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Israeli Settlers Rampage In Gush Katif
GAZA CITY (News Agencies) - Around 100 Jewish settlers rampaged Monday against Palestinians for the murder of a Jewish settler, witnesses said, as another Palestinian was killed in clashes with Israeli forces.
The settlers descended upon the Arab area of al-Mawasi near Kfar Yam where settler Rony Tzalah disappeared Sunday.
Palestinian witnesses said they burned seven empty houses, 15 plastic-covered green houses, 20 beach houses, farms, fruit trees and two cars. The settlers shot automatic weapons in the air and beat up a few Palestinians, the witnesses added.
"We must cleanse the area to end the illegal invasion of Palestinians of our lands," one woman settler told Israeli public radio.
However, Dror Vanono, spokesman for the Jewish settlers in Gush Katif, responded that 10 settlers had merely cut and burnt trees.
"In the last three months, there have been bombings and shootings against the settlers and the army. This is the first time settlers said that they have had enough," Vanano said.
He called the allegations of beating Palestinians and torching property "a big lie."
The Israeli army has designated the area a closed "military zone" and has taken but few steps to restrain the settlers, the radio reported.
Also Monday, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man during fighting in the northern West Bank town of Salim near Nablus, hospital officials said.
Maadi Shahada, 22, was shot in the chest in Salim during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers inside the town.
Israelis entered the village after gunfire upon Jewish settlers' cars in the morning. Fighting continued throughout the day in Salim, which is in an Israeli-controlled security zone.
The killing brought the death toll to 379 since the beginning of the Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, on September 28th, including 321 Palestinians, 13 Arab Israelis, 44 other Israelis and a German.
Israeli security forces arrested 10 Palestinians early Monday in connection with the murder of the Israeli settler, according to Palestinian sources, while Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak warned the killing was a threat to the peace process.
"The prime minister strongly condemns the murder of settler Rony Tzalah, and believes it is a hard blow to the peace process," a statement released by Barak's office said.
Barak called for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "to put an end to the acts of violence, because they do not serve any of the parties."
Israeli President Moshe Katzav has called for a freeze on negotiations as long as the Palestinians pursue attacks on Israelis.
"We cannot negotiate while our civilians are assassinated, and without Arafat publicly condemning these barbarous acts in an address to his people," according to Katzav, from the hardline right-wing Likud party.
The army has closed down Gaza Strip's airport, main roads and border crossings in response to the killing and the government called off peace negotiations scheduled for Monday with the Palestinians.
The Israelis launched a search after Tzalah went missing the day before while working in a greenhouse, military sources said.
According to preliminary investigations, he was kidnapped Sunday by three or four Palestinians who stole his car and killed him inside the vehicle before disposing of his body.
His car was later abandoned and set alight by masked men, Palestinian sources said.
Later Monday, Palestinians opened fire on four Israeli vehicles in separate incidents, an Israeli military source said.
The source also said soldiers discovered and dismantled a bomb near the el-Arrub refugee camp.
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