Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip went on a general strike Thursday to mark the start of the 24th month of the Palestinian uprising.
Violent incidents were reported, with the worst in Nablus, where security forces rounded up members of an alleged assassination ring, killing one suspect and wounding five.
As news spread, the town erupted with disturbances in which a local resident was killed and a border policeman was slightly injured by a tile thrown at him.
A curfew was clamped on the city, and all was quiet within a half-hour, according to an Israel Defense Force spokesman.
Maj. Gen. Yitzhak Mordechai, commander of the central sector, told reporters Thursday that the gang rounded up in Nablus was one of the most dangerous operating in the territories.
He said they are suspected of the murders of nine local men and women they thought were collaborating with the Israeli authorities.
In addition, they threw firebombs at IDF patrols, he said.
Another senior officer in the area said the gang, which calls itself the Red Eagles, was affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a hard-line faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization headed by George Habash.
Meanwhile, Police Commissioner David Kraus is expected to dismiss six policemen who face possible criminal charges in the fatal shooting of an Arab youth in Bethlehem last month and the alleged fabrication of evidence.
Kraus will act on the recommendation of Southern Police District Cmdr. Rahamim Comfort.
The names of the six men have been withheld by court order to protect their safety.
The case, viewed as “a very serious incident” by police officials, has been transferred to the internal affairs division at national police headquarters.
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