The curfew on the Hebron vegetable market was lifted today, exactly a week after one Israeli soldier was fatally stabbed and another seriously wounded in that city. The curfew continued in force in the casbah, the old market and residential quarter where the knife attacks occurred.
Traders in the produce market reported business returning to normal. But tension remained high in Hebron where Israeli tropps wounded four Arab youths yesterday when they fled from a routine identity check. One of them, a 12-year-old boy, was reported in serious condition at a local hospital.
Restrictive measures were taken in two other Arab villages in the West Bank. A curfew was imposed on Sair in the Hebron region where an Israeli vehicle was stoned yesterday and restrictions were imposed on the movement of residents of Burka, near Ramallah where a similar stoning incident occurred.
Chief of Staff Gen. Moshe Levy visited Jewish settlers in Hebron last night to stress that the army alone was responsible for security in the territory and would act against anyone who breaks the law, Arab or Jew. The settlers said they would no longer undertake armed patrols in Arab towns or similar activities which could bring about confrontations with the army.
PERES WARNS THE SETTLERS
Premier Shimon Peres warned the settlers, meanwhile, that only the government and Knesset will decide where Jewish settlements can be established and those decisions will not be taken under duress.
Addressing a meeting of Na’amat-Pioneer Women, the Women’s Labor Zionist organization, in Tel Aviv, the Premier said recent events showed that developments in the West Bank proved that the settlers were not protecting soldiers. The soldiers have to protect the settlers, he said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
