Paris

Heat thought to kill 5,000 in France

A senior health official resigned Monday after France’s health minister admitted that up to 5,000 people, many of them elderly and alone, might have died in the heat wave — almost twice as many as previously estimated. The government and opposition traded accusations about blame.

The departure of Lucien Abenhaim, director general of health, was expected to increase pressure for embattled Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei to resign.

For days, French newspapers have questioned the authorities’ response and asked why hospitals overflowed with victims as temperatures exceeded 104 degrees.

Speaking on RTL radio, Mattei said it was “plausible” that as many as 5,000 people may have died. He said the figure was a hypothesis and the final toll would not be known for several weeks.

Mattei’s ministry previously had estimated that 1,600 to 3,000 people died from the heat.

Jerusalem

West Bank negotiations expected to wrap up

Israel and the Palestinians will press on with talks on the handover of West Bank towns despite disagreements about Israeli roadblocks and the threat of militant attacks, officials said.

Talks bogged down Sunday because the Palestinians demanded that Israel dismantle roadblocks around the four towns. The Israeli side, meanwhile, said the Palestinians must guarantee they would control militants who could resume attacks.

Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan said he expected negotiations to be concluded today. The Israeli military said the two sides would meet again soon.

Dahlan and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz have agreed in principle on an Israeli handover of the towns of Jericho, Qalqiliya, Ramallah and Tulkarem to Palestinian control within two weeks.