GAZA CITY, September 17 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – While the world is holding its breath waiting for an eventual U.S. strike on Iraq, the Palestinian Authority (PA) called for the international community to take action against Israel's plan to annex the holy site of Rachel's tomb in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.  

"Urgent messages" were sent for the United States, Russia, the European Union and United Nations Monday, September 16, to press Israel "to scrap its decision to annex Rachel's tomb," Local Minister and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told Agence France-Presse (AFP). 

He also called for the Israeli occupation army to lift its curfews and closure of Palestinian towns in the West Bank that have been reoccupied since mid-June. 

Under a plan, backed last week by the Israeli security cabinet, the tomb site will be turned into a closed compound and included within the security perimeter being erected between occupied Jerusalem and the re-occupied West Bank. 

A spokesman at the Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed that  access for Jewish worshippers was hampered by Palestinian violence, which had motivated the decision. 

The heavily defended tomb, hemmed in by high concrete defensive walls, has been a flashpoint for violent confrontations between Palestinian resistance activists and Israeli occupation forces.  

Jews and Muslims alike believe the tomb contains the remains of Rachel, wife of the biblical patriarch Jacob and mother of Joseph, who are venerated by both religions.  

Meanwhile, Israel marked Yom Kippur Monday, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, by sealing off the Palestinian territories and placing the reoccupied West Bank under strict curfew.  

Jews were called on to observe a 24-hour fast, as the country cut itself off from the world, closing ports, airports and border-crossing points, including the river bridges to Jordan and the Rafah crossing point from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. 

Radio and Television stations were also silent, with no news programs broadcast, and no newspapers on the stands. 

City streets were almost deserted, with bicycles the only vehicles in view. 

West Bank cities reoccupied by the Israeli army since June - Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, Hebron, Tulkarm and Qalqiliya - were under a tight curfew scheduled to last until 2:00 a.m. Tuesday (Monday 2300 GMT). 

However, Israel continued its aggression against the Palestinians in the occupied territories, with Israeli forces shooting dead one Palestinian in the Gaza Strip Monday and wounded another there late Sunday, September 15. 

The Israeli army claimed the unidentified man, killed between Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis, was armed.

The Israeli army wounded an unarmed woman during an overnight incursion into Rafah by the Egyptian border.

Independent sources asserted that the Israeli fire, in both cases, were completely unprovoked. 

Clashes also occurred late Sunday in the West Bank town of Jenin that left one Palestinian man wounded, Palestinian security officials said. 

Despite the curfews and closures, a group of foreign security experts, including U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel, began a training course for Palestinian officers in the West Bank town of Jericho, sources close to the program said. 

Security was tight around the course hotel, which was declared off-limits to journalists.