A 72 year old Jewish settler was stabbed in the back as he shopped for food in Hebron's market yesterday. The army put the city centre under curfew while soldiers unsuccessfully sought the assailant.
The attack on Rabbi Nissim Gudai, who was in serious condition in hospital last night, and the subsequent overturning of vegetable and fruit stalls in the Arab market by angry settlers, underlined the lingering potential for violence in Hebron, the only major West Bank city still under the Israeli army's control.
Israel was meant to withdraw its troops from Hebron in March, leaving only a small military presence to protect the 400 Jews living in the city. But the Prime Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, postponed the move indefinitely following the spate of suicide attacks inside Israel in February and March. Two of those were carried out by Hebron area residents.
The Knesset yesterday debated the future status of Hebron. It is a city of some 100,000 Palestinian residents which, as the burial place of the biblical forefathers, holds tremendous historical significance for Jews. Outside the parliament building, rival groups of demonstrators called loudly for either an immediate pullout or permanent Israeli rule.
Mr Ariel Sharon, the former Likud defence minister, meanwhile paid a visit to the city, declaring that the Jewish rights and obligations to Hebron superseded any agreements with the Palestinians.
The army has, in fact, begun withdrawing some non essential equipment from installations in and around the city. But a decision on the precise timing of the pullout can only be taken by Mr Peres, who is to hold a briefing on the issue with his security advisers tomorrow.
Most members of his cabinet believe that the pullout should take place before the elections on May 29th - both to honour the peace accords and to reward Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority for its recent intensified efforts to confront the Islamic extremists. But Mr Peres may wish to avoid alienating potential supporters among the Orthodox Jewish community, some of whose leaders have urged him to defer the withdrawal.
Hebron will be high on Peres's agenda on his return from visits to the US and France, as will Sunday's scheduled start of "final status" talks with the Palestinians - three years of negotiations designed to hammer out long term solutions to such crucial issues as the future of Jerusalem, the settlements, permanent borders between Israel and the Palestinian areas, and more. Mr Peres will also have to respond to opposition jibes that his trip to the United States was a thinly veiled electioneering jaunt.