Hebron violence flares

JERUSALEM - Fierce clashes flared along an Israeli-Palestinian confrontation line in Hebron yesterday, with hundreds of Palestinian youths shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) and throwing petrol bombs and rocks at Israeli soldiers armed with rubber bullets and tear gas.

Hospital officials said at least 20 Arab protesters were wounded by rubber bullets. The arrival of Palestinian West Bank security chief Jibril Rajoub with police reinforcements, quelled the violence only briefly.

A Hamas source said that late on Friday in Gaza, Palestinian security forces re-arrested Ibrahim al-Makadmeh, a Hamas military wing leader. Makadmeh, released from jail this week, told a rally that only bombs could stop Israel's settlement drive.

Meanwhile, Israel clamped a closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and sealed the home of the Arab suicide bomber - responsible for the recent explosion in Tel Aviv - who has been identified by Palestinian sources as 28-year-old Mousa Abdel- Qader Ghneimat.

Patrick Cockburn, page 18