7 Palestinians Die in Clashes; Israel Again Confronts Syria

Scattered clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip left seven Palestinians dead Monday, the Israeli army and Palestinian witnesses said.

Separately, Israel leveled new accusations against Syria, accusing it of harboring militants. Once again, senior officials stopped short of acknowledging an Israeli role in the car bombing Sunday that killed a Hamas leader living in Damascus, the Syrian capital.

“Syria is responsible for directing terrorism against us, and therefore it cannot be immune to our operations aimed at preventing terror,” Zeev Boim, the deputy defense minister, told Israel Radio.

Asked whether Israel was behind the killing of Izzedine Sheik Khalil, said to have been a member of Hamas’ military wing, Boim replied: “We don’t confirm or deny this.”

Syria, through its official media, renewed its claim that Israel had assassinated Khalil, and accused it of heightening regional tensions.

Monday’s clashes in the West Bank and Gaza were emblematic of the small-scale but lethal encounters that take place almost daily in the Palestinian territories.

One Palestinian man, identified as a member of a militant group, was killed in an Israeli missile strike in southern Gaza. However, he was not the target of the strike; the militant who was targeted -- along with three bystanders -- was injured, hospital officials said.

In the northern West Bank, a Palestinian taxi driver was shot dead by a Jewish settler. The settler told police the Palestinian man had tried to run him off the road, but Palestinian witnesses disputed that account. The settler was being questioned by Israeli police.

Israeli troops searching for wanted militants killed two Palestinian men in the Balata refugee camp on the outskirts of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

The army also said it shot dead two Palestinians who were trying to plant a bomb near the fence surrounding Gaza. Military regulations allow for the shooting on sight of Palestinians in the restricted area.

Another Palestinian man, a 55-year-old civilian, was killed by gunfire in Gaza’s Khan Yunis refugee camp, according to witnesses. Palestinian security officials said Israeli troops had been firing in the area, but the army said it had no knowledge of that.

In Washington on Monday, State Department spokesman Adam Ereli carefully avoided any criticism of Israel in the assassination of the Hamas leader. He noted that, so far, no one had claimed responsibility for the killing in Damascus.

Ereli instead focused on Syria’s alleged role as a Hamas operating base.

“Terror begets a cycle of violence that can be dealt with through ending support of terrorist organizations,” he said.

In meetings with Syrian leaders within the last few days, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and Assistant Secretary of State William J. Burns underscored the U.S. commitment to the search for peace in the Middle East and urged Syria to end its support for Hamas, Ereli said.

“We urged Syria to take steps to halt the activities of individuals and organizations that facilitate and direct violence and terror and that operate from Syrian territory,” Ereli said at a briefing.

Times staff writer Tyler Marshall in Washington contributed to this report.