empt further attacks on Israelis, again accusing Palestinian leaders of failing to curb militants. Palestinian officials said such incursions could threaten fresh peace moves.

U.S. envoy William Burns was in the region trying to clear aside obstacles to resuming the "road map" process, urging the two sides to go ahead with a meeting between Qurie and Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon delayed by disputes over preconditions.

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz planned to meet Burns on Monday to present a list of Israeli gestures including a removal of some unauthorized Jewish settlement outposts in occupied West Bank territory, Israel army radio said.

The liberal daily Haaretz said Israel would begin removing six such caravan clusters, five of them unoccupied at the moment, by this weekend. Israeli officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The road map stipulates that Israel remove more than 100 hilltop outposts and freeze construction in some 145 established settlements built since Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war.

Most countries regard the settlements built on land where Palestinians seek a state, the goal of the road map process, as illegal. Israel disputes this. Palestinians must break up militant groups and carry out democratic reforms under the plan.

HAMAS ARRESTS

In Ramallah, elite Israeli commandos searched house-to-house for wanted members of Islamic militant group Hamas, which has led a suicide bombing campaign in which scores of Israelis have died since Palestinians launched an uprising three years ago.

Panel for the signatory ceremony of a Mideast peace accord in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2003.  [AP]

The army said more than 30 militants linked to the killings of dozens of Israelis were arrested. David Baker, an official in Sharon's office, said Israel was forced into the incursion once again because of inaction by Palestinian authorities.

"The Palestinian Authority continues to show a glaring indifference to taking the necessary steps to halt the terror activity in its territory and make the necessary arrests in those areas," Baker said.

Palestinian cabinet member Saeb Erekat called the raid counterproductive, saying truce negotiations with militants scheduled in Cairo this week as well as preparations for a Sharon-Qurie meeting could be undermined.

"We urge the Israeli government to stop these actions in order to give the peace process a chance," he said.

In Geneva, Israelis and Palestinians who drafted an alternative peace agreement to bridge the intransigence of those in power were gathering for a festive roll-out of the deal, denounced by Sharon's government and played down by Qurie.

Yossi Beilin, the main Israeli architect and a lawmaker from the center-left Labour party, said that despite three years of hostilities, peace remained possible.

"There is a chance to reach an agreement, although it isn't simple, not for us and not for them," he told Israel army radio.

Burns also voiced cautious optimism. "We, too, believe in the United States there is a moment of opportunity before us. We have no illusions. This is obviously a difficult process."

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