Two More West Bank Mayors Ousted; I Israeli Soldier Killed, 3 Other Soldiers and 3 Local Civilians W

Israeli authorities ousted two more West Bank mayors last night. Bassam Shaka of Nablus and Karim Khalaf of Ramallah were removed from office on grounds that they were agents of the Palestine Liberation Organization directly responsible for inciting the violence that has erupted in the occupied territories this past week. They were immediately replaced by Israeli army officers.

As the violence continued, an Israeli army sergean was killed by a hand grenade in Gaza this morning and three other soldiers and three local civilians were wounded. It was the first fatality suffered by Israel’s armed forces in nearly a week of violent confrontations with Palestinian demonstrators during which five Arab youths were killed. There were stoning incidents today in Nablus, Jenin and East Jerusalem.

Mayors Shaka and Khalaf were ordered to the headquarters of the Israeli commander of the West Bank, Gen. Uri Or last night to receive their dismissal papers. It was almost one week to the day after Mayor Ibrahim Tawil of El Bireh and his town council were summarily removed from office for refusing to cooperate with the Israeli civilian regime set up on the West Bank late last year.

The ouster of El Bireh’s elected officials triggered the series of violent demonstrations on the West Bank which spread this week to the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.

But David Kimche, Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, explaining Israel’s actions to the Egyptian Ambassador Saod Mortada today, claimed that the PLO was inciting the West Bank Arabs because it feared it was lasing influence in the territory. The Israelis singled out Shaka as the “supreme commander” of the PLO on the West Bank.

MAYORS REFUSE TO SIGN DISMISSAL ORDERS

The two mayors refused to sign their dismissal orders or accept them. They said they still considered themselves the elected mayors of their respective towns. The Nablus and Ramallah town councils were not removed but declared that they would not cooperate with the Israeli authorities.

Both mayors denied any connection with the disturbances. Khalaf acknowledged that he was a member of the National Guidance Committee, the overall Palestinian political body on the West Bank which Israel outlawed last week. The Israelis claim the Committee was a front for the PLO.

Shaka and Khalaf are probably the best known of the West Bank mayors. They garnered widespread sympathy abroad after both were seriously maimed by bombs planted in their cars in June, 1980. Shaka had both legs paralyzed. The outrage was widely attributed to Jewish extremists seeking revenge for the ambush slaying of six yeshiva students in Hebron a month earlier. Nearly two years after the crime the perpetrators have not been apprehended, although the Israeli authorities say they are investigating.

The mayors received heroes’ welcomes when they returned to the West Bank after many months in hospitals abroad. Although Shaka’s deportation was sought by then Defense Minister Ezer Weizman, it was prevented by legal action. Since then, however, the Israeli authorities made no secret of the fact that they wanted him out of office and were only waiting for an opportune moment.

LABOR ALIGNMENT ACCUSED

Meanwhile, Premier Menachem Begin’s government which was brought to the brink of resignation Tuesday because of a tie vote in the Knesset on a no-confidence motion critical of its handling of the unrest on the West Bank, continued today to accuse the opposition Labor Alignment of responsibility for the deteriorating situation in the occupied territories.

According to the government, the previous Labor-led government practically invited the PLO into the West Bank when it permitted free municipal elections there in 1976. The elections brought into office a younger generation of mayors who are staunch Palestinian nationalists with links to the PLO.

That allegation was made by Defense Minister Ariel Sharon in an angry exchange with Labor Party chairman Shimon Peres during the Knesset debate Tuesday. It was repeated today by other government sources and Likud MKs.

The Labor Party for its part called the ouster of the mayors “hasty” and demanded that the government halt the “crazy deterioration” of the situation in the occupied territories. Labor charged that Likud was destroying all prospects for a dialogue with the Palestinians and was injuring Israel’s moral strength. Hadash (Communist) MK Meir Wilner appealed today to President Yitzhak Navon to intervene to stop the deterioration.

CLAIM AIM IS TO DESTROY THE PLO

The government has made it clear that its present policy is aimed at removing all PLO influence from the West Bank and building up a counterforce among local Arabs willing to cooperate with Israel. The Arab mayors say Israel is determined to remove them in order to tighten its grip on the territories.

The mayors issued a statement today protesting the dismissals of Shaka and Khalaf. The acting Mayor of Hebron, Mustapha Natshe, charged that the dismissals were “a measure of suppression” and claimed the military government had lost its nerve. Hebron’s elected Mayor, Fahd Kawassme, was deported two years ago.

Tawil, who was removed from office in El Bireh last week, said he was not surprised by the latest move. Mayor Elias Freij of Bethlehem, whom the Israelis acknowledge to be a moderate, said he was deeply depressed by the situation. He said that if Shaka and Khalaf were guilty of anything they should have been brought to trial and convicted.

The fatal incident in Gaza this morning occurred on the main road. Two masked men hurled grenades at a passing Israeli military vehicle and escaped into nearby orchards. Much of the city was closed down by a strike.

Security forces were stoned in Nablus where one Israeli soldier was reported slightly injured. Most of the town’s stores remained open as large contingents of soldiers and border police patrolled the streets. Students demonstrated against the dismissal of the mayor. The area around the town hall was cordoned off by Israeli troops.

In Jenin, Palestinian flags were raised and stones were thrown at Israeli vehicles. A partial strile continued in East Jerusalem despite attempts by Israeli police to force merchants to open their shops. Several Israeli vehicles were stoned.