8 Palestinians killed in fighting

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israeli soldiers killed eight Palestinians in bitter clashes yesterday, the highest death toll in nearly a month. There were no celebrations to mark what Palestinians see as their symbolic independence day - only more funerals and more violence.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who had promised his people independence this year, avoided mention of the anniversary, but other prominent Palestinians said they would not stop fighting until they have a state.

The intense fighting was a sad contrast to the funeral of Leah Rabin, widow of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The Israeli leader was assassinated five years ago by a Jewish extremist who opposed his peace initiatives. Mrs. Rabin died Sunday of cancer.

In what appeared to be a gesture to the Israeli people, Arafat gave a videotaped eulogy that was broadcast on Israeli television. He said, "I put with all the respects a flower from Palestine on your coffin, renewing my commitment for peace." The eulogy was not broadcast on Palestinian television.

But exchanges of gunfire, not talk of peace, set the tone yesterday.

"The political rhetoric has been replaced by field action," Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi said in apparent reference to recent Palestinian ambushes of Israeli soldiers and settlers on roads in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"In a sense, the army of occupation and the settlers have become legitimate and select targets of Palestinian resistance," she said.

Arafat emerged briefly from his seaside office in Gaza City to make a terse plea for the international community to "push the peace process forward."

Arafat has repeatedly pledged this year would bring Palestinian sovereignty, but the current hostility has eliminated any chance of a negotiated settlement for now. He has also backed away from unilaterally declaring an independent state.

Israel, which suspended peace talks amid the violence, said it would not resume negotiations until calm is restored.

"We are in the middle of a march of folly, and this tragic situation needs to be brought to an end," said Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami.