GAZA CITY, Sept 3 (IslamOnline) - The Palestinian Authority (PA) Tuesday, September 3, 2002, accused Israel of extorting confessions from sick detainees, by withholding medical care. The international community was called on to intervene. Also, Israeli troops wounded five Palestinians in Ramallah amid confusion among civilians over the curfew rules imposed by the Israeli army, news agencies reported.

"During interrogations, sick prisoners face a kind of blackmail linking the provision of medical care to possible confessions," said the PA in a report from its General Committee for Palestinian Detainees, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Several prisoners were subjected to psychological pressure and ill treatment during their time in Israeli hospitals where their feet and hands were tied to their beds," the report said.

The PA denounced what it termed "the serious situation of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons" and called on "international organizations to condemn inhumane practices carried out by doctors in the penal institutes."

The committee also called on the international community "to intervene to save the lives of our prisoners in the Israeli jails," where it said 850 prisoners were seriously ill or injured.

It added that Israel was holding 9,500 Palestinians, including 7,000 seized since the start of the current Palestinian uprising which erupted at the end of September 2000.

In a separate related development, five Palestinians were injured in Ramallah following confusion over new curfew rules imposed by the Israeli occupation army in all cities and towns of the West Bank.

Medical sources said that one of the Palestinians was in serious condition following the incident which occurred at the entrance of the Al-Amari refugee camp in the West Bank town, AFP reported.

A crowd of people started throwing stones at the army, and soldiers opened fire with live rounds, Palestinian security and medical officials said.

Since it reoccupied most of the West Bank on June 19, the Israeli army slapped curfews on most cities, including Ramallah, to clamp down on resistance activists and prevent anti-Israeli attacks.

With the start of the school year, this weekend, the army introduced a new curfew regime, with two one-hour periods every day during which children can reach their schools and return home.

However, the hours of lifting the curfew vary from one location to another, witnesses said, adding that the population was confused about when it was safe to be in the streets.

"We don't know what's going on and something might happen at any time. When we go to sleep, we don't know what new procedure we're going to wake up with," said Assad, 45, after taking his four children to school.

Like many of his neighbors, he was surprised to hear a new hour for the curfew being shouted by the army across the neighborhood in a megaphone, and had to rush back through the empty streets of Ramallah as all the shops were closing down again.