Military

DATE=10/17/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS CLASHES (L)

NUMBER=2-268075

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICE AT:

INTRO: Two Palestinians are dead and an Israeli policeman critically wounded in violence in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and near Jerusalem. V-O-A Correspondent Meredith Buel in Jerusalem reports some clashes came just hours after Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to take measures to end nearly three weeks of bloody violence.

TEXT: A Palestinian man has died after being shot through the heart during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the Erez crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

On the outskirts of Jerusalem, an Israeli policeman was critically injured during a gun battle when shots were fired from a Palestinian town into a Jewish neighborhood. Israeli soldiers on tanks positioned nearby responded with machinegun fire.

Earlier, Jewish settlers shot and killed a Palestinian man near the West Bank town of Nablus.

Protesters also clashed with police in Bethlehem after the funeral of a Palestinian teenager killed on Monday.

The latest violence came on the same day Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed at a summit in Egypt to take measures designed to end nearly three weeks of deadly clashes.

The violence Tuesday underscored the difficulty the leaders face as they begin efforts to bring down tensions boiling over between both sides.

After returning from the summit, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Israel will do what it can to end the violence.

/// BARAK ACT ///

We will do our best to live up to the spirit of these statements, namely to try very seriously to put an end to this violence in coordination with our neighbors, the Palestinians.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Barak says completing the agreement will determine whether Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is a partner for peace.

The prime minister says he still plans to form a "national unity government" with political parties that have opposed concessions to the Palestinians during previous peace negotiations.

Upon his return to Gaza City, Mr. Arafat said the most important thing is the sincere and precise implementation of the commitment to end the violence.

Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath told reporters the Palestinians are not happy with all aspects of the agreement, but says Mr. Arafat wants to protect the lives of his people.

Thousands of Palestinian protesters have been marching in support of continuing the intifada, or uprising, against Israeli soldiers. Leaders of the militant Hamas group vowed to continue the fighting.

The violence was sparked nearly three weeks ago when Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited a sensitive site in Jerusalem's Old City that is sacred to Muslims and Jews. (Signed)

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