Three Israelis and four Arabs were injured in scattered incidents of violence in the West Bank over the weekend. A border patrol was attacked by dozens of residents of the Dahaishe refugee camp near Bethlehem Friday. An Arab was slightly wounded when a policeman fired at his legs.
An Israeli suffered injuries Saturday when an Arab attacked him with an iron bar in the central square in Nablus. Another Israeli was struck in the head by a stone thrown at his car at the Jalazoun refugee camp. A woman was hit by a stone near the Shufat refugee camp north of Jerusalem.
The most serious outbreak occurred at the Balata refugee camp near Nablus where three Arab youths were wounded in scuffles with soldiers. The youths were part of a group that set up a roadblock of burning tires and stoned military vehicles.
The Balata camp was the scene of the fatal shooting of a 12-year-old Arab boy last week, allegedly by the driver of a military vehicle which was attacked by a stone-throwing mob. The driver fired his rifle to disperse them. A military spokesman said he drove into the camp by mistake. The army said a pathological examination produced no proof that the youngster was shot by the driver. The fatal bullet has not been found. But the military police are investigating the incident.
The latest wave of unrest in the territory, following a period of calm, began last week on the fifth anniversary of the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps massacre. Israeli authorities, anticipating disturbances, took preventive measures, including administrative detention of potential trouble-makers. The Islamic College in Hebron was shut down following student riots last Thursday.
The Sabra-Shatilla massacres five years ago were revenge for the assassination of Lebanese president-elect Bashir Gemayel, leader of the Christian Phalangist Party. Phalangist militiamen rampaged through the camps in September 1982, killing and wounding several hundred Palestinian men, women and children. The Israel Defence Force, in occupation of West Beirut at the time, was widely blamed for not intervening.
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