Israel Extends Emergency in Gaza Strip, West Bank

Parliament today extended for two years the emergency regulations that allow the military to hold Palestinian prisoners from the occupied territories inside Israeli territory.

In the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, shops were closed by a general strike called by the Muslim fundamentalist movement Hamas, or Zeal. The strike was first ordered for Christmas but was delayed when Palestinian Christians objected.

Israeli troops shot and wounded four Palestinians in clashes with stone-throwing youths in the Gaza Strip, Arab hospital officials said.

At least 640 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis in the 2-year-old uprising against Israeli occupation. Forty-three Israelis also have died, and 162 Palestinians have been slain by fellow Arabs on suspicion of collaborating with Israel.

The latest death of a suspected collaborator occurred today, when Jawad Hassan Mahmoud Tmaizi, 40, died of wounds suffered in an attack by fellow Arabs the previous day.

The 120-seat Knesset, or Parliament, extended the Emergency Regulations of 1967 for two years at the request of the government. The vote was 29 to 9.

The regulations permit the military to hold Palestinians arrested in the occupied lands in Israeli territory. They make Israeli law applicable to Israelis in the territories but not to Palestinians, who are judged in military courts.

“This means there are different laws for Jews and Arabs. This bill perpetuates discrimination,” Amnon Rubinstein of the liberal Shinui Party said during the Knesset’s brief debate on the issue.

The army is holding about 9,000 Palestinians and has jailed more than 40,000 during the uprising.

Many have been held in the Ketziot prison camp in Israel’s Negev desert, and the United States and human rights groups have repeatedly complained that imprisonment there violates the Geneva human rights convention rule against moving prisoners out of occupied territory.

About 1,300 American and European peace activists toured towns in the West Bank today, but witnesses said the army blocked one bus of about 50 people from entering Jericho, while letting a second one through later.

Marina Sereni, spokeswoman for the “1990: Time for Peace” movement, said the army gave no reason for the action.

Elizabeth Donini, an Italian delegate from Turin, said the army intended to block Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip from joining the group’s “peace chain” demonstration Saturday.

“We are here to stress Palestinian rights, and this act is unjust,” she told reporters. “We are here to demonstrate together, Palestinians, Israelis and Europeans, and stress the importance of peace.”