JENIN, West Bank?Israeli troops swept through this West Bank town and an adjacent refugee camp early Tuesday, stepping up raids of Palestinian areas after an Israeli woman and her 18-month-old granddaughter were killed in a Palestinian suicide attack on a suburban ice cream parlor.

Heavy exchanges of fire erupted in the Jenin area, and troops arrested the local leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas and several other suspected militants in the raid. By midday, Israeli troops began pulling out of Jenin, the military said.

Despite the raid and a wave of bombings since the end of Israel’s six-week “Defensive Shield” military offensive in the West Bank earlier this month, Israel is not on the verge of another massive campaign against Palestinian militias, said Defense Minister Dalia Rabin-Pelossof.

Meanwhile Bush’s administration launched a new effort Tuesday to start peace talks between Israel and Palestine.