Violence erupted anew in the administered territories over the weekend, following a week of relative calm.
At least seven Palestinians were wounded in clashes with the Israel Defense Force — five in Nablus and two in Gaza. An Israeli soldier was injured by a rock thrown during a demonstration.
The worst trouble spots were Nablus, the largest Arab city in the West Bank, and the adjacent Balata refugee camp. Trouble began Saturday, when some 200 demonstrators marched on the local military government building. Some, their faces hidden by kaffiyehs, hurled rocks and bottles at troops and waved Palestinian flags.
They were dispersed by live ammunition after tear gas and rubber bullets failed. According to the IDF, five demonstrators were wounded. Arab sources reported 50 wounded and 20 more hospitalized for beatings or tear gas inhalation.
Nablus was declared a closed military area Saturday, as helicopters hovered over the city to pinpoint troublemakers. Journalists and television crews were ordered out of the city.
A curfew was imposed on three Nablus neighborhoods Sunday morning after Palestinians resumed throwing rocks and burning tires. The Balata refugee camp was under curfew for the second day. In Gaza, an Arab youth was seriously wounded in the chest when he was shot after trying to seize a soldier’s rifle.
Minor incidents were reported elsewhere in the territories as hope evaporated in the defense establishment that the situation was returning to normal.
The new outbursts were attributed to nationalistic elements in the territories, who were said to be trying to keep the protests alive in face of growing weariness among the population, especially Arab merchants forced to keep their shops closed, who are suffering financially.
The nationalist elements were not identified. Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin told the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday that the IDF has not discerned any new leadership in the territories. He said the Palestine Liberation Organization pretty much controls the population in the areas.
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