DATE=10/06/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L)
BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICE AT:
INTRO: At least five more Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded after protestors clashed with Israeli police and soldiers. As the deadly clashes are the latest in a week of violence that has left more than 70 people dead, most of them Palestinians. VOA Correspondent Meredith Buel has this report from Jerusalem.
TEXT: /// NATURAL SOUND FIRING UP FULL THEN UNDER TEXT ///
Israeli border police fired tear gas and rubber coated metal bullets as Palestinian protestors rained down rocks from the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City.
The violence broke out after thousands of Muslims gathered for Friday prayers following a week of serious clashes in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The protestors set a small police station on fire and clashes spread to nearby streets. During similar incidents a week ago, Israeli police stormed the compound and seven people died in the fighting.
/// NATURAL SOUND AMBULANCE SIRENS ///
Most of the Palestinians wounded in Jerusalem were taken to Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives.
The hospital's Palestinian director, Dr. Tawfiq Nasser, says there is evidence police used live gunfire during the clashes.
/// NASSER ACT ///
The hospital just received 22 cases. Most of them are rubber bullets, but there are three cases of live bullets. One of the live bullet cases is a 16-year old boy with an injury to the chest wall and to the neck and also we are getting injuries, as always, in the upper part of the body, in the neck, the face, the ears and the chest.
/// END ACT ///
Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire at several places in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Palestinians were killed in Nablus, Tulkaram and Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak acknowledged the ongoing battles are hurting Israel's image in the arena of world opinion.
/// BARAK ACT ///
We are aware of the fact that these scenes look awful on the T-V screens. Of course, we are mourning our own dead. We share the sorrow and the pain of the Palestinians who lost their dearest ones.
/// END ACT ///
The Israeli Army sealed off the West Bank and Gaza in an effort to reduce the risk of confrontations.
The Palestinian territories will remain sealed until sundown Monday, the end of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
Israel often closes the territories during holidays, but it has made the move early this year because of the latest violence. (Signed)
NEB/MB/GE/KBK
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