Israel Occupied Territory Security

The Israeli government is considering the removal of 450 Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank town of Hebron, where a settler 10 days ago massacred more than 40 Palestinians as they prayed in a mosque. The move, certain to be bitterly resisted if ordered, would mark the beginning of Israel's retreat from the 144 settlements it has established in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since capturing the territories 27 years ago.

In an unusual show of force, Israeli soldiers disarmed and detained several Jewish settlers after a confrontation Saturday at the Cave of the Patriarchs, where a settler killed about 30 Palestinian worshipers last month. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, meanwhile, said he would not move settlers out of the tense city of Hebron "at this stage" but hinted that he might later.

Anticipating months of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as its forces withdraw and Palestinians establish their own government, Israel is proposing to replace its troops with 10,000 police to protect Jewish settlers in the two regions and to help ensure overall security.

Thousands of police reinforcements were deployed throughout Israel and the occupied territories Friday, taking up positions at synagogues, vacation resorts, bus stations, markets and major highways as Israeli authorities girded during the weeklong Jewish holiday of Passover for possible revenge attacks for last month's mosque massacre.

A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli soldier to death in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as concern mounted that violence in the occupied territories may escalate to the point of derailing the Israeli-PLO peace talks. With attacks and counterattacks by Jews and Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip increasing, the main Jewish settlers council issued an appeal to settlers "to stop the assaults on innocent Arabs" often committed in retaliation for strikes on Jews.

In an unusual show of force, Israeli soldiers disarmed and detained several Jewish settlers after a confrontation Saturday at the Cave of the Patriarchs, where a settler killed about 30 Palestinian worshipers last month. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, meanwhile, said he would not move settlers out of the tense city of Hebron "at this stage" but hinted that he might later.

Alarmed by the recent fierce clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli government ordered its troops Tuesday to "act firmly and aggressively" against all lawbreakers and to "do all that is in their power to prevent violent confrontations." In a dramatic and politically charged order, Israeli army commanders were authorized to use force against the settlers, not only against Palestinian rioters, if necessary to maintain order.

Soon after Monsour Shawa was appointed mayor of Gaza City, a friend called to congratulate him and recommend a first order of business: Buy a gun. "He offered to sell me one--a 9-millimeter automatic," said the prominent Gaza businessman. "I said, 'What's the price?' When he told me, I said, 'No thank you, I'll take my chances.' " The price: $3,500.

Zipporah Sasson died here early Saturday, gunned down in a car next to her husband and her two children. The family was only two miles from home on the narrow highway from Tel Aviv when two bursts of machine-gun fire from a parked vehicle alongside the road caught her in the head and stomach. The young mother lay dying in the car as her husband drove madly for the nearest army post. By 3 a.m. at a nearby hospital, her heart stopped beating.

Thousands of police reinforcements were deployed throughout Israel and the occupied territories Friday, taking up positions at synagogues, vacation resorts, bus stations, markets and major highways as Israeli authorities girded during the weeklong Jewish holiday of Passover for possible revenge attacks for last month's mosque massacre.

The Israeli government is considering the removal of 450 Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank town of Hebron, where a settler 10 days ago massacred more than 40 Palestinians as they prayed in a mosque. The move, certain to be bitterly resisted if ordered, would mark the beginning of Israel's retreat from the 144 settlements it has established in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since capturing the territories 27 years ago.

Zipporah Sasson died here early Saturday, gunned down in a car next to her husband and her two children. The family was only two miles from home on the narrow highway from Tel Aviv when two bursts of machine-gun fire from a parked vehicle alongside the road caught her in the head and stomach. The young mother lay dying in the car as her husband drove madly for the nearest army post. By 3 a.m. at a nearby hospital, her heart stopped beating.

Soon after Monsour Shawa was appointed mayor of Gaza City, a friend called to congratulate him and recommend a first order of business: Buy a gun. "He offered to sell me one--a 9-millimeter automatic," said the prominent Gaza businessman. "I said, 'What's the price?' When he told me, I said, 'No thank you, I'll take my chances.' " The price: $3,500.

Anticipating months of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as its forces withdraw and Palestinians establish their own government, Israel is proposing to replace its troops with 10,000 police to protect Jewish settlers in the two regions and to help ensure overall security.

A Palestinian stabbed an Israeli soldier to death in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday as concern mounted that violence in the occupied territories may escalate to the point of derailing the Israeli-PLO peace talks. With attacks and counterattacks by Jews and Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip increasing, the main Jewish settlers council issued an appeal to settlers "to stop the assaults on innocent Arabs" often committed in retaliation for strikes on Jews.

Alarmed by the recent fierce clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli government ordered its troops Tuesday to "act firmly and aggressively" against all lawbreakers and to "do all that is in their power to prevent violent confrontations." In a dramatic and politically charged order, Israeli army commanders were authorized to use force against the settlers, not only against Palestinian rioters, if necessary to maintain order.