Hundreds of Palestinians hurled stones and bottles Saturday at Israeli troops, who fired back with rubber-coated bullets in a clash that lasted for hours. Seven protesters and one Israeli border police officer were injured.
The conflict in Hebron occurred near a Jewish settlement and apparently was spontaneous, reflecting anger over the stalled peace process.
It came as Palestinians denounced Israel’s latest stance on Jewish settlements and troop deployments, and accused U.S. envoy Dennis Ross of siding with Israel.
The deafening boom of percussion grenades echoed through busy shopping streets in the center of Hebron as the two sides fought off and on for several hours before the crowd of 400 protesters dispersed.
Even at the height of the clash, the two sides called an occasional truce to let pedestrians pass.
“Cease fire!” the stone-throwers and soldiers would shout, and Palestinian shoppers would scurry through.
