Three Palestinians, an Israeli soldier and an Arab have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops in the West Bank and Gaza. The latest violence follows the funeral of a prominent Palestinian commander killed during a helicopter gunship attack yesterday. The Israeli army has sealed off a number of West Bank cities. Two of the shootings by Israeli troops happened during clashes at two crossing points between Israel and the Gaza Strip. A third was in the West Bank town of Jenin. Thousands of Palestinians gathered in the West Bank in the town of Bethlehem for the funeral of the guerrilla commander. Hussein Abayat was a member of the Fatah movement headed by the Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat. The group has threatened to avenge his death.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, has said that he does not expect to resume peace talks with the Palestinians as a result of meetings with President Clinton. He said that he had low expectations of talks he is to have with Mr Clinton in Washington on Sunday, but that he hoped they would help end the current conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Yesterday Mr Clinton met the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, as part of an effort to halt the violence.
