ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 27, 1996 TAG: 9609270075
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: JERUSALEM
SOURCE: Associated Press
NOTE: Lede
Their fragile peace going up in thick black smoke, Palestinian police and Israeli troops fought each other with automatic weapons Thursday at holy sites and in the streets of the West Bank and Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians burned tires, threw stones and called for a revolution.
With at least 38 Palestinians and 11 Israelis killed in one day, the pitched level of violence surpassed that of the worst days of the six-year ``intifada'' - the Palestinian revolt against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza that ended in 1993 with a breakthrough peace accord.
At least 43 Palestinians, 11 Israelis and one Egyptian army officer have been killed since the clashes began Tuesday, bringing the three-day death toll to 55.
Embattled areas Thursday resembled war zones, with smoke from burning tires blackening skies dotted by Israeli helicopter gunships.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to Israel on Thursday and went into an emergency Cabinet meeting on the crisis, cutting short a three-day trip to Europe.
Netanyahu tried to arrange a quick meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to stop the fighting. But Arafat demanded that Israel close a new entrance to an archaeological tunnel near Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem before any meeting could take place, U.S. officials in Washington said.
The clashes were set off Tuesday by Israel's decision to open the tunnel, and also reflected Palestinians' deep frustration with Netanyahu's hard-line policies.
The U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Egypt had offered to hold a meeting between Arafat and Netanyahu, but daylong U.S. mediation efforts had not settled on a location, an agenda or even on the format.
Netanyahu's spokesman, Shai Bazak, said there was a chance the two leaders would meet today, Channel Two television reported. An Egyptian official said he expected the meeting to take place Sunday.
Despite opposition from Israel and the United States, the U.N. Security Council called a formal session for today to discuss the mounting violence.
In street battles in the garbage-strewn alleys of Gaza and the rocky hilltops of the West Bank, Palestinian police in fatigues fired assault rifles and hurled firebombs at helmeted Israeli soldiers who responded with heavy bursts of gunfire.
Palestinians long have used stones in their battles with armed Israeli troops. The involvement of the Palestinian police force, created under the peace accord, has made the most recent clashes more deadly.
Casualties mounted in part Thursday because many of the Palestinian police shot wildly and, unlike the Israelis, had no flak jackets.
In the West Bank town of Nablus, a fierce gunbattle between Palestinian police and Israeli troops broke out after thousands of Palestinians stormed Joseph's Tomb, a Jewish seminary. Six Israeli troops and a Palestinian were killed.
An Israeli army spokesman said the situation stabilized after Palestinian officials imposed a curfew and about 15 Palestinian policemen and several dozen Israeli soldiers guarded the site.
Fighting also broke out in the tiny settlements of Netzarim and Kfar Darom, isolated enclaves in the heart of the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip, after thousands of Palestinian protesters marched toward them.
The violence spilled into Egypt, where an army officer was killed and a policeman and Palestinian child were wounded when bullets and rocks strayed across the border.
Many Palestinians believe their dream of statehood slipped away after Netanyahu's May election victory over Shimon Peres - who helped negotiate a preliminary peace agreement with the Palestinians. A seven-month blockade of the West Bank and Gaza that keeps them out of Israel frustrates them.
``There was no alternative for us; that's why we participated in this uprising,'' said Mohammed Ali, 30, an unemployed cleaner who hurled stones at Israeli troops.
Arafat initially encouraged the riots to warn Israel that it must move forward in the peace talks, but by Thursday afternoon, Palestinian radio was broadcasting appeals in his name for police to cease fire.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Palestinian police fire automatic rifles atby CNBIsraeli troops Thursday in Ramallah, in the West Bank. 2.
Palestinians take cover from Israeli gunfire Thursday in the Jewish
settlement of Netzarim near Gaza City. color. Graphic: Map by AP.
color.