1 Reported Dead in Muslim Sabbath Violence in Gaza

GAZA CITY, Occupied Gaza Strip — Violent protests erupted today after noon prayer services on the Muslim Sabbath and Arab reports said a Palestinian was killed in one clash with Israeli troops.

The Palestine Press Service, an Arab-run agency based in Jerusalem, said that 22-year-old Khalid Awadeh was killed in the Bureij camp south of Gaza City and that four other Arabs were wounded in nearby Khan Yunis.

A hospital staffer said about six gunshot victims had been brought for treatment. He said one was dead and another was in critical condition.

An Arab reporter said the clash in Khan Yunis broke out after worshipers left a mosque and began a silent march to the downtown area. Soldiers arrived to break up the demonstration, using tear gas and then live ammunition, he said.

Provocation Charged

The death would bring to 26 the number killed by Israeli gunfire since the unrest began Dec. 8. More than 180 have been wounded.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, speaking on national television, said the riots were part of a strategy designed to provoke Israel into a violent response. Shamir repeated that he would not meet with U.N. envoy Marrack Goulding, scheduled to arrive today to study the situation.

The West Bank and Gaza Strip, which Israel captured from Jordan and Egypt in the 1967 Middle East War, are home to 1.5 million Palestinians.

The latest violence flared after Thursday night clashes in which at least one Arab teen-ager was shot to death in the Nusseirat and Mughazi refugee camps. Hospital officials said 10 others were wounded, some by army marksmen.

Amouna Ismail Saqer, 50, a resident of Nusseirat, said protests began about 5 p.m. with stone-throwing and tear-gas exchanges and lasted for six hours.

Speaking from a hospital bed in Gaza City’s Arab Ahli Hospital, she said protesters then took refugee in a mosque and soldiers fired tear gas inside. The demonstrators used the mosque’s loudspeakers to call for help and about 1,000 camp residents flocked to the scene to confront about 200 soldiers, she added.

Saqer, who had a broken collarbone and large dark bruises on her arm, said soldiers entered her home 200 yards from the mosque looking for rioters. She said she was beaten with rifle butts and clubs.

A doctor said 10 people were brought to the hospital overnight with gunshot wounds, two of them shot in the neck and in critical condition.

Marksmen Aim for Legs

Majid Suleiman Darassi, 22, who was recovering from a leg wound, said he was “coming from my friend’s house when I was shot in the leg.”

Army officials confirmed that marksmen used .22-caliber sniper rifles to shoot those who they said were inciting the crowds. The snipers aim for the target’s legs.

In Gaza City, 50 teen-agers gathered in front of the Al Amari mosque and set fire to a tire after noon prayers today. Moments later soldiers arrived in jeeps and the Arab youths hurled stones.

The soldiers fired tear gas and chased some of the youths into alleys. Tires were set ablaze in the central Palestine Square and soldiers used water cannons to put out the flames.