Israel Foreign Relations Plo

Sporadic clashes on the dusty streets here between Israeli soldiers, Jewish settlers and Palestinians went on for several hours Sunday even as an Israeli army curfew kept most residents indoors. Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians burned American and Israeli flags to protest U.S. strikes against alleged terrorist targets in Sudan and Afghanistan. In Hebron, Israeli soldiers scuffled with Jewish settlers and fired rubber bullets toward Palestinian children.

A Jewish settler was stabbed to death Thursday night by a suspected Palestinian assailant who broke into his home and torched it in a fortified Jewish enclave in the West Bank city of Hebron, the Israeli army said. There was concern that the killing would trigger new violence in Hebron, a city of 130,000 Palestinians and 450 Jewish settlers. "There was a murder by a terrorist in a house in Tel Rumeida; an Israeli citizen was killed," an Israeli army spokesman said.

In a sign of apparent progress in the deadlocked peace talks, Israel said Monday that it has agreed in principle to turn over an additional 13% of West Bank land to the Palestinians, the figure specified in a months-old U.S. peace initiative. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which had said it could not accept the 13% figure without endangering Israeli security, has told U.S.

He's been feted from Tehran to Khartoum. He's made virulently anti-Israeli statements and reportedly collected pledges worth millions of dollars for his militant Palestinian organization. Now, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, founder and charismatic spiritual leader of the Islamic group Hamas, is coming home to the Gaza Strip, his stature enhanced by a triumphal, four-month tour of the Middle East. And he is likely to pose new challenges both for Israel and for Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.

Government planners submitted a development program for Jerusalem that seeks to expand the city westward, boost investment and keep the Jewish population at 70% of the total by building 142,000 new homes. The Palestinian Authority urged the U.N. Security Council to block Israel's plan. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said he is considering letting the Israeli public vote on a U.S.

The Israeli Cabinet, ignoring criticism from Washington and the Palestinians, unanimously approved a plan Sunday to expand the boundaries of Jerusalem, increase its Jewish majority and strengthen ties with nearby Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians immediately condemned the decision, calling it a violation of the Israeli-Palestinian peace accords and an attempt to influence future negotiations on the city's status.

The radical Islamic group Hamas said Saturday that it is weighing an invitation to join the government of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. Hamas, which bitterly opposes the peace accords between the Palestinians and Israel, has never before sought an official position in the Palestinian Authority. Representatives of Hamas were asked to meet Tuesday with Arafat to discuss participation in the next government, Hamas spokesman Mahmoud Zahar said in the Gaza Strip.

A pro-Iraq rally turned violent Saturday in the West Bank, with Israeli troops firing tear gas and rubber bullets at stone-throwing Palestinian protesters. At least 14 people suffered minor injuries. Carrying pictures of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and waving Iraqi flags, a crowd of Palestinians estimated at between 500 and 1,000, mainly teenagers, chanted, "Down with America!" and shouted, "Clinton is a coward--go look for women!"

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright voiced frustration Sunday with the months-long stalemate in Middle East peace negotiations, admitting that her latest talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders had produced only "minimal progress" toward bridging the gaps. Albright, who stopped here as part of a diplomatic tour to rally support for a tough U.S.

Despite a Palestinian police roundup of leaders of the opposition Islamic movement Hamas, Israel remained on high alert Sunday, amid fears that the arrests have given the group's military wing new incentive to attack the Jewish state. "Hamas is in a struggle with the Palestinian Authority, and when they want to score against the Palestinian Authority, they hit Israel," said Ziad abu Amr, an independent member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and an expert on the Islamic opposition.