Voice of Palestine radio reported that Khalil Barrood, 25, was shot
and killed, and 10 more Palestinians were injured by live ammunition fired
by Israeli troops on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Tulkarim.
Clashes also erupted in the south of Gaza and in the West Bank towns of
Jenin, Bethlehem, Qalqilya and Hebron. The Palestinians said Israeli
soldiers fired rubber bullets and live ammunition at Palestinian
demonstrators, wounding at least 50 in those confrontations.
Friday was a crucial test of the new truce agreement, and for a time both
sides showed restraint. Hundreds of Israeli police were deployed to
maintain the peace after the Muslim prayers, and Palestinian police stopped
the militant Islamic Jihad from demonstrating at the Erez crossing between
Israel and the Gaza strip. The Islamic Jihad has claimed blame for
a car bombing Thursday near the popular outdoor Mahaned Yehuda market in
central Jerusalem. The blast killed two Israelis.
Tension was high in Jerusalem as some 5,000 Muslims prayed amid tight
Israeli security at the mosques at Temple Mount, the city's main holy site,
known to Arabs as Haram el Sharif. Police barred Palestinian men under the
age of 45 from praying there for fear of renewed clashes between Israeli
security forces and Palestinian youths, Israel radio reported.
At least 170 people, the vast majority of them Palestinians, have been
killed in violence throughout the occupied territories since the unrest
broke out after Friday prayers in Jerusalem on Sept. 29. Violent protests
frequently have followed the prayers since then. Thousands have been
injured.
Voice of Palestine radio reported that hundreds of Palestinian mourners
marched the streets of the divided West Bank town of Hebron after Friday
prayers. A few Jewish settlers threw stones at the Palestinians in the
town's public market, and three Palestinians were injured, including a
60-year-old blind man, the radio reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's security adviser, Danny Yatom, said
the Palestinian Authority was trying to prevent violence between Palestinian
protesters and Israeli soldiers.
"Despite the shooting and the clashes, I know that there are attempts and
intentions by the Palestinians to bring calm to the territories," Yatom
said. "I am sure that in the coming hours and in the coming days we will see
more effective attempts and we will see better results."
Thursday's car bombing happened as Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat were preparing to make formal public statements announcing the truce
agreement. They held off making the statements, but both sides said they
still regarded the agreement as valid.
The Israeli cabinet late Thursday gave Palestinians 24 hours to implement
their side of the agreement.
But Palestinian authority cabinet minister Nabil Shaath said, "The success
of this understanding that had been reached is depending on the Israeli
commitment to implement it by withdrawing its troops and tanks outside
Palestinian towns and left the closures and the sieges."
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