DATE=10/03/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L)
NUMBER=2-267405
BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICE AT:
INTRO: More violence has erupted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. V-O-A Correspondent Meredith Buel in Jerusalem reports the fighting ended a tentative cease-fire and continued the bloodshed that has left more than 50 people dead.
TEXT:
/// NATURAL SOUND GUNFIRE - FADE UNDER ///
Palestinian gunmen and Israeli soldiers exchanged gunfire in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, shattering a cease-fire that did not last a full day.
Hospital officials say at least two men were killed in a firefight at an Israeli army outpost in Gaza near the isolated Jewish settlement of Netzarim.
Israeli soldiers used helicopter gun ships and anti-tank missiles in the fight.
In the West Bank town of Nablus, protesters returning from a funeral and Israeli troops exchanged fire. Other incidents were reported in the West Bank towns of Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem.
Earlier, Palestinian and Israeli security officials announced a cease-fire, but tensions are boiling after days of bloody clashes and the agreement quickly unraveled.
The renewed violence comes a day before U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in Paris.
Mr. Barak's office says in a statement he will travel on Thursday to Cairo to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Mr. Arafat.
The prime minister met Tuesday with Arab Israeli leaders. Riots in Arab towns inside Israel were among the worst in the history of the Jewish state's existence.
The Arab Israelis say they wanted to show solidarity with the Palestinians, but the protests were also fueled by years of discrimination, poverty, and unemployment endured by Israel's Arab minority.
Mr. Barak set up a cabinet-level committee to address the needs of Israel's Arab citizens.
The last six days of violence were sparked by last week's visit of Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to a site in Jerusalem's Old City that is holy to Muslims and Jews. (Signed)
NEB/MB/GE/JWH
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
