Israel went on alert today for a possible wave of Arab unrest after a Jewish army deserter shot dead four Israeli Arabs on a bus.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon condemned the gunman, a teenage Israeli who was beaten to death by enraged residents after the attack in the Arab town of Shfaram, as a "bloodthirsty terrorist" bent on poisoning Jewish-Arab relations
A crowd of Israeli Arabs surrounds a bus after a shooting in the town of Shfaram left four dead and 22 injured
Mr Sharon vowed that Israel would begin pulling its settlers and forces out of the occupied Gaza Strip as planned on August 17th, no matter what attempts were made to thwart it.
Thousands of Israeli police redeployed to heavily Arab areas of northern Israel, where yesterday's attack aboard an intercity bus occurred, to pre-empt potential riots before or after funerals slated for the four dead later in the day.
Another feared hotspot was a Jerusalem shrine sacred to both Muslims and Jews where Islamic Friday prayers were scheduled.
The main Palestinian militant faction Hamas, which with other armed groups adopted a de facto ceasefire with Israel in February, threatened reprisals for the bus shooting.
Hundreds of people in Shfaram paid condolence visits to families of the dead -- the bus driver and a middle-aged man, both Christians, and two sisters in their 20s who were Muslims. At least 22 people, most of them Arabs, were wounded.
Arabs make up about one-fifth of Israel's population and often complain of discrimination. They have sympathised with a Palestinian revolt in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, but few have got involved in militancy.
Israel's army said the gunman, Eden Nathan Zaada (19), had deserted his unit recently and was "of problematic background".
Security agencies had warned that Jewish militants could target Palestinians or Israeli Arabs to whip up conflict to try to stop the removal of Jewish settlers from occupied Gaza.
Israel Radio quoted Zaada's mother as saying she contacted the army two weeks ago to say he was armed, held ultrarightist views and could be dangerous, but that nothing was done.
Israeli media said Zaada, who was from a Tel Aviv suburb but moved recently to a radical Jewish settlement in the West Bank, had left his unit in protest at army preparations to forcibly remove settlers who resist evacuation from Gaza.
Police arrested three youths in the Tapuach settlement on suspicion they knew of Zaada's intent to kill Arabs.
Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered that Zaada not be buried in a military cemetery because "he was not worthy", a ministry statement said.