The World - News from Aug. 4, 1988

The United States is investigating the death of a man believed to be the first American to die in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the Palestinian revolt began last December, the State Department said. The family of Ribhi Barakat Kayed, 67, a Palestinian-American from Columbus, Ohio, said soldiers entered Kayed’s retirement home in the West Bank village of Beitin on Saturday and forced him and his 14-year-old grandson to clean up anti-Israeli graffiti on nearby walls, causing Kayed to die of a heart attack. An army official said troops asked Kayed’s grandson to clean up the graffiti and the grandfather followed the boy outside, where he collapsed. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities said soldiers blew up the homes of at least 10 Palestinians suspected of firebomb attacks in the West Bank.