Israelis Roust Arabs in Get-Tough Show

In a pre-dawn raid today, Israeli soldiers pounded on doors in this West Bank village and took 24 Palestinian suspects away in blindfolds and handcuffs.

“We want to show the local citizens that we are in control,” said 2nd Lt. Uziyah, 22, a red-bereted paratrooper.

An American aid worker said soldiers kicked and slapped some detainees.

The raids were aimed partly at West Bank villages that have declared themselves “liberated” Palestinian enclaves. More than 30 have been raided since Sunday and scores of Palestinians detained in the crackdown to arrest organizers of the uprising.

“We shake them up with such raids. . . . They say, ‘Hey, the Israelis are here, and we can’t do anything, not even throw a stone,’ ” said Uziyah, whose full name could not be used under army regulations.

Elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, soldiers patrolling Bethlehem on foot said they were shot at today, but no one was hit. It was the second gun attack on Israeli forces in Bethlehem in two days.

Meanwhile, a military court in Nablus sentenced five Palestinians to jail in connection with a 1988 riot in which a Jewish guard accidentally shot and killed a 15-year-old Israeli girl.

It was an emotional issue involving hikers from a Jewish settlement, which first claimed that the girl, Tirza Porat, was stoned to death by villagers at Beita on the West Bank.

Israelis shot and killed two Palestinians during the April 6, 1988, incident, which began with villagers throwing stones at the hikers.

The defendants confessed and were convicted.

Haled Hassin Abed Benishams, 19, was sentenced to four years in jail for forcing the hikers into a violent situation and attempting to stab the guard. His three companions were sentenced to terms of 18 months to two years for throwing stones and threatening the hikers.

In the Israeli town of Petah Tikvah, municipal officials said they plan to build shacks for Arab laborers on the outskirts to discourage them from entering the city.

The Petah Tikvah proposal is the latest in a series of restrictions against Palestinian laborers in Israeli towns. Also in recent weeks, Israelis have begun stoning Arab workers, killing one and injuring scores.