Palestinians Kill 2 Suspected Collaborators

Palestinians clubbed to death two Arabs suspected of collaborating with Israel, Arab and army reports said Friday.

Masked attackers beat to death Said Abu Jazar, 36, near his house in the village of Rafah in the occupied Gaza Strip, Arab journalists and Israel Radio said. Arab reports said Jazar was accused of collaborating with Israel and dealing in drugs.

At Israel’s Ketziot prison camp in the Negev desert, Palestinian inmates killed another suspected collaborator, Karim Abed Karim, 23, Arab reports said. The army confirmed his death.

In another development, a general strike shut down the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. The strike was called to show solidarity with jailed activists and deportees, Arab sources said.

Also Friday, the army announced it is improving procedures for notifying families when relatives are detained, following numerous complaints from lawyers and families unable to locate suspects in military custody.

An army spokesman said new detainees will be required to write postcards to their family that will be mailed daily from detention centers.

Lists of prisoners will be forwarded more rapidly for posting in military government offices, he said, and families that still cannot find missing relatives can appeal to the military government for help.