Israelis Fire Tear Gas Into Hospital During Protest

Israeli troops hunting for Arab protesters today fired tear gas into the reception area of a hospital emergency room, driving out dozens of elderly patients, doctors said.

Palestinians hurled firebombs and troops fired tear gas in scattered clashes throughout the night in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where violent protests have occurred daily since Dec. 8.

Violence erupted for the second consecutive day at the government-run Ramallah Hospital about eight miles north of Jerusalem, the latest in a recent series of intense clashes at medical facilities in the occupied territories. (Tuesday’s attack, Page 7.)

Protesters Throw Rocks

About a dozen Israeli troops outside the hospital compound were confronted by rock-hurling Palestinian protesters who blocked a nearby street. One smoking canister landed in the reception area of the emergency room and another landed in a hospital courtyard, doctors said.

Two physicians donned gas masks and others held onions to their noses to blunt the effects of the tear gas, one doctor said. About 30 patients, including elderly people, were driven outside.

“Even the doctors couldn’t breathe, so imagine the effects on the patients inside, many of whom are seriously ill,” said a doctor who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Arab doctors say injured Palestinians often are reluctant to come to hospitals for fear of being arrested by Israeli authorities while under treatment.

But hospitals also have often become refuges for Arab demonstrators fleeing arrest after violent confrontations with soldiers.

Soldiers detained three youths outside the hospital, including one with a gash on his forehead and bleeding from the shoulder. He was seen being dragged by a soldier.

Denies Hospital Entered

An army spokesman denied that soldiers entered the hospital or beat doctors, as had been reported. He said soldiers detained two Palestinians, but that the youths were taken into custody at the entrance to the hospital.

In the occupied Gaza Strip, officials at the Shifa Hospital said Israeli soldiers entered the facility overnight and arrested two Arab demonstrators accused by Israel of trying to run over a soldier with their car.

At least 76 Palestinians have been killed, mostly by Israeli gunfire, and hundreds wounded since Dec. 8 in the territories Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East War.

Also today, three Italian legislators chained themselves to electric poles near Ramallah to protest the Israeli crackdown. One legislator held a sign saying: “Stop the Killing--Yes, To Palestinian Self-Determination.”