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Palestinians & Israelis renew gun battles in West Bank |
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October 2, 2000
JERUSALEM (AP) - Palestinians waged running gunbattles with Israeli troops Sunday, including a shootout near an Israeli enclave in a West Bank town that helped push the three-day casualty toll to 25 dead and more than 700 wounded. Rooftop gunmen, crouching behind a wall, fired automatic rifles at Israeli forces in Joseph's Tomb, a tiny Israeli enclave in the Palestinian town of Nablus in the West Bank. More Palestinian gunmen raced to the barbed-wire fence of the compound and shot inside, as Israeli troops returned fire. Two Israeli helicopters swooped in, firing at the protesters, witnesses said. Three Palestinians, including a 10-year-old boy, were killed and at least 25 injured, according to doctors. Israeli tanks were moved toward Palestinian-run Nablus, and in the Gaza Strip, troops fired anti-tank missiles at Palestinian positions, as Israel flexed its muscle. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat tried, but failed to ease tensions in a Saturday night phone conversation, and clashes resumed Sunday in the worst Arab-Israeli violence in four years. Barak's office said there had been "intense diplomatic contacts" in the past day, including a conversation between Barak and U.S. President Bill Clinton. The Palestinian Authority "should act forcefully and immediately to stop the acts of violence," a statement said. Ahmed Qureia, speaker of the Palestinian parliament, called on Israel to withdraw its troops. The soldiers cause friction and are "a symbol for the continuation of the clashes that took place in the past three days," he said. In a second shooting, Palestinians and Israelis exchanged heavy fire at an army post near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip. Several dozen Palestinian security agents, both in uniform and civilian dress, fired assault rifles, while hundreds more Palestinians threw stones at Israeli soldiers. Two Palestinians were killed and at least 40 injured, many with serious wounds to the head and abdomen, doctors said. A third gunbattle raged in the West Bank town of Ramallah, and stone-throwing was reported in many of the larger Palestinian cities and towns. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has traditionally focused on their political dispute, but the current rioting also includes emotional appeals to religious differences. The battles erupted after Israel's hard-line opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, on Thursday visited a bitterly contested Jerusalem religious shrine sacred to Muslims and Jews. "This is a war between religions and I'm participating because I'm Muslim," said Khaled Abu Araish, a 25-year-old demonstrator in Hebron. The violence has set back prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty, which were stalled even before the latest confrontations. Sunday's clashes also spread to Israeli Arab towns, including Nazareth. In the town of Jesus' boyhood, hundreds of youngsters, many with their faces masked, threw stones at Israeli police who fired a steady barrage of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. The town's main road, which was blocked with burning tires and plumes of black smoke, is near the Basilica of the Annunciation built on the spot where tradition says the Angel Gabriel foretold Jesus' birth. Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian leaders traded sharp words. "We have solid ground to believe that (the clashes) were in great part orchestrated from above," said Shlomo Ben-Ami, Israel's police minister, in a reference to the Palestinian leadership. "Such a course is as dangerous as riding on the back of a tiger." The Palestinians say Israel orchestrated deadly clashes Friday at a bitterly contested Jerusalem shrine in which six Palestinians died. Throughout the West Bank, shops and schools were closed as Palestinians observed a general strike for a second day. The strike spread to Arab Israeli communities inside Israel on Sunday in a show of solidarity. Palestinian officials on Sunday confirmed two additional deaths from Saturday's clashes. One of the dead was Jihad Aloul, 20, the son of Mahmoud Aloul, the governor of Nablus. A total of 25 Palestinians have been killed in three days of rioting, and more than 700 injured, according to Palestinian officials. Israel says 11 security force members have been wounded. In several tense areas, huge crowds gathered for the Sunday funerals of Palestinians. Mourners carried the coffins through packed streets, and Palestinian gunmen fired into the air. Late Saturday, thousands joined the funeral procession of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy who died as he was caught in Israeli-Palestinian crossfire. His death was caught on camera and has provoked widespread outrage. Palestinians say the riots are a spontaneous response to Sharon's visit to the disputed hilltop shrine known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary. Sharon dismissed charges that he was to blame. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are snagged over rival sovereignty claims to the shrine, which was once home to the biblical Jewish Temple, Judaism's holiest site, and now houses two major mosques that mark the spot where tradition says the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. The walled compound is the third holiest site of Islam. Neither side wants the other to have full control. U.S. compromise proposals have been rejected so far by the negotiators. |