Israeli Soldier, Arab Slain on Uprising Anniversary

An Israeli soldier was killed and two were wounded when homemade bombs exploded outside military headquarters in the occupied town of Bethlehem on Sunday, the third anniversary of the Palestinian uprising.

In other violence, an Arab was fatally shot Sunday as he tried to strangle an Israeli policeman and grab his rifle, the army said. Relatives said he was shot while standing at the door of his home.

Mohammed al Madani, 27, whose brother was killed in a clash in February, was shot in the thigh in the Gaza Strip village of Beni Suhaila and died after severe bleeding, hospital officials said.

The homemade bombs went off in the West Bank town of Bethlehem early Sunday evening as an army patrol passed the gate of the military base along the Jerusalem-Bethlehem highway, the army said.

Troops clamped a curfew on Bethlehem and surrounding villages, erected roadblocks and searched for suspects in the area, the army said.

Israel Army Radio said six paratroopers were walking along the highway in a routine patrol when the first bomb exploded.

The patrol checked out the explosion, found nothing and continued walking, the report said. After the soldiers had walked another 30 yards, the second bomb went off, wounding three soldiers.

One of the soldiers suffered critical head injuries and died in the emergency room of a Jerusalem hospital, a spokeswoman said. The two other soldiers were slightly hurt.

The death brought to 10 the number of Israeli soldiers killed during the uprising, the army said.

Soldiers also clashed with masked youths in the West Bank village of Bani Naim, shooting one protester in the leg, the army said.

Curfews confined more than 1 million Arabs to their homes in the occupied territories, some for the third straight day, in an army effort to quell violence on the anniversary of the intifada , or uprising.

More than 1,100 people have been killed in the uprising, which began Dec. 9, 1987.