Israeli police - army brace for violence following Muslim prayers

Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said police reinforcements were posted in traditionally Arab East Jerusalem, and Palestinian men under 35 were barred from praying at the Al-Aqsa mosque on Jerusalem's Haram as-Sharif, the Noble Sanctuary, a hill known to Jews as the Temple Mount and holy to both religions. A visit to the site by hard-line Israeli politician Ariel Sharon a month ago sparked the current rioting, in which almost 130 people have died, most of them Palestinians. Security forces also feared a fresh outbreak of violence in the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli reports said Muslim militants have called on Palestinians to turn each Friday into a day of rage and attack Israelis after the midday prayers.

On Thursday, Nabil Araeer, 24, loaded his backpack with explosives and rode his bicycle to an army outpost in Gaza. There, Araeer set off the charge, killing himself and slightly injuring an Israeli soldier. The radical Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility. "He shouted 'Allahu Akbar' (God is Great) and blew himself up," an Israeli guard at the outpost told Israel television. The first suicide bombing in the present upheaval heightened fears that Israel could face a renewed wave of blasts, similar to the attacks on buses, markets and other public places that left scores dead in the mid-1990s. The number of these attacks went down sharply in recent years, especially since the May 1999 election of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. That was attributed to the Israeli-Palestinian peace moves and the sides' security cooperation. With peace efforts now in ruins, Israeli security officials warn of an escalation of the conflict. They point out that Palestinian authorities have released dozens of Islamic militants from jails and have put security links on hold. "We have been warning that these kinds of attacks were in the works," said army spokesman Col. Raanan Gissin. While the army blocked the main road in Gaza with a tank and uprooted olive trees that Palestinians could use for cover to fire on the isolated base, hundreds of people descended on the Araeer family home in Gaza City to offer condolences. Elsewhere in the West Bank and Gaza, sporadic clashes were reported Thursday, mostly involving youths hurling stones and firebombs at Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. However, several exchanges of fire were also reported. The diplomatic front appeared bleak, with Israel and the Palestinians giving a cool response to U.S. President Bill Clinton's proposal of meetings in Washington. "First of all, the Palestinians must stop the violence," demanded Danny Yatom, Barak's top adviser.

Palestinian leaders said the United States could no longer be the sole mediator, calling for the European Union, Russia and others to join any future talks. Meanwhile, Barak and Sharon worked on forging an "emergency Cabinet" that could salvage Barak's minority government. Barak needs such a coalition to stay in power, while Sharon is seeking a prime political role and a say in security affairs. Sharon raised harsh conditions, saying that his party will never accept surrendering control over any of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, or giving the strategic Jordan Valley to the Palestinians. "The ball is in the Israeli court now. Israel must decide whether it wants peace or continuation of occupation and seizure of Palestinian land," said Jibril Rajoub, the Palestinian security chief in the West Bank. Rajoub, who spent 17 years as security prisoner in Israel, spoke in Hebrew to Israeli journalists he invited on Thursday to Ramallah, a flashpoint of violence. He laced a call for "peace of coexistence" with warnings that Palestinian forces would defend their land against the Israeli army and settlers.

(AP)