By
The Associated Press
JERUSALEM - Scattered clashes across the Gaza Strip and West Bank yesterday left two Palestinians dead, more than a dozen injured and kept tensions high despite a truce agreement and plans for peace talks in Washington.
Both Palestinians were shot in the turbulent Gaza Strip, including a 16-year-old boy hit in the head during a confrontation near the Al Bureij refugee camp, according to hospital doctors.
At least 10 Palestinians were wounded in Gaza, and seven were hurt in the West Bank in a clash outside Bethlehem, to the south of Jerusalem, according to Palestinian security forces.
In a plea for peace, tens of thousands of Israelis filled a Tel Aviv square on Saturday night to pay tribute to former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated at the site five years ago by an ultranationalist Israeli opposed to trading land for peace with the Palestinians.
The current violence has hardened attitudes on both sides and put seven years of peace negotiations on hold. Many dovish Israelis, including some of those at the rally, said their faith in the peace process has been shaken. Many Palestinians, meanwhile, say they have little to show for the lengthy negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak yesterday told his Cabinet that the large turnout was "an impressive and emotional demonstration" of the Israeli commitment to peace.
"It's unfortunate that on the other side such a demonstration of the peace process could not occur," he said in a reference to the Palestinians.
In a speech at the Saturday rally, Barak warned Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that Israel "will not surrender to violence and we will defend our civilians and Israeli soldiers everywhere."
The Israeli-Palestinian violence broke out more than five weeks ago, claiming 170 lives in the worst bloodshed since peace talks began in 1993.
Arafat, meanwhile, accused Israel of not abiding by a cease-fire deal reached Thursday and said he wanted the United States to pressure Israel to comply.
"We want the Americans to push Israel into implementing what has been agreed upon," he told reporters Saturday in Gaza. "Israel was supposed to immediately lift the closures of Palestinian cities, lift the siege and reopen the (Gaza) airport. I'm sorry to say that until this minute the siege has not been lifted."
Arafat, in an interview with CBS, said a proposed Israeli peace settlement in July fell far short of the minimum Palestinian demands. Arafat said that if he had accepted, it would have been a betrayal of Muslims and would likely have led to his assassination by Palestinian militants.
"If I will betray, no doubt, one will come to kill me," Arafat said in an interview with "60 Minutes," which was to air yesterday evening.
The violence has shown some signs of abating since the Israelis and Palestinians reached the truce Thursday. Also, President Clinton has invited Arafat and Barak to Washington for separate meetings this week.
Arafat planned to meet the U.S. president Thursday morning, Arafat's spokesman Nabil Aburdeneh told The Associated Press.
"This visit is very important, it comes at a difficult time in the Palestinian territories and the Middle East peace process," Aburdeneh said.
Barak is likely to visit a day or two later, but wants the violence to subside before heading to Washington, Israeli officials said.
Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres, who negotiated the current cease-fire agreement with Arafat, said the Palestinian leader was attempting to stop the violence.
"I am convinced that Arafat is making an effort now to reduce the riots," Peres told Israel radio. "He can't control everything. It will take a few days."
At the Tel Aviv rally, Israelis said they were still committed to peace, though some were unsure how or when it might be achieved.
"We really don't know the way. We are one country but two people, Israelis and Arabs," said 49-year-old teacher Gafen Dolev-Doha, as candles flickered around her at the square. Rabin, a soldier-turned-peacemaker, "went along the way of war and blood but then thought, maybe there is another, better way."
