Israeli Army Kills 4 in Raids

On the bloodiest day in two weeks of Israeli raids and military curfews in the seething West Bank city of Nablus, four Palestinians were shot to death after clashes erupted Saturday between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians.

Mohammed Masri, 17, was shot in the head during the funeral of his 15-year-old cousin Amjad Masri, who had been killed earlier in the day, Palestinian witnesses said. They said Masri was marching in the funeral procession when he was shot by an Israeli military gunman.

The Israeli army gave a different version of events: Soldiers were standing near the burial procession from the hospital to the cemetery when two Palestinian men approached, one clutching a Molotov cocktail and the other toting a pistol. The Israeli soldiers opened fire and “identified a hit,” an army spokesman said.

The new spasms of violence struck a hard blow to Egypt’s ongoing attempts to coax the Palestinians to call a new cease-fire in the intifada against Israel.

Longtime Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called the Nablus killings “atrocities” and told Reuters news service that he held Israel “fully responsible for the consequences of this escalation.”

Nablus has spent most of the last 12 days locked down in curfews while Israeli soldiers have carried out a series of raids and arrests. Armed cells in Nablus were plotting a series of attacks both inside Israel and against Jewish settlers in the West Bank, Israeli sources said.

But Palestinians trapped in the battle zone of Nablus say the Israeli operations have made a difficult life even more arduous. The last two weeks have been a “disaster,” Nablus Gov. Mahmoud Alloul said Saturday.

“It’s a historical tragedy and a human tragedy,” Alloul said. Centuries-old homes in Nablus’ Quiron neighborhood were badly damaged last week when Israeli soldiers punched holes in the walls to carry out house-to-house searches for fugitives, Alloul said. Residents were running out of basic foodstuffs, he said.

Fighting broke out Saturday afternoon in the Old City during what Palestinians called a demonstration and Israelis called an ambush. Palestinians hurled stones and a Molotov cocktail at the soldiers, and heaved bricks and rocks from the rooftops, Israeli soldiers said.

The Israeli army spokesman, who is forbidden to give his name, said soldiers opened fire three times during the encounter, which lasted about an hour and a half.

“The Palestinians dropped heavy, large blocks and rocks from the rooftops on top of the forces, which basically endangered [the soldiers’] lives,” he said. A Palestinian approached soldiers with a pistol in hand, another threw an explosive device, and a third tossed a Molotov cocktail, the spokesman said. Each time, he said, Israeli soldiers opened fire. Three times, they reported hitting somebody, he said.

Amjad Masri was heaving stones at the soldiers from a nearby roof when he was shot in the chest, Palestinian witnesses said. Another Palestinian, 26-year-old Amir Arafat, was shot in the back, Palestinians said, and Rawhi Shuman, 19, was shot in the chest. All three died.

It was the deadliest day in Nablus since four militants were killed battling Israeli soldiers Dec. 18. At least two more Palestinians died in fighting last week. On Friday night, a roadside bomb went off alongside an Israeli army vehicle in Nablus. The militant group Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the attack, in which nobody was injured.

A fifth man, who Palestinians said was 17 years old, was found shot dead Saturday near the Jewish settlement of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip. Israeli sources said the man was burying a bomb.

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Special correspondent Maher Abukhater in Ramallah contributed to this report.