Israeli Soldiers Crack Down on Palestinians Breaking Curfew

HEBRON, West Bank —  Israeli soldiers combed the streets of this city Saturday, rounding up more than 150 Palestinians and throwing stun grenades into a crowded market to enforce a curfew, Palestinian witnesses said.

Doctors at Hebron’s Al Ahli hospital said at least five Palestinians were treated for shrapnel injuries and burns caused by the grenades in the open-air market.

Witnesses said Israeli troops rounded up dozens of Palestinians as shopkeepers and vegetable vendors remained open and people refused to return to their homes.

The army reoccupied Hebron and six other major cities in the West Bank in June after a spate of suicide attacks in Israel.

Israeli forces often lift curfews during daytime, but Hebron residents said restrictions were tightened Saturday. Israel has said it imposes and relaxes curfews based on security considerations.

In the West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli forces seized an activist of the militant Islamic organization Hamas at his grocery store as his wife and children watched, Palestinian security officials said.

They identified him as Baha Yaish and said he had spent time in Israeli and Palestinian Authority prisons for his activity in Hamas, which has carried out a spate of suicide bombings in Israel.

Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, about 600 Palestinians marched through the Bureij refugee camp carrying the bodies of Ashraf Awada, 30, and Alla abu Said, 27, militants from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

Palestinians say the two men were working when they were shot by the Israeli army Thursday. The army said they had been trying to infiltrate Israel.

“Death to Israel!” and “When will there be revenge for the Al Aqsa martyrs?” shouted the crowd as about 20 gunmen fired assault rifles into the air.

As the curfews, arrests and funerals continued, Palestinian officials were angered Saturday by an overnight Israeli Channel Two TV report that the army had a contingency plan to expel Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat by force. Arafat would be sent to an unnamed Arab country having no diplomatic relations with Israel and no close ties with the U.S., Israel’s premier ally, the report said.

The report, which did not cite any sources, said the plan was approved in principle by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and would entail a raid on Arafat’s compound in Ramallah by special forces, who would ensure that Arafat was not harmed.

The report said the contingency plan was not likely to be implemented soon. The army and the prime minister’s office would not comment.

“We denounce the mere thinking of such despicable ideas,” Palestinian Cabinet member Saeb Erekat said from Cairo. “At a time when we are trying to revive the peace process, the Israeli government is thinking such ideas.”

Israeli TV said more Israeli- Palestinian security talks were planned for today. Negotiations have stalled over an Israeli proposal called “Gaza First.”

Under the plan, Israel would pull its forces back from the outskirts of Palestinian population centers in Gaza and turn security over to Palestinian forces as a test case. If successful, Israel would implement the same procedure in the West Bank.

Palestinians rejected the plan, insisting that a withdrawal from Gaza be accompanied by the removal of troops from at least one West Bank town.