At least five Palestinians were killed and 80 wounded in confrontations with Israeli troops yesterday in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, where thousands marched in sympathy with Israeli Arabs commemorating a 1976 massacre, protests again turned bloody, with Palestinians reporting up to five young men shot dead by Israeli soldiers, two in clashes in Nablus and one in Ramallah.
Dozens more protesters were reported injured in Ramallah when Israeli troops fired live ammunition and rubber-coated metal bullets at hundreds of stone-throwers, and later exchanged machine-gun fire with Palestinian gunmen.
Protests in Israel itself ended almost without incident.
AFP adds: The Palestinian cabinet cancelled its Friday meeting in Ramallah, which was to discuss a response to President Bush's call on the authority for an end to the violence, after Israel refused to allow a dozen officials to travel from Gaza to the West Bank.