Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian demonstrator in clashes in the Martyrs Junction, known to Israelis as Netzarim, in Gaza Strip on Saturday, and later fired rockets on a nearby college, hospital officials and witnesses said.
Hisham Muqbel, 43, was so far the only man to be killed on Friday in the Palestinian territories on the ninth day of deadly clashes that also spilled briefly into Israel.
Scattered incidents of violence broke out in parts of the Gaza Strip and West Bank but most of the region witnessed a calm not seen since the first clashes erupted more than a week ago, with the focus turning to violence on the border with Lebanon.
But in the West Bank town of Nablus, a Palestinian mob used iron bars, pickaxes and hammers to demolish a Jewish shrine only hours after the Israeli army pulled out of what had been a deadly flashpoint.
"It is better to destroy it to make sure that the Jews don't come back," said one demonstrator.
One soldier was injured when shots were fired during the pre-dawn pullout of the 12-man detachment from Joseph's Tomb in an Israeli-controlled enclave of the Palestinian-ruled town of Nablus.
A total of 88 people have been killed since the unrest was sparked by a controversial visit to a Jerusalem site holy to Muslims and Jews by right-wing Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon last week and Israel had been preparing for more trouble following Friday's "Day of Rage."
Later Saturday, witnesses said the army fired rockets on Arafat College near Netzarim junction after a gunfight between armed Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in an army base guarding the nearby Jewish settlement.
Two Palestinians were wounded in the attack and subsequent clashes between Israeli soldiers and demonstrators, one of whom was hit by a live round. Witnesses said rockets also hit an apartment building left in ruins by a similar attack earlier in the week and a disused factory building.
In a separate incident in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt, a 12-year-old child was in a serious condition after being shot in the abdomen with a live bullet.
Four people were injured in the West Bank city of Hebron, when Israeli forces fired on demonstrators in the center of the city, witnesses said. They said the army had used live bullets, although the demonstration by about 150 professionals such as doctors was passing off peacefully.
Another seven were lightly wounded in a later outbreak of clashes in the divided city.
In Tulkarem, in the northern West Bank, four youths were shot in the legs with live bullets in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops at a checkpoint in the town.
In the Gaza Strip, more than 10,000 people attended the funeral in Rafah refugee camp of one of the earlier victims of the clashes. Dozens of participants fired into the air, shouting: "Revenge, Revenge," and "We are going to al-Aqsa."
There were similar scenes at funerals in Khan Yunis, also in the south of the Strip, and the Mughazi refugee camp further north – GAZA CITY (AFP)
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