Showered by Rocks, Israelis Fire at Mob of Youths, Kill Two

Israeli soldiers fired on Palestinian demonstrators who hurled rocks and broken bottles in the occupied West Bank today, killing two and wounding six, hospital officials and witnesses said.

The army said five protesters were wounded in an attack on a makeshift army headquarters in Tarqumia and in a clash in the nearby city of Hebron. It said it was investigating the reports that two were killed.

As part of a campaign to crack down on leaders of recent unrest, the army arrested a prominent Gaza lawyer under special laws allowing detention for up to six months without trial.

Israel radio quoted an unidentified military source as saying the military had evidence that the attorney, Raji Sourani, was linked to the organizing of the uprising. The army has not commented.

4,000 Detained

More than 4,000 Palestinians have been detained since the unrest began Dec. 8 in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and 3,000 remain in jail. But unlike previous roundups, which focused on stone-throwers, the current one has zeroed in on the underground leadership.

In Tarqumia, a village of 9,000 near Hebron, hundreds of stone-throwing youths set out before dawn to attack a school that troops had turned into makeshift headquarters, said Naim Odeh, a 52-year-old schoolteacher.

“The troops came into the village at 4 a.m. and took over the school,” Odeh said. “Then about 500 youths marched out to the school and started throwing rocks and broken bottles.”

Clash Lasts Hours

Troops responded by opening fire, Odeh said, and the confrontation lasted several hours. He said two youths were shot and killed.

Villagers and an official at Hebron’s Alia hospital identified the dead as Khaled Hassan Ahmed Murktan, 18, who was shot in the stomach, and Walid Abdul Fatatta, 18, who was shot in the chest.

Odeh said the bodies were buried in the town’s cemetery. There, villagers pointed out to a journalist two freshly dug mounds of earth, with an inscribed rock beside them.

In Hebron, soldiers surrounded Al Haras mosque following noon prayers on the Muslim Sabbath when 20 youths took up positions on the roof and began throwing stones and waving a Palestinian flag, which is outlawed in Israel.

As a reporter watched from a nearby vantage point, troops fired tear gas and the sound of shots also could be heard.

Three Protesters Shot

Three protesters were shot and critically wounded, the Arab-owned Palestine Press Service said.

Later, three Arab teen-agers were seen sitting on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs. A soldier was seen kicking one of the young men.

The army said an empty passenger bus headed for the Jewish settlement of Qiryat Arba near Hebron was surrounded by residents of an Arab village, who beat the driver and set the vehicle on fire.

Israel radio said the driver was hospitalized with two broken arms.

The Palestinian death toll in the violence is 111, according to U.N. figures. One Israeli soldier has been killed.