3 More Arab Deaths Told in Occupied Lands Strife

Israeli troops fatally shot a Palestinian woman Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, and two other Arabs were reported killed in the West Bank, raising to six the number of Palestinian deaths in the past two days.

The rash of fatalities in the occupied lands prompted commercial strikes in Arab East Jerusalem as well as in the Palestinian towns of Ramallah to the north and Bethlehem to the south.

Palestinian school officials said the army told them that the violence also would delay the reopening of classes for high school sophomores and juniors. Teachers earlier were told the classes would resume today.

West Bank schools were closed for most of the Palestinian uprising but have been reopened in phases since July.

Killed by Stray Shot

In the occupied Gaza Strip, 20-year-old Maha Awad abu Hadath was killed by a stray shot when a clash erupted between soldiers and masked, stone-throwing youths in the market of the Deir al Balah refugee camp, Arab witnesses said.

Doctors at Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City said she was hit in the head by a rubber-coated metal pellet that troops use for riot control.

A military spokeswoman confirmed the death and said the army was investigating the two other reported deaths.

In the West Bank, 14-year-old Najla Aadel Nadi died of a bullet wound to the head suffered during a stone-throwing confrontation with soldiers a week ago in the Askar refugee camp near Nablus, according to doctors at Ramallah Hospital.

In the West Bank’s Amari refugee camp, Arab reporters said the body of Nasser Khalil Shahin abu Katrina, 17, was found Tuesday with a bullet wound in his chest.

Clashes Reported

Residents said troops opened fire during clashes in the camp Monday night, but the army spokesman’s office said it could not confirm if there was any shooting.

The deaths raised to at least 545 the number of Palestinians killed since the Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule began in December, 1987. Thirty-eight Israelis also have died in the violence.

Palestinians have killed 97 fellow Arabs, many suspected of collaborating with Israeli authorities.