Israelis Kill 2 Palestinians at Protest : Soldiers Wound Several Students in Clash at University

Israeli troops shot and killed two Palestinian students during a protest outside Bir Zeit University, the army said. Palestinian reports said three were killed and more than 20 wounded in clashes at the college and a hospital.

It was the worst campus unrest in the occupied West Bank since November, 1984, when Israeli troops killed one student and wounded six during a demonstration near the university.

In today’s incident, an army official said troops used tear gas and opened fire to disperse about 400 stone-throwing demonstrators outside the university, 15 miles north of Jerusalem and five miles north of Ramallah.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said two students were killed, two were seriously wounded and at least six others suffered slight wounds. One protester was arrested, the official said.

Rubber Bullets Fired

Soldiers later fired rubber bullets at students in the compound of the Ramallah Hospital, injuring three, the army and Palestinian sources said. The army said the students went to the hospital to visit friends and were about to start a second demonstration.

The Palestine Press Service said three students were killed in the day’s violence, but the army said it could not immediately confirm the third death.

A doctor at Ramallah Hospital said 25 students were admitted for treatment. He said seven had bullet wounds and the rest suffered breathing problems from the tear gas.

The Palestine Press Service, which monitors news in the area occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East War, identified two of the dead as Jawad Abu Salmieh from the occupied Gaza Strip and Mustafa Attari. It said Salmieh was shot in the head and chest.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, asked to comment on the violence, said, “I always regret any losses, but I think the extreme elements in the area are responsible for this.”

Tried to Disperse Sit-in

The army said troops had gone to Bir Zeit to disperse a sit-in that blocked traffic for 30 minutes. The army said that after the protesters hurled stones at the soldiers, the troops fired into the air and then at the protesters’ legs.

A wounded student told a reporter at the hospital that the clash began with a protest against army roadblocks posted outside the campus for the fourth time in a week.

“A soldier hit a professor, so we threw stones and they started to shoot,” the student said. The army said it arrested the lecturer for allegedly inciting the violence but did not give his name.

About 800,000 Palestinians live beside 50,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

Palestinians have held sporadic demonstrations in the West Bank over the last 10 days to protest Shia Muslim guerrilla attacks on Palestinian refugee camps in south Lebanon.