Curfew Clamped on Gaza as Violent Protests Resume

Reacting swiftly and harshly to an upsurge of violent Palestinian protest in the occupied Gaza Strip, the Israeli army Sunday night sealed off the area and ordered its 650,000 residents confined to their homes until further notice.

It was the first time since the peak last March in the eight-month-old Palestinian uprising in the occupied territories--Gaza and the West Bank of the Jordan River--that the army has ordered such an area-wide curfew, and only the second time it has ever done so.

A senior military source described the move as “a warning and a deterrent,” meant “to demonstrate to the population that we will not tolerate an increase in violence regardless of what is happening around the Arab world.”

The army source’s comments referred to the announcement earlier this month by Jordan’s King Hussein that he was cutting ties to the occupied territories, principally the West Bank, and subsequent moves by the Palestine Liberation Organization to fill the resulting void. Israeli officials say they will not permit the PLO to benefit from Hussein’s actions.

The political developments have seen a parallel increase in the unrest, which has claimed at least six Arab lives in just the last five days.

Three of those were Gaza men killed during confrontations with troops over the weekend, including one who died in an Israeli hospital Sunday after what state radio described as a “severe beating” by soldiers the day before. The army said that the man, identified as Mohammed Akhmed abu Rizik, 20, was shot during a demonstration Saturday.

Palestinian sources said two other Gazans also died Sunday--one boy shot in Gaza City and a youth wounded at Rafah two weeks ago. But the army claimed no knowledge of the reports.

Abu Rizik was at least the 230th Palestinian victim of the uprising, which began last Dec. 9 in the Gaza Strip. Three Israelis have also been killed in unrest-related incidents.

24 Injured in Violence

At least 17 Palestinians and seven Jewish settlers were injured in renewed Gaza Strip violence Sunday, which marked the Muslim new year. The settlers were hurt when the car in which they were riding was firebombed near the entrance to one of eight Palestinian refugee camps in the Gaza Strip. An 8-month-old Israeli infant was seriously burned, while three other children and three adults were slightly injured.

Palestinian sources said another cause of the weekend unrest was attacks last week on Gazan laborers near Tel Aviv. In one incident, two Gazans were burned to death when an unidentified arsonist set fire to the shack where they were sleeping. And on Friday, three Gazan garbage collectors and their Israeli Jewish boss were severely beaten by five young Israeli men wielding clubs.

The senior military source said that the army crackdown was a response not only to Sunday’s violence but “to an accumulation of disorder and riots and violent upheaval . . . over the past few days.” He said that it was part of the military’s policy of “initiated response,” in which it tries to quickly take the initiative away from the Palestinian residents at the first sign of spreading trouble.

Barred From Their Jobs

The closure order means that tens of thousands of Gaza residents who normally work in Israel proper will be barred from reaching their jobs. Those trying to return to their homes will be admitted to the Gaza Strip only at times stipulated by the Israeli military commander.

Residents will be confined to their homes except for hours that may be stipulated by the army for essential shopping and medical care. Usually, this means one or two hours every other day.

The military closed the Gaza Strip to the press early Sunday and announced Sunday night that, beginning today, reporters will be permitted to enter the area only under army escort. “Coverage will be subject to our supervision, and that’s it,” said the military source.

The source added that all the restrictions will remain in force “until further notice.”

The only other time the military completely sealed off the Gaza Strip was late last March, when it also imposed unprecedented restrictions on the 850,000 Palestinian residents of the West Bank. The restrictions lasted for 72 hours and were intended to head off massive demonstrations that had been planned to commemorate six demonstrators who were killed during a protest on March 30, 1976, over government confiscations of Arab land.

The military source said Sunday’s actions do not affect the West Bank “except possibly as a message.”

Israeli troops captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War. Jordan annexed the West Bank soon after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and at least until King Hussein’s latest moves, Palestinian residents of the area were entitled to Jordanian citizenship.

By contrast, Gaza was only administered by Egypt during the years Cairo ruled there--it was never annexed. And apart from a relative handful of residents, who were granted Jordanian passports, the vast majority of Gazans are stateless. Gaza is considered one of the most overcrowded areas on Earth, and nearly two-thirds of its residents are classified as refugees, compared with less than one-third of West Bankers.

In a related development Sunday, another senior government source told Israeli reporters in a briefing that the authorities plan several steps to frustrate any attempt by the PLO to use Hussein’s withdrawal to strengthen its own position in the territories.

The official said there will be more arrests of Palestinians active in so-called “popular committees” that have sprung up throughout the territories as a rudimentary form of home rule.