MIDEAST: Israeli troops and Palestinians clash after closure of West Bank and Gaza

Palestinians clashed with Israeli soldiers at the Qalandiya checkpoint, a military crossing between Israel and the West Bank near the city of Ramallah, on Friday (March 2). In Bethlehem, near Rachel's Tomb, Palestinians hurled rocks on Israeli forces guarding along the separation barrier. Israeli troops fired stun grenades to disperse the crowds. The clashes came after the Israeli army imposed a four-days closure on the West Bank and Gaza earlier on Friday ahead of the Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins on Saturday (March 3) evening. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the closure meant Palestinians would be banned from entering Israel, except for humanitarian cases. On Thursday (March 1) Israeli troops ended a 5-day incursion into the West Bank town of Nablus. The soldiers pulled out from the city, considered a militant stronghold, leaving one Palestinian civilian killed and several wounded. Eleven Palestinians were detained. Israel often raids Palestinian areas in the West Bank in search of gunmen it says were involved in attacks against its citizens. Israeli forces killed three two Islamic Jihad militants in the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh condemned the operations, saying they undermined Palestinian unity. "All of that comes within a systematic Israeli policy. A mad Israeli policy against this agreement," Haniyeh told Muslim worshippers at a mosque in Gaza City. Main rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, signed a power-sharing deal last month in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, that stemmed factional fighting. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah appointed Haniyeh to compose a list of ministers for the new unity government. The Hamas leader is expected to present the line-up of ministers to Abbas next week. Haniyeh on Friday said the factions were working to accelerate formation of a unity government, fearing opponents would try to use any delay to scuttle the deal. The factions have yet to agree on who would serve as interior minister, a critical post with oversight over several large Palestinian security services. The Mecca agreement contains a vague promise to "respect" previous Israeli-Palestinian pacts. But it does not commit the incoming government to abide by those pacts, nor to recognise Israel and renounce violence as demanded by the Quartet of Middle East mediators.

ITN Source | March 3, 2007

Tags:. .incoming. .except. .palestinians. .clashes. .clashed