Youth Wounded in Protest of 3 Israeli Army Killings

Israeli soldiers fired tear-gas canisters and an Arab youth was wounded in the Gaza Strip in a fourth day of clashes Sunday with stone-throwing demonstrators protesting the army killings of three Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories.

As the Israeli-Arab confrontations spread from East Jerusalem to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Israeli Cabinet warned that security forces will not back down in the unrest that began Thursday when soldiers shot and killed two Palestinian students at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank.

A funeral was held Sunday before dawn for a 14-year-old Palestinian youth shot and killed Friday in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus. The military allowed only his father and a local official to attend, Palestinian sources said.

Camp Placed Under Curfew

Balata was placed under curfew after youths stoned vehicles with Israeli license plates on the road from Jerusalem to Nablus, 35 miles to the north, the army said. No casualties were reported.

A Cabinet statement backed the Israeli security forces, saying, “It is the duty of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) and the police to maintain law and order and to prevent all disturbances.”

“The IDF and border police acted properly in accordance with all existing orders, and they will act in such a way in the future as well to prevent disturbances and avoid any casualties,” the Cabinet warned.

Palestinian Shot in Knee

A 17-year-old Palestinian was shot in the knee at the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip as soldiers broke up a protest by supposedly shooting over demonstrators’ heads and firing several tear gas canisters, Palestinian sources said.

“Mohammed Kabal Shbir appeared at Al Shefah Hospital in Gaza shot in the knee,” said an Israel Defense Forces spokesman. “We have no reports of shooting in the Gaza Strip but are checking on his family’s claims he was shot by the IDF.”

The East Jerusalem-based Palestine Press Services, which monitors developments in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, said dozens were arrested for hurling stones at soldiers and smashing a jeep windshield.

Most Arab-owned businesses in Jerusalem and the West Bank were closed for a second day, and most Arab schools did not open on the last day of mourning for the two Birzeit students, who were buried Saturday.