Arabs Cite Israeli Teen-Agers in Slaying

Teen-age Jewish settlers shot and killed a young Palestinian in a clash at an Arab village during a general strike in the occupied territories, Arab villagers reported Friday. A second youth reportedly was wounded.

Arab villagers said the settlers opened fire after vandalizing homes and beating residents in the village of Shuyukh, south of here near the West Bank city of Hebron. There was no independent confirmation of the details. A military spokesman confirmed the death but said there were no troops in the area at the time and he could not confirm details of the killing.

At least seven Palestinians were injured in sporadic clashes in the territories at the start of a three-day general strike timed to coincide with the visit of Secretary of State George P. Shultz, who arrived Friday in Cairo to begin another Middle East peace mission. He is scheduled to come to Jerusalem on Sunday.

Strike Widely Observed

The strike was widely observed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and few of the 100,000 Palestinians who work in Israel reported to their jobs Friday. Palestinian flags flew over Bethlehem, where the usual number of tourists was absent. Youths also hoisted the outlawed red, green, black and white flag on the sacred Temple Mount in Old Jerusalem after Muslim prayers Friday at the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque.

Troops anticipating a weekend of trouble clamped curfews on refugee camps in Gaza and on towns in the West Bank. Access to other towns was restricted by declaring them closed military areas. The Shultz trip coincides with the 21st anniversary of Israel’s capture of the West Bank and Gaza in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967.

Residents of Shuyukh told reporters that a handful of Jewish settlers around 18 years old entered the village at mid-morning Friday. They said the young people broke into several homes and beat some local residents with sticks.

Settlers Open Fire

When a crowd gathered and began throwing stones, the settlers opened fire, the villagers said. Mustapha Ahmed Halikeh, a 20-year-old villager, was dead on arrival at Alia Hospital in Hebron, officials there said. A 15-year-old youth was shot in the arm, also by the settlers, the villagers said.

When troops arrived they fired tear gas in Shuyukh and the neighboring village of Sair to restore order, the villagers added. The two villages were then closed to reporters by military edict.

District police for the Hebron area said Friday night that the incident was under investigation.

About 65,000 Jews, many of them right-wing religious militants, have settled in the occupied territories since 1967. They have been accused of a number of vandal attacks against Arab villages in the Hebron area since a Palestinian revolt against Israeli rule began six months ago.

The presence of the settlers, about half of them in the Jerusalem area and the rest scattered through the West Bank and Gaza, complicates the search for regional peace.

The death brought to nearly 190 the number of Palestinians who have died since the uprising began Dec. 9. At least a dozen have been killed by settlers, none of whom have been brought to trial. In addition, two Israelis have been killed during the unrest.