Israeli border police killed a Palestinian gunman Tuesday, and the army said two car bombs were found nearby in violence on a key anniversary for Muslim militants.
Five stone-throwing Palestinian youths were wounded by army gun-fire, and Israeli troops braced for more attacks on the sixth anniversary of the founding of Hamas, a Muslim fundamentalist group opposed to the PLO-Israel peace accord.Palestinian and Israeli extremists trying to block implementation of the pact have waged an increasingly violent campaign, with 45 Palestinians and 14 Israelis killed since the Sept. 13 signing.
Renewed unrest had been predicted after Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization failed to agree on conditions for Israel's withdrawal from its occupied territories, a pullout that was to begin Monday.
"The closer we get to a deadline the more we will see resistance," said Riyad Malki, a leading figure in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which opposes the PLO-Israel pact.
An army officer told The Associated Press that border police shot to death a Palestinian walking along the road when he fired a pistol as the patrol stopped to question him. An Israeli trooper was wounded in the leg.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Japanese donation
Japan decided Tuesday to make a $25 million emergency aid donation to improve the living conditions of Palestinian refugees, the Japanese Foreign Ministry announced. The aid is the Japan's first implementation of a $200 million assistance package to the Palestinians over the next two years, pledged by Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa in September.