As Israeli and Palestinian negotiators continue to seek ways to end their deadlock, violence in the territories continues to mar the political landscape here.
On Thursday, a 27-year-old Arab resident of the West Bank city of Hebron was shot and seriously wounded by Israeli soldiers after he failed to stop at a military roadblock.
The incident took place near the site of a drive-by shooting of three Jewish settlers the day before.
The Izz a-Din al-Kassem unit of the Islamic fundamentalist Hamas movement took responsibility for the attack on the settlers, who were wounded after their car was sprayed by machine-gun fire.
Security in the area was tightened in wake of the attack as Israeli authorities continued their search for the Hamas terrorists responsible for the incident.
In Thursday’s shooting, the Arab man reportedly made a U-turn as he approached an Israeli roadblock and refused orders to stop, prompting the troops to open fire. The car apparently had been stolen.
Also Thursday, in the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers disguised as Arabs shot and killed a leader of the Fatah Hawks during a gunfight, Israel Television reported.
The Hawks are an armed wing of Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat’s mainstream Al Fatah movement, but they oppose the peace accord Arafat signed with Israel.
The killing occurred when Israeli troops confronted a group of armed Palestinians in a refugee camp.
Also Thursday, Israeli soldiers in Gaza City shot and killed one Palestinian and wounded three others after their vehicle came under heavy attack by stones.
Gaza was the scene of yet another incident of violence on Wednesday, when Israeli border police accidently shot a 10-year-old Arab girl during a car chase. That shooting is under investigation by the Israeli authorities.
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