Tension simmered in the administered territories over the weekend. Sporadic violence was reported from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but details were scarce.
Three Arab youths were wounded Friday by an Israel Defense Force patrol in Tulkarm. One was reported in “serious” condition.
The IDF ordered all schools in the West Bank closed until June 8. They were to have reopened Sunday after a four-month closure.
Disturbances were reported at the Shati refugee camp in Gaza over the weekend. Several camp residents suffering from tear-gas inhalation and beatings were admitted to the Shifa hospital there. The curfew was lifted in Rafah, at the southern end of the Gaza Strip. A week-long curfew at the Jabalya refugee camp remained in effect.
Charges were filed in the Gaza military court Sunday against eight residents believed by the Security authorities to be leaders of the Palestinian uprising in the territory.
According to the charge sheet, 10 Gazans conspired earlier this year to compose and distribute a series of leaflets signed by the clandestine unified command of the uprising, calling for disturbances, tax boycotts and other forms of resistance to Israeli authority.
Two of the 10 have since been deported to southern Lebanon. Among the remaining eight, Dib 11 Ashkar and Tawfiq Abu-Hussa have been identified by IDF sources as representatives of Al Fatah, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s terrorist arm.
Two others, Marwan el-Kafarna and Tawfiq Matbouh, reportedly worked respectively for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Gaza Communist Party.
The other four allegedly are members of Shabiba, the outlawed youth organization of Al Fatah.
Also in Gaza, Zahariya el-Agga, chairman of the Gaza Medical Association, and Mohamman Abu-Shaban, a member of the Gaza Bar Association, have filed appeals against their administrative arrests.
Persons may be held under administrative detention for up to six months without trial or formal charges. At least 300 other appeals are pending.
ID CARDS TO BE CONFISCATED
The Israeli civil administration in the Gaza Strip has decided to invalidate the identity cards of all adult residents of the territory — about 300,000 persons. This will begin on Tuesday. The stated purpose is to tighten control over the population, which has slipped since the Palestinian uprising began five months ago.
New ID cards will be issued only to residents who submit proof that they have paid all dues and taxes and are not wanted by the authorities.
In the West Bank, meanwhile, Judean district police have not yet decided whether to press charges against a Jewish settler who fatally shot an Arab shepherd during a violent confrontation near the Jewish settlement of Shilo last Thursday.
The settler, American-born Yisrael Zeev, who was in police custody, claims he shot in self-defense when the shepherd, Jodeh Mohammad Awad, threw stones at him.
But Rizek Awad Abu-Naim, a Palestinian who says he was an eyewitness to the incident, charged that the settler shot Awad in cold blood. He insisted no stones were thrown.
The sworn statement of Abu-Naim was sent to the defense and police ministers Saturday by Israeli lawyer Felicia Langer, who is representing the family of the deceased.
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