13 Palestinians Hurt in Clashes After Jerusalem Blast

HEBRON, West Bank — Israeli troops wounded 13 Palestinians, nine of them journalists, in clashes in the West Bank on Friday, witnesses and officials said.

Violence in the West Bank town of Hebron flared hours after a bomb went off near Jerusalem’s Old City. The blast wounded four people, fanning more tension after violent clashes over the killings this week of three Palestinian workers by Israeli troops.

The witnesses said armed settlers threw stones at homes of Palestinians and beat Arabs in a neighborhood in the Palestinian-controlled part of the town, injuring at least two Arabs.

Dozens of Palestinians gathered at the scene of the scuffle and threw stones at soldiers who arrived to quell the fighting. The troops fired rubber-coated bullets at the Palestinians.

Witnesses said the troops shot at journalists from a distance of 20 yards even though reporters shouted that they were members of the media.

Mazen Dana, a Reuters reporter, said he was hit in the shoulder as he tried to help Nael Shuyoukhi, also a Reuters reporter.

Shuyoukhi was hit in the head with a rubber-coated bullet. Video footage showed him lying on the ground with blood streaming from his forehead and drenching his shirt. It showed him being shot two more times while he was lying on the ground.

An army spokesman said the incident began when dozens of settlers crossed into Palestinian-controlled Hebron for a protest march after evening prayers. They ignored army orders to head back. Their march touched off a Palestinian riot, the spokesman said.

“The force did not notice the journalists and fired at the rioting masses,” the spokesman said. “The area was dark, and it is possible that if journalists were situated among the rioters that they were also wounded by rubber bullets.”

Arab-Israeli violence has flared in Hebron and other parts of the West Bank since Israeli soldiers killed three Palestinian workers at a West Bank roadblock Tuesday.

Soldiers wounded two Palestinians in Dura during clashes with about 200 youths earlier Friday, witnesses said.

In an unusual move, Palestinian security forces in the West Bank city of Nablus fired tear gas to force back demonstrators marching toward Israeli troop positions.

Friday’s bomb went off shortly after 8 a.m. on Damascus Road in traditionally Arab East Jerusalem, close to the Old City’s Damascus Gate. The four Palestinians who were hurt, including two youths, were treated for minor wounds.

Police said the bomb contained 11 to 14 ounces of explosives packed into a metal case attached to a wall.