Israeli troops pull back

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Scaling down its biggest military operation in a generation, Israel withdrew from three West Bank towns Friday but failed to comply with U.S. demands that it leave all Palestinian-controlled areas to give a boost to an American envoy's truce mission.

In fresh fighting, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip, including one the army said was trying to plant bombs. Also, a Palestinian woman and two children were killed in a mysterious explosion in a Gaza refugee camp, and a suspected Palestinian informer for Israel was shot dead by gunmen in the West Bank.

The envoy, Anthony Zinni, met Friday with Israel's defense and foreign ministers and was to hold talks later in the day with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the American's latest bid to forge a truce in 18 months of violence.