Surrounded and Attacked by Protesters, Israelis Kill Palestinian

Israeli soldiers killed one Palestinian and wounded four others after they were surrounded and attacked by stone-throwing protesters in a sweep through two mountain villages Wednesday, the army announced.

Arab doctors and witnesses said 10 Arabs were wounded with live ammunition, at least 20 received injuries from beatings and rubber bullets, and hundreds were jailed.

In a separate incident, troops shot and wounded four Arabs in the marketplace in Nablus, the largest West Bank city, an army spokesman said. He said the soldiers fired to disperse people who had attacked them with stones.

After the fighting in the two mountain villages, army officials refused to comment on arrests or the reason for the raid, which came at the end of a three-day holiday marking the conclusion of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.

The violence occurred a day after Israeli soldiers clashed with Arab guerrillas who slipped into Israel from Jordan. One Arab infiltrator was wounded and captured, and two escaped. It was the 13th infiltration or attempted infiltration in six months.

Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said Palestinian guerrilla groups have stepped up such attempts to give a new impetus to the Arab uprising in the occupied territories, which he said was “dying down.”

Since anti-occupation protests began Dec. 9 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 182 Palestinians have been killed, most by Israeli forces. Two Israelis have also died.

Rabin accused Jordan and Egypt of not doing enough to prevent the infiltrations. Guerrillas have twice tried to enter Israel from Egypt since Dec. 1.

“There is no doubt in my mind the authorities in Egypt and Jordan are sometimes not doing everything that can be done to prevent the (infiltrations),” Rabin told Israel Radio.

Before dawn Wednesday, hundreds of Israeli soldiers moved into the neighboring villages of Abwein and Arura, about 17 miles north of Jerusalem.

“An Israeli force reached the villages . . . and was surrounded by hundreds of Arabs, some of whom climbed nearby hills and attacked the force with a barrage of stones and with slingshots,” the army said.

It said soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets, and a commander shot live ammunition to quell the protests.

In both villages, the fighting continued through the morning, with helicopters dropping tear gas, witnesses said. Soldiers eventually gained control and moved from house to house to search for suspects, they said.

Both Abwein and Arura were what Palestinians call liberated villages. As a sign of defiance against the army, the residents have kept the villages sealed off with roadblocks, flown outlawed Palestinian flags and marked walls with graffiti supporting the Palestine Liberation Organization.