Clashes Mark Anniversary of Arab’s Slaying

Israeli soldiers today fired plastic bullets or used tear gas to break up protests in at least three towns on the occupied West Bank as Palestinians marked the second anniversary of the slaying of PLO leader Abu Jihad.

Three Palestinians were wounded in the clashes, according to Arab reports, and the army said one soldier was slightly injured.

Memorial parades and protests were reported in a half dozen towns and refugee camps in the occupied West Bank on the anniversary of the 1988 slaying of Khalil Wazir, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s military commander. Wazir, better known as Abu Jihad, Arabic for “father of war,” was killed in a commando raid in Tunis. The death was blamed on Israel, but the government has never acknowledged responsibility.

Abu Jihad’s death prompted mass rioting throughout the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Fourteen Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in the bloodiest day of violence during the Palestinian uprising.

To head off violence today, the army imposed a curfew and ordered the 700,000 Palestinian residents of the occupied Gaza Strip confined to their homes.

In one clash in the West Bank city of Nablus, soldiers opened fire with plastic bullets, wounding two Palestinians, Arab reports said. A 23-year-old Palestinian also was reported shot in clashes with soldiers in the West Bank village of Beita.

Also in Nablus, an Israeli soldier was slightly injured in the right leg when a concrete block was dropped from a rooftop as he patrolled the crowded central market, the army spokesman’s office and Arab reports said.