Military

DATE=11/10/2000

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS (L)

NUMBER=2-269084

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICE AT:

INTRO: At least three Palestinians are dead after new clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The violence came on the same day Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said he does not expect peace talks to resume with the Palestinians as the result of his upcoming meeting with President Clinton. V-O-A Correspondent Meredith Buel has details from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Fierce fighting broke out between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israeli soldiers shot and killed Palestinian protesters in Gaza and in the northern West Bank town of Jenin.

An Israeli soldier was shot and seriously wounded in Bethlehem, where thousands of mourners attended the funeral of a Palestinian militia leader killed Thursday by Israeli combat helicopters.

Leaders of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement are calling the death of Hussein Abayat an assassination and are vowing revenge.

The helicopter rocket attacks marked a new stage in Israeli retaliation during the past six weeks of fighting.

There were also violent clashes in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The Israeli Army has closed both Ramallah and Bethlehem, meaning Palestinians are barred from entering or leaving the towns.

Earlier, an Israeli policeman was injured when a small bomb went off near Jerusalem's Old City.

During a visit to an Israeli Army base near Ramallah, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said he has low expectations for his meeting on Sunday with President Clinton.

He again called on Mr. Arafat to comply with an agreement reached at a summit last month in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, and a truce worked out by former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres.

/// BARAK ACT ///

I think it is a little bit too far-fetched, you know, to predict right now resumption of negotiations. But basically our intention is to bring about an end to the violence exactly according to the understandings of Sharm el-Sheikh, and even the later-on understandings between Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Arafat met with President Clinton on Thursday and put the blame on Israel for the continuing violence.

Muslim Friday prayers at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque compound ended without serious incident, although men under the age of 45 were prohibited from entering the site.

The Israeli-Palestinian violence broke out in late September after Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the compound.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Central Council has reportedly postponed a meeting scheduled for next week to discuss plans to declare an independent state. (SIGNED)

NEB/MB/GE/TDW