Military

DATE=11/08/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L UPDATE)

NUMBER=2-268988

BYLINE=LAURIE KASSMAN

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

/// EDS: UPDATES 2-268981, WITH NEW INFORMATION ///

INTRO: Israeli-Palestinian clashes have claimed at least three more victims. An Israeli woman was killed by Palestinian gunfire and two Palestinian boys were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in separate incidents in Gaza. V-O-A Correspondent Laurie Kassman in Jerusalem reports Israeli tanks also fired shells during a gun battle with Palestinian snipers near the Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel.

TEXT: A group allied with the radical Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility for the ambush of an Israeli car, which killed an Israeli woman and wounded her male colleague. The two were working as customs officials at the international terminal at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

An Israeli army spokesman says the gunfire came from the direction of Gaza's airport and it has been closed.

On the other side of Gaza, battles raged between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians most of the day at the Karni border crossing with Israel. A 14-year-old was killed in the clashes. Another youngster was killed during clashes in the town of Khan Younis.

Last month, the U-N Human Rights Commission condemned Israel for human rights violations, but Israel argues that Palestinians are using their children as human shields in clashes with Israeli soldiers.

Palestinian officials say they are trying to persuade teenagers to stay away from the confrontations with Israeli soldiers.

On Tuesday, the U-S Congress named former Senator George Mitchell to lead an independent inquiry into the cause of the violence, which erupted six weeks ago.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is on his way to Washington for talks Thursday with U-S President Bill Clinton about how to curb the violence and get the peace process back on track. He is also expected to renew his call for an international protection force in the Palestinian territories, which Israel rejects.

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has made his clearest statement so far about an independent Palestinian state. In a letter to world leaders explaining Israeli policy, he says negotiations raised at the Camp David summit last July will lead to the creation of a viable Palestinian state. But, Mr. Barak insists it must come through negotiations, not through violence or a unilateral Palestinian action. (Signed)

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