Twenty-five Palestinians were injured today in clashes with the Israeli army in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the third day of a US-brokered ceasefire, hospital sources and Palestinian officials said.
Seventeen Palestinians were injured by rubber bullets fired by Israeli soldiers in clashes across the West Bank, Palestinian officials said.
The clashes erupted during protests near Palestinian towns organised by the Islamic and Nationalist Forces, a coalition of 13 Palestinian movements which includes Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat's Fatah and the main Islamist group, Hamas.
The demonstrators gathered to condemn "US pressures" on the Palestinians to accept the ceasefire plan and oppose any security cooperation with Israel, while at the same time stressing the need to continue the Palestinian uprising, or intifada.
In Ramallah, some 1,000 Palestinians torched the US flag, after which clashes erupted on the edge of the town. Seven Palestinians were injured, while an independent Japanese journalist was slightly hurt in shooting by Israeli soldiers.
Protests were also staged by thousands of Palestinians in the towns of Nablus, Tulkarem and Hebron, where one Palestinian was injured, as well as in Halhul near Hebron, where another three were hurt.
Six more Palestinians were wounded in clashes with the Israeli army in al-Khader near the southern city of Bethlehem. The army arrested six Israeli extreme-left militants there, the same sources said.
In the Gaza Strip, eight Palestinians were also injured during clashes with the army, hospital sources said.
Among the injured were two children, aged 10 and 12. An 18-year-old Palestinian was seriously injured when he was shot in the chest near the Khan Yunis refugee camp near the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim.Three other Palestinians were injured near Gaza City, near the Karni crossing point, the same sources said.
A high-ranking Palestinian security official also accused the Israeli army of having blocked the convoy of the head of public security, Abdelrazak al-Majaida, near the Gush Katif bloc.
The vehicles were then allowed to move on, the official said, accusing the Israelis however of not having respected a commitment they made yesterday during an Israeli-Palestinian security meeting to facilitate the movements of Palestinian security officials.
AFP