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Palestinian Visiting a Jail Stabs Soldier, is Shot Dead

March 26, 1993
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A Palestinian youth who came to a Gaza City prison to visit a family member was shot dead by soldiers Thursday, after he stabbed and lightly wounded one of them.

Two other Arab residents were wounded by shots fired during the incident.

The clash was just the latest in a wave of violence that has shaken this country in recent weeks, leaving 10 Israelis dead from Palestinian attacks this month.

Jewish settlers protested the continuing security problem by blocking roads Thursday night in the West Bank and throwing stones at Arab vehicles.

Israeli soldiers were sent to disperse the demonstrators, some of whom scuffled with the soldiers and reportedly were arrested.

Meanwhile, a Jerusalem court ordered Yoram Shkolnik, the settler who shot and killed an Arab whose hands and feet were bound, to be detained for 10 days while police decide whether to press murder charges against him.

The 30-year-old Shkolnik repeatedly shot Musa Abu Sabha, 20, who had stabbed another settler and was already subdued and bound when Shkolnik arrived on the scene.

Shkolnik reportedly told police he did it because he believed Arabs should be taught a lesson.

On his way out of court, Shkolnik was cheered by supporters, who shouted anti-Arab slogans.

Police Inspector General Ya’acov Terner said Shkolnik would be held accountable for his action. He also denied there was any connection between the type of shooting that occurred and his recent call for Israeli civilians to carry their licensed weapons in light of the stepped-up violence.

A day earlier, a Tel Aviv District Court judge sentenced four settlers for damage they caused when they went on a rampage in an Arab village near Nablus in 1991.

“Israel is a nation of law, and only by observing the law and protecting human rights can we preserve our difference from our neighbors, who perpetrate horrors without fear of man or God,” said Judge Natan Amit.

He fined the settlers and sentenced them to a period of probation ranging from six months to a year, plus fines.

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