Military

DATE=10/24/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS (L-UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-268365

BYLINE=SONJA PACE

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

INTERNET=YES

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

/// Eds: UPDATES Israel-Palestinians (L), which moved as 2-268357 ///

INTRO: In Israel, the government is threatening to take stronger action against Palestinian gunmen who have been firing on Israeli villages. The warning comes amid more reports of fighting in the West Bank and as Prime Minister Ehud Barak is continuing his efforts to bring the opposition Likud Party into the government. V-O-A's Sonja Pace has details from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Another meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Barak and opposition leader Ariel Sharon could take place soon. The two sides met on Monday, but failed to reach an agreement.

By bringing in Likud, Mr. Barak hopes to keep his minority government from collapsing. He faces a potential no-confidence vote when the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, returns from recess on Sunday.

The move comes in the wake of almost four weeks of bloody confrontations between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli security forces. Mr. Barak has already declared an unlimited "time-out" in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and says the escalating tension and violence require a broad-based unity government.

Israeli peace advocates warn against bringing the hard-line Mr. Sharon into the government. And Palestinian officials have said they will not work with him. Mr. Sharon's visit on September 28th to a Jerusalem site sacred to both Muslims and Jews sparked the current round of violence. Palestinians also remember Mr. Sharon's tenure as defense minister in the 1980's, when hundreds of Palestinians were massacred in refugee camps in Lebanon by an Israeli-backed Christian militia. An Israeli government report later found him "indirectly responsible" for the killings.

Fresh clashes were reported Tuesday between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Gunshots echoed through the night in parts of the West Bank and on the outskirts of Jerusalem. A prolonged gunfight was reported in the divided city of Hebron in the West Bank, and an Israeli tank shelled buildings in the village of Beit Jala, near Jerusalem after Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo. Israelis consider Gilo a part of Jerusalem. Palestinians consider it a Jewish settlement built on annexed land.

Palestinians also planned marches to Jerusalem for prayers. The action was to coincide with a Muslim holy day, marking the Prophet Mohammed's ascension to heaven from Jerusalem. (Signed)

NEB/SP/KL/TDW