The disagreement over the fate of Palestinian refugees raises new doubts about whether a US-backed peace plan can be implemented. Israel now insists the Palestinians scrap a demand for the “right of return” of the refugees without further discussion, even though the peace plan stipulates the refugee issue is a subject for future negotiations.

In the Gaza town of Khan Younis, 18 months old Elian Sa’ed Al-Bashiti was hit in the head by a bullet and later died at a local hospital, doctors said. Palestinians said Israeli soldiers fired at a neighborhood in Khan Younis, and that the boy was in his house when he was hit.

Army spokesman Jacob Dalal said soldiers at an outpost guarding Israeli settlements had come under fire from Palestinians and returned fire.

Later, another Palestinian was shot and killed in Gaza. Hamas said Ahmed Gouda, 18, was on an “operation” in northern Gaza when he was shot dead, apparently by Israeli soldiers. The area is close to Jewish settlements, targets of repeated infiltration attempts. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

In the West Bank yesterday, a Hamas fighter was killed in a mysterious explosion in a house in Zawata, a village near the city of Nablus. Hamas blamed Israel, but local firefighters said the blast went off inside the house, ruling out an Israeli missile attack.

Israel has killed dozens of suspected fighters in targeted attacks in the past 31 months of fighting. However, a number of fighters also died while handling explosives that went off prematurely.

Meanwhile, disagreements continued to plague the new road map plan even before its first stage.

In an interview broadcast late Tuesday on Palestine TV, Mahmoud Abbas said he could not drop the Palestinian demand for the right of return of refugees and their descendants — about 4 million people — to their former homes in what is now Israel.

Also yesterday, Abbas gave a key aide broader powers to curb anti-Israel violence, loosening Yasser Arafat’s security grip in line with demands by international peace mediators.