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DATE=10/06/2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L-UPDATE)

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICE AT:

INTRO: Israeli police have stormed a bitterly contested holy site in Jerusalem's Old City. As VOA Correspondent Meredith Buel reports, at least eight Palestinians are dead in new fighting in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza bringing the overall death toll in the seven days of violence to more than 75.

TEXT: /// SOUND OF FIRING, UP FULL, THEN UNDER TEXT ///

Israeli border police fired tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets as Palestinian protesters rained down rocks from the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City most of the afternoon.

Finally police stormed the compound tearing down Palestinian flags and arresting some of the protesters who were challenging Israel's claim of sovereignty over the site.

The violence broke out after thousands of Muslims gathered for Friday prayers following more than a week of serious clashes in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The protesters set a small police station on fire and clashes spread to nearby streets.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement and the militant Hamas group declared Friday a "day of rage."

/// SOUND OF 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.

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 violence. (Signed)

NEB/MB/KL/KBK