Unrest and violence continued on the West Bank today but at a diminished level compared to recent days. An Israeli woman was injured and an Israeli driver was also hurt by rock-throwers in Ramallah where shops stayed shut in a general strike. There also was some rioting in the streets.
But Arab nationalist elements who tried to engineer a similar commercial strike in East Jerusalem today had only marginal success. By noon nearly all of the shops there were open for business.
The situation on the West Bank was reviewed at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting. Defense Minister Moshe Arens said the IDF had the means to impose law and order but would not resort to methods that might tarnish the army’s image and were contrary to the moral norms governing its conduct.
Arens said the latest violence was precipitated by the recent Palestine National Council meeting in Algiers, the presence in the area last week of former President Jimmy Carter who is closely associated with the Camp David accords and Arens’ own tour of the West Bank last week. Cabinet sources believe the outbursts are transient and that the situation will soon quiet down.
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