2 Arabs, Israeli Girl Killed on West Bank as Civilians Battle

Israeli settlers and Arab villagers clashed with axes and automatic rifles in a West Bank village today, killing two Palestinians and a 17-year-old Israeli girl and wounding 16 others. It was the first time an Israeli civilian was killed in the occupied territories since the unrest began four months ago.

There were conflicting reports on what led to the violence in Beita, about 15 miles from Nablus.

Palestinians who said they witnessed the clash from half a mile away said about 30 Israeli settlers entered the village on foot and fired without provocation, killing one Arab.

Angry villagers then charged the settlers, the Palestinians said.

“The first man who was killed, Mousa Saleh Abu Shamseh, was plowing his land,” said Mohammed Abbas Aly. Abu Shamseh was 20.

“When they heard a farmer was killed, they attacked the settlers with axes, picks and rocks. There was hand-to-hand fighting,” said Aly, who was interviewed at Nablus’ Al Ittihad Hospital.

Bus Reported Stoned

Aly said Fayez Al Jabr, 22, was killed when he ran toward the settlers brandishing a stick.

The army and Israeli witnesses said the violence began when Palestinians stoned a group of Israeli teen-agers on a Passover bus and hiking tour of the West Bank.

An army statement said two security guards on the bus opened fire at the stone-throwers, killing two Arabs and wounding two others. During the clash, the army said Arabs grabbed an M-16 automatic rifle and an Uzi submachine gun from the guards and opened fire on the Israelis, killing the girl and wounding three other Israelis.

Boleslav Godlman, administrator of Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv, said an adult and nine children ages 14 and 15 suffered minor injuries. He said most of the 10 were hit by stones and metal fragments.

Injured Were Teen-Agers

Most of the injured reportedly were teen-agers from the Jewish settlement of Elon Moreh, near Nablus.

A soldier was hit on the head by a rock and was in serious condition in Jerusalem’s Haddassah hospital, the army said. Another Israeli teen-ager was found slightly wounded in a villager’s home.

The army said the 17-year-old girl, whose name was not made public immediately, was killed by a bullet. It gave no details on how the other Israeli civilians were wounded.

Shmuel Fuchs, 15, from Elon Moreh, said 18 teen-agers, a soldier and a guide had left the bus and were sitting in a dry river bed when a group of Arabs began throwing stones at them.

Followed by Arabs

The Israelis got up and left “and soon we discovered we were being followed by dozens of Arabs,” Fuchs said from his Haddassah Hospital bed.

Fuchs had a bandage on his right arm and the right side of his chest but said he did not know if he was hit by rocks or by bullets.