2 Palestinians Killed in Attack on Israel Forces

Israeli troops killed two more Palestinian demonstrators today and police said they had arrested some of the leaders of a 15-week-old Palestinian uprising in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The demonstrators were shot in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, hospital and army sources said.

The military sources said two Israeli border police patrols in Balata were attacked by youths hurling stones and iron bars. Three border policemen were injured. The commanders of the patrols opened fire when they felt their lives were in danger, killing two people and injuring one, the sources said.

105 Palestinians Killed

The deaths brought the toll of Palestinians killed in the uprising to 105. One Israeli soldier has been killed.

The army made widespread arrests in the West Bank today, clamping curfews on the towns of Idna, Tamoun, Silwad and Habla so that troops could round up residents. More than 700 Palestinians have been arrested in the last nine days, bringing to over 3,000 the number seized since December, officials said.

Asked by reporters whether any leaders of the uprising had been arrested, Police Minister Haim Bar-Lev said: “I do confirm this.”

He added that those held were alleged to be the authors of the most recent leaflet issued by the shadowy “United National Leadership of the Uprising.”

Leaflets Urge Attacks

The leaflet, the 11th distributed throughout the occupied areas since the uprising began on Dec. 9, called for an escalation of attacks on soldiers and Jewish settlers.

The Israeli Interior Ministry ordered an Arabic-language paper published by the Israeli Communist Party to be closed for one week for publishing items it said could be inciting.

A spokesman for the party, called Rakah, said the Al Ittihad newspaper had expressed solidarity with Palestinians in the occupied areas.

In a new measure to crack down on the publication of leaflets, owners of Gaza printing presses were told they would have to apply for army permits to operate.

Army radio said a longstanding requirement for such permits had not been enforced in recent years.