Six Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers died yesterday in one of the worst days of violence since the current unrest began in the Palestinian territories.
Three Palestinians, including a policeman, were killed and 12 wounded in a gunbattle at the West Bank village of El-Khader, near Bethlehem, hospital officials said. An Israeli Defence Forces spokeswoman said two soldiers were shot in the fighting at El-Khader. The gunbattle saw Israeli helicopter gunships pitted against Palestinian snipers.
An Israeli reservist was killed during exchanges near the Palestinian-ruled city of Jericho, also on the West Bank. In an apparent retaliation, Israeli helicopters fired rockets at a Palestinian Authority building near the town.
Witnesses identified the building as a training centre for Palestinian police. Huge plumes of smoke clouded the sky after the attack.
Military censors held up publication of the three soldiers' deaths for several hours pending notification of next of kin. Another three Palestinians, two of them aged 15 and the other 17, died in the latest clashes in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, called a meeting of his security cabinet to review the situation. Meanwhile, the Jewish settlement of Gilo, near Jerusalem, again came under fire from the Palestinian village of Beit Jala. The two villages face each other across a ravine. Mr Danny Yatom, an aide to the Prime Minister, said there had been "a very negative jump in the scope and severity of events".
Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza yesterday attended the funerals of four Palestinians killed in clashes on Tuesday at the Karni commercial crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
The crowd chanted slogans of revenge as the bodies draped in Palestinian flags were carried to the cemetery.
Also in Gaza, President Arafat held talks with the German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, who was coming to the end of his Middle East tour. The President urged a German and European initiative to restore the peace process. The Palestinians have accused the US of being biased towards Israel.
Mr Schroder expressed support at the meeting for the establishment of a Palestinian state but cautioned against unilateral steps, an apparent reference to suggestions that the Palestinians might go ahead even without a peace deal.
The former Israeli prime minister, Mr Shimon Peres met President Arafat for talks in Gaza on how to halt the growing violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Mr Peres is regional co-operation minister in the Barak government.
A bomb exploded near a civilian jeep in the heart of west Jerusalem close to the Jerusalem Theatre, but there were no injuries, a police spokesman said. The bomb exploded in the residential Talbie neighbourhood but the motive was not clear.
Meanwhile, the senior Palestinian negotiator, Mr Saeb Erekat, is to go to the US tomorrow for talks with the Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, and the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan.