New Wave of Violence Sweeps West Bank

About 150 Palestinians were detained and an undetermined number of Arabs and Jews were injured Saturday as Israeli troops tried to quell a wave of violent protest sweeping through East Jerusalem and across the occupied West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip.

Demonstrations were reported in a dozen separate locations, and reinforced army patrols used tear gas and fired into the air to disperse mostly youthful protesters who threw stones, burned tires and blocked roads.

The disturbances followed the killing of three Palestinian youths by troops during the previous two days and were described as the most widespread in the occupied territories in at least two years.

Security sources reported that six Israelis were injured by stones--two policemen, two soldiers and two civilians, including a 5-year-old boy. There were also unconfirmed reports of three Palestinians injured when police quelled a disturbance at a school north of Jerusalem.

A partial strike of shopkeepers closed stores in Arab East Jerusalem and in several West Bank and Gaza towns. Universities and many secondary schools in the occupied territories also remained closed.

Security forces imposed curfews in Ramallah, about 20 miles north of Jerusalem, and in the Balata Palestinian refugee camp near Nablus.

‘Like a Ghost Town’

While the curfew was lifted Saturday afternoon in Ramallah, residents late in the day described the city as “like a ghost town” except for heavily armed military patrols.

Ramallah is near Birzeit University, where troops opened fire on student demonstrators Thursday, killing two and wounding at least 11 in the bloodiest West Bank campus clash since Israel captured the area from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War.

A 14-year-old Balata boy was killed Friday when troops again opened fire against stone-throwing demonstrators angered by the Birzeit shootings.

Israel radio quoted a senior Israeli army source Saturday as saying that reinforcements had been sent into the West Bank and Gaza Strip and that they would remain there until the situation returns to normal.

Troops reportedly used tear gas to break up mock funerals for the two slain Birzeit students in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. The two were buried under military supervision the night before, with only 10 family members allowed to attend the funeral of each as a measure aimed at preventing violence.

About 30 students of the Islamic University in Hebron were reported to have been arrested, and about 60 people were detained in and around Nablus, according to Palestinian sources. More than a score were also detained in Gaza and in East Jerusalem, and there were other scattered arrests.