Israel braces for clashes after Jew kills 4 Arabs

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon condemned the gunman, who was beaten to death after the attack by residents in the Arab town of Shfaram, as a "bloodthirsty terrorist."

And he vowed that Israel would begin pulling its settlers and forces out of the occupied Gaza Strip as planned on Aug. 17, no matter what attempts were made to thwart it.

Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres said on Israel Radio: "My God, how this country is vulnerable to the actions of murderers, madmen and fanatics who endanger all our lives, Jews as well as Arabs, peace and hope. These people should be rooted out. I hope this country unites to punish those responsible."

Thousands of Israeli police were redeployed to heavily Arab areas of northern Israel, where Thursday's attack aboard a bus occurred, to pre-empt potential riots before or after funerals for the four dead.

Another feared hotspot was a Jerusalem shrine sacred to both Muslims and Jews where Islamic Friday prayers were scheduled.

The main Palestinian militant faction Hamas, which with other armed groups adopted a de facto ceasefire with Israel in February, threatened reprisals for the bus shooting.

Security agencies had warned that Jewish militants could target Palestinians or Israeli Arabs to whip up conflict to try to stop the removal of Jewish settlers from occupied Gaza.

Sharon bills his plan as "disengagement" from conflict with the Palestinians. It would be Israel's first dismantling of settlements in territory that Palestinians want for a state.

Israel's army said the gunman, Eden Nathan Zaada, 19, was a soldier who had deserted and was "of a problematic background."

Aside from the four dead, at least 22 people, all but seven of them Arabs, were hurt in the shooting and an ensuing melee.