Five Palestinians were injured Saturday in the West Bank village of al-Khader as demonstrators clashed with Israeli troops following a funeral for a Palestinian shot dead by soldiers the day before, reported AFP.
It was unclear how seriously they were injured.
After burying 21-year-old Raed Mahmoud Hussein Moussa, 200 Palestinians, most of them young people, threw stones at soldiers stationed near a bypass road in the village, said the agency.
Moussa died Friday after Israeli soldiers shot him in the chest during clashes in al-Khader, near Bethlehem.
Palestinian groups have called for a "day of rage" every Friday since the start nearly five months ago of the Intifada.
Violent clashes broke out Friday in this village when dozens of youths pelted soldiers with rocks.
Israeli troops responded with tear gas and a mixture of live ammunition and rubber-coated bullets, injuring four other Palestinians besides Moussa, including one who was shot in the eye.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets at stone-throwers on the northern edge of the Arab-run town, injuring 45 Palestinians, eight of them with live fire.
Shortly after the demonstration ended a gunfight broke out, injuring two, including a driver who was shot in the chest and listed in critical condition.
The Ramallah clashes broke out after some 2,000 protesters marched in the street, expressing support for the five-month-old Palestinian uprising and denouncing Israel and the United States.
Haaretz newspaper reported that two explosive devices went off within half an hour of each other Friday morning in the Gaza Strip.
The first went off near the settlement of Morag and was most likely directed at Israeli soldiers, said the paper, adding that the second device exploded on the Karni-Netzarim road and also most likely targeted soldiers.
An Israeli tracker was very lightly wounded in the second attack and was taken to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, said the paper.
The paper added that the Israeli army destroyed two Palestinian police outposts Friday near the Netzarim junction.
Sources told the daily that the posts were used as cover for armed Palestinian assailants who shot at and placed explosive devices on the Karni-Netzarim road.
Separately, mortar fire was reported overnight near the Elei Sinai and Dugit settlements.
"The Israeli army will react in the way it finds appropriate to assure civilians and Israeli soldiers' safety," the army spokesman said, blaming "this escalation in violence and terrorism" on the Palestinian Authority.
For his part, caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak said in a statement that "the Israeli army and security services will know without restriction how to deal with those who were behind these armed attacks." – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
