BETHLEHEM, West Bank _ Israeli troops briefly lifted the curfew in this Palestinian town Wednesday, allowing thousands of people their first chance to shop, pay bills and visit doctors in three days.

The action came as Israeli victims of attacks in the last two days, including a baby and her grandmother, were being buried in Jerusalem and other parts of Israel. Bethlehem streets that had been deserted were suddenly packed, and roads that had been empty were clogged with cars and taxis as residents rushed to carry out tasks in the four-hour respite.

Israeli forces carried out incursions in a number of Palestinian communities Wednesday, including Bethlehem, Ramallah and Tulkarem. Israeli radio and television reported that a number of people suspected to be terrorists had been arrested.

Israeli troops, who entered Bethlehem on Monday, barred entry into Manger Square at the Church of the Nativity on Wednesday. The church was occupied by Palestinian fighters and others for 39 days last month.

"They surrounded the church and monastery at the very start to make sure there was no repeat of what happened before," said Father Parthineus, a Greek Orthodox priest who lives and works in the church complex.

He spoke as he and other Orthodox priests rushed around Bethlehem shopping and carrying out errands. "When we left the monastery to go shopping, the Israeli soldiers told us to make sure all the doors were locked," Father Parthineus said with a grin.

The Beit Jala Government Hospital, Bethlehem's main medical facility, was packed with people at midday Wednesday with dozens of people in the emergency room for care. The curfew was reimposed at 3 in the afternoon, and residents said that streets were again deserted. Six Israeli victims of terrorist attacks were buried Wednesday, including 18-month-old Sinai Kinen and her 56-year-old grandmother, Ruth Peled, who were killed Monday when a suicide bomber detonated a device in a coffee shop and ice cream shop in the town of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv.

Also buried were three students at an Israeli religious school _ Gilad Steiglitz, 15; Netanel Riahi, 17, and Avraham Siton, 17 _ who were gunned down by a Palestinian attacker Tuesday and a house painter, Avraham Malul, 50, who was shot on a West Bank highway by a gunman as he and his brother returned to Jerusalem. The brother was wounded in the attack. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's security Cabinet met Wednesday to discuss the latest suicide bombing and agreed to maintain the government's policy of mounting brief and targeted incursions into Palestinian towns and villages rather than mounting large and sustained military operations.

Sharon rejected a suggestion by Israel's army chief, Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat be expelled from the country.

As pressure mounted on Arafat to reform his government, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns arrived in Cairo for a Mideat visit.

His trip will include discussions with Israeli officials on reforms that the U.S. feels are required.

George Tenet, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, is expected to arrive in the region next week, where he will join Burns.

On Tuesday night Israeli forces entered the Dheishe Palestinian refugee camp in Bethlehem, arresting people suspected of being terrorists.

Among those arrested were Samir Akhras, 29, and his brother Ishmael, 22, whose sister, Ayat Akhras, walked into the Supersol supermarket in the Israeli Jerusalem neighborhood of Kyriat Yovel in late March and detonated a device that killed 17-year-old Israeli Rachel Levy. ___ © 2002, Chicago Tribune. Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicago.tribune.com/ Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.