The Israeli army has said that three Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes with Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank today. An army spokeswoman said that two soldiers were shot in heavy fighting near Bethlehem and a reservist was killed during gun battles near the Palestinian-ruled city of Jericho in the West Bank.
Six Palestinians also died in the escalating violence today. Three were killed in clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Two Palestinian youths were shot dead at a crossing between the Gaza Strip and Israel this morning. The funerals of Palestinians killed in recent clashes were held today. The Gaza funeral procession, which stretched to around three kilometres, was led by more than 100 gunmen, some of them masked, who fired shots into the air. As the confrontations continue with undiminished intensity, the United States is trying to open a new dialogue between the two sides.
Earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel could not accept an escalation of violence and warned Palestinians they would face a tough Israeli response if they failed to stop their uprising. Mr Barak made his comments in advance of an emergency meeting of his security cabinet and before a meeting in Gaza City this evening between the former Israeli prime minister, Shimon Peres, and the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.
