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Palestinians killed in Gaza to be buried in mass funerals

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November 2, 2000 

JERUSALEM (AP) - Diplomatic efforts intensified Wednesday, with Israel and the Palestinians trying to arrange their first high-level meeting in six weeks, but violence persisted and a Palestinian teen-ager was killed by Israeli fire in clashes in the Gaza Strip.

Shimon Peres, Israel's elder statesman, said he will hold talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat later Wednesday or on Thursday to try to clear the air after 35 days of fighting that have left 149 people dead, the majority Palestinians.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Arafat both attended a U.S.-sponsored Mideast summit in Egypt on Oct. 17, but refused to meet face-to-face.

Peres, who as the architect of Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking has spend many hours negotiating with Arafat, said he did not have high expectations for his meeting with the Palestinian leader. Nonetheless, "I just think that, even when there is shooting, we need to talk," Peres told Israel army radio.

He said he expected Arafat to give a clear commitment to a truce agreement arranged at the Mideast summit two weeks ago by U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Israel's top peace negotiator, Gilead Sher, will also participate in the talks, expected to be held in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem.

Clashes erupted Wednesday at the Karni crossing between Israel and Gaza, the main gate for farm produce and industrial goods. A Palestinian teen-ager was killed and five stone throwers were wounded by Israeli fire, Palestinian doctors said.

On Tuesday, Karni was the scene of intense fighting, with four Palestinians killed. Palestinians for the first time used anti-tank weapons and machine guns. Tens of thousands were expected to attend a joint funeral procession for the victims.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, a Palestinian was killed Tuesday by a bullet in the abdomen during a protracted firefight.

Ben Wedeman, the Cairo bureau chief of Cable News Network, was hit by a bullet in the back while on assignment in Gaza. Wedeman was in stable condition at a Gaza hospital. He said he did not know which side shot him.

Barak said he briefly spoke with Arafat by phone several days ago, in their first talk since the violence erupted, and warned that the Israeli army could retaliate more harshly for Palestinian shooting attacks. Earlier this week, Israeli helicopters fired rockets at headquarters of Arafat's Fatah movement in four locations.

Still, Barak said negotiations are inevitable. "When the shooting stops and the dust settles and all the grieving families on both sides have mourned, we will still have the exact same issues to contend with," he said.

Inspecting the damage at one of the buildings, Arafat declared that the rocket attacks would not deter Palestinian children with rocks in their hands from defending their homeland.

The Palestinian Cabinet convened late Tuesday and demanded that the United Nations deploy a 2,000-strong force to protect Palestinian civilians against Israeli attacks. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, said the proposal was not constructive because "it is written as an attack on one side."

Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat were to meet separately this week with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, as part of American efforts to end the fighting and renew the peace process.

Erekat will present a letter to Clinton with four Palestinian demands, including international protection and the establishment of an international inquiry commission into the violence, said Tayeb Abdel Rahim, a senior Arafat aide.

Israel has rejected calls for an international inquiry, fearing bias. Instead, Israel suggested that the United States conduct a study.

Also, Israel claims that its soldiers do not initiate the clashes. Rather, they respond to Palestinian attacks on their positions, the army says.