Palestinians took to the streets of the West Bank on Sunday to protest against the Sharm el-Sheikh summit aimed at stopping the violence across the region, witnesses said.
In Ramallah, scene of some of the worst clashes in the 17 days of violence, around 500 people called on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to shun the summit in a demonstration there.
Protestors clashed with Israeli soldiers at the entrance to the town, witnesses said, but there were no immediate details of casualties.
In Bethlehem, in the south of the West Bank, hundreds marched in several protests, which began following Sunday mass.
Hundreds of demonstrators chanted "No to Sharm el-Sheikh, because the Israelis have killed children and old people."
Other protesters threw rocks and bottles at Israeli soldiers deployed to protect a Jewish holy site at the entrance to the town. The troops replied with tear gas and rubber-coated bullets, injuring four.
Another anti-summit march took place in Taqoh, east of Bethlehem.
Clashes also occurred in the Hussan area to the west of the town where Palestinians damaged an electricity generator supplying the neighboring Jewish settlement of Betar Elit, according to witnesses.
In a statement, the fundamentalist Islamic Jihad slammed Arafat's participation at the summit, saying it would damage Palestinian cohesion with the Arab and Islamic world -- RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP)
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