Soldiers Tuesday dynamited the homes of three Palestinians suspected of injuring three Israelis with stones, marking a new get-tough policy against rock throwers in the occupied territories.
In the occupied West Bank, a 17-year-old Palestinian was fatally shot in the stomach during a clash with troops, and a second teenager died of a gunshot wound to the heart suffered in a clash Jan. 7, hospital officials and Arab reports said.Sixteen Palestinians were shot and wounded Tuesday in confrontations in the West Bank, occupied Gaza Strip and Arab east Jerusalem, the reports said.
Also Tuesday, some reserve soldiers complained to Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of their role in the violence, saying they were forced to beat innocent people and betray Israeli values in trying to put down the 13-month Palestinian uprising.
The criticism came as Shamir visited an army tent camp outside Nablus, the West Bank's largest city.
The soldiers said they routinely beat innocent people to instill fear in them and enforce order. Many said they were ashamed.
"When I get up in the morning, I say to myself, `Now I have to go out and catch a man,' and I look at his hands and see he is a working man like myself. And I have to slap him or beat him murderous blows to get him to fear me," said a soldier who identified himself as Yotam from Tiberias.