Israelis Kill 2 More Arabs in Rock, Firebomb Clash

Soldiers killed two Palestinian protesters and wounded 15 others today outside a West Bank mosque after Muslim Sabbath prayers, Arab reports said.

The violence came hours after the military ended three days of unprecedented security measures in the occupied territories, lifting an around-the-clock curfew in the Gaza Strip and reopening the borders of the West Bank.

The three-day crackdown was the latest in a series of increasingly harsh economic and security measures employed by authorities in an attempt to end the anti-Israel violence, which has left at least 123 Palestinians dead and hundreds injured.

One Israeli soldier has been shot to death and 40 others have been seriously injured since the unrest began Dec. 9.

Large sections of the West Bank were closed today, preventing reporters from entering, in an effort to block more violence after Muslim Sabbath prayers. But despite the army’s efforts, violent demonstrations were reported in at least 17 villages and U.N.-run refugee camps.

In the village of Idna, soldiers shot and killed two Palestinians after an army patrol was attacked by residents throwing rocks, iron rods and Molotov cocktails, an army spokesman said. Fifteen other people were wounded.

Palestinian sources said the killings occurred after soldiers entered the mosque grounds to break up a demonstration. The sources said Jamal Khalil Tamizi, 20, was killed when a tear gas canister fired by a soldier struck him in the head, and Is’haq Nimer Salimiey, 18, was shot five times in the chest.

In interviews published in two Hebrew-language newspapers today, Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin warned the West Bank and Gaza could be sealed off again if rioting continues.

He also threatened to rescind the Israeli work permits of Palestinians involved in riots.

Even after the restrictions were lifted on the territories, more than 25 villages and refugee camps remained under curfew or were declared closed military zones.

A nightly 10 p.m.-to-3 a.m. curfew in Gaza, imposed March 14 after hundreds of Arab policemen heeded calls from protest leaders and resigned, also was still in place.