Barak, Arafat to meet in Paris

JERUSALEM (AP) Ñ Palestinian gunmen battled Israeli soldiers yesteray at isolated army posts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that have degenerated into virtual free-fire zones, as both sides defied a cease-fire call on the eve of a U.S. attempt to salvage peacemaking.

YesterdayÕs death toll of five was the lowest since the fighting began last week. In addition, 206 people were injured, according to the Palestinians. Overall, 56 people have died and at least 1,300 have been wounded, the vast majority Palestinian.

ÒThe results have been very painful,Ó Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said, adding that he had called on IsraelÕs security forces Òto make a supreme effort to prevent further casualties.Ó

Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat head to Paris today in hopes that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright can help end the fighting and revive peace talks. The two also have agreed to meet in Egypt with President Hosni Mubarak tomorrow.

Barak, meanwhile, was battling for political survival at home, trying to appease Arab legislators who are threatening to topple his government over the harsh crackdown on rioters in IsraelÕs Arab towns. The internal rebellion, the worst since IsraelÕs founding 52 years ago, has blocked highways and closed schools, paralyzing large parts of northern Israel.

With the Israelis blasting away with heavy weapons, such as rockets launched from helicopters, and with the Palestinians routinely firing automatic rifles, the intensity of the fighting sometimes resembles a war and has surpassed levels seen during the 1987-93 Palestinian uprising and three days of firefights in 1996.

ÒI have been dealing with such riots since 1987 and É there has never been anything on this level Ñ not when it comes to clashes and certainly not when it comes to the use of weapons,Ó said Yisrael Yitzhak, commander of IsraelÕs paramilitary border police in the West Bank.

The heaviest clashes yesterday were again in the chaotic West Bank and Gaza Strip, where a hastily arranged cease-fire quickly unraveled at a pair of chronic trouble spots.

Palestinian television broadcast an appeal in Hebrew to Israeli soldiers not to open fire, and a senior Palestinian official said an international inquiry into IsraelÕs actions would be a condition of reviving the peace talks.

ÒWe think that the Israeli crimes committed against our people attacked the heart of the peace process,Ó said Nabil Abourdeneh, a top aide to Arafat. But BarakÕs office said he Òtotally rejected the call for an international investigation.Ó

At one point late yesterday, the Paris talks were almost called off, after Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath reportedly said Arafat had no intention of meeting with Barak in Paris. Barak informed the Americans that in this case, he would not go to Paris, the prime ministerÕs office said.

The prime minister only relented after he was informed by U.S. mediators that Arafat was ready to see Barak, the statement said. Arafat spokesman Nabil Abourdeneh has said that for now the Palestinian leader only planned to meet separately with Albright, but that a three-way session Ñ Arafat-Barak-Albright Ñ was possible.

Israeli troops, backed by a helicopter gunship, traded gunfire with Palestinians at an army outpost near the remote Jewish settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip, part of an on-and-off battle thatÕs been running for days.

Palestinian rock throwers dropped face-down in the streets, seeking cover amid sustained blasts of automatic rifle fire. Shortly afterward, wailing ambulances arrived to take away the casualties.

One manÕs head was mutilated by an Israeli rocket, and his fellow Palestinians picked up parts of his brain and waved their bloodstained hands in the air.

In the West Bank town of Nablus, besieged Israeli forces also called in helicopter fire to drive back Palestinians shooting on the tiny Israeli enclave of JosephÕs Tomb.

After an emotional funeral for a 15-year-old Palestinian boy, Palestinians headed directly to the Israeli outpost. Several gunmen dashed to the edge of the compound and raised their rifles to shoot over the stone wall surrounding the tomb.

Youths relied on black smoke from burning tires to provide cover as they darted toward the wall and hurled firebombs toward the tomb, believed by some to hold the remains of the biblical patriarch