Palestinian Slain, 18 Reported Wounded in Clashes With Israelis

Palestinian youths threw rocks at soldiers as hundreds of heavily guarded pilgrims on Christmas Day toured the town revered as Jesus’ birthplace.

Elsewhere in the Israeli-occupied territories, one Palestinian was shot to death and another died of wounds from a Dec. 16 shooting. Eighteen others were injured in clashes with soldiers, Arab reports said.

Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem were markedly subdued because of drenching rain that began Saturday and the 12-month-old Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

An army spokeswoman confirmed the stone-throwing and said protesters were dispersed without shooting and with no injuries.

In the occupied Gaza Strip, Christmas was marred by clashes.

The worst was in Jabaliya, a shantytown refugee camp that is home to 52,000 Palestinians at the northern tip of seaside Gaza.

Arab news reports said troops shot 17-year old Rael Edmaida in the head, killing him. Five other Palestinian teen-agers were wounded, the reports said.

The army said the confrontation occurred when a routine patrol came under a hail of stones.

Sunday’s second fatality was Mohammed Naser Hwash, 22, who died of a head wound sustained Dec. 16 during a clash in the West Bank city of Nablus, according to an official at Mukassed Hospital in East Jerusalem. The army said it was checking the report.

Arab news reports said six more Palestinians were wounded in Gaza and five Arab teen-agers were injured in the West Bank as the violence spread. Two other Arabs were treated at the hospital after they were hit by rubber bullets, the reports said.