A Palestinian was shot dead by a settler, and there were reports that at least six Arab shops were burnt. An Israeli died after being hit by a stone.Israel has dispatched hundreds of troops to its northern borders, and has warned Lebanon and Syria of strong reprisals over the capture of its soldiers. In an effort to obtain their release, Israel asked the Red Cross to deliver a message to Hizbollah leaders in Beirut, which could open negotiations between the two enemies.Scarcely 24 hours after the three men - two Jews and a Druze - were seized by the guerrillas to exchange for 19 prisoners in Israel, Henri Fournier, the head delegate of the International Red Cross in Beirut, paid a personal visit to Hizbollah officials. He handed over the undisclosed Israeli message, stressing that his own organisation sought a "humanitarian" resolution for all the hostages - the 19 Lebanese in Israel as well as the three Israelis. The Lebanese include Sheikh Abdul-Karim Obeid, a Hizbollah cleric seized by Israeli troops more than a decade ago, and Mustafa Dirani, a former member of the Amal militia who was involved in the taking of Western hostages.Mr.

Fournier said the ICRC's role was "to act as a facilitator, not a negotiator" but added that he had demanded "immediate access" to the three captured Israeli soldiers.. A Syrian aircraft carrying senior government officials and medical supplies landed in Baghdad yesterday, the first such flight from Syria in 18 years. It represents the latest sign of the erosion of 10-year-old United Nations sanctions. A Syrian aircraft carrying senior government officials and medical supplies landed in Baghdad yesterday, the first such flight from Syria in 18 years.

It represents the latest sign of the erosion of 10-year-old United Nations sanctions. France and Russia, the UN Security Council members most sympathetic to Iraqi positions, have raised the pressure on Britain and America to lift the sanctions, which have failed to oust President Saddam Hussein. Two weeks ago the two states, which maintain that UN resolutions never imposed a flight embargo on Iraq, flew aircraft to Baghdad without authorisation from the UN sanctions committee.Since then there have been flights from Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Yemen, the Emirates and Algeria, all with approval. Egyptian, Lebanese and Turkish groups have announced plans for flights to Baghdad.The Syrian flight is understood to have been cleared by the UN. Mohammed Mufdhi Sevo, a Syrian cabinet minister, said: "We are Arabs ...