U.N. Relief Agency Protests Increase in Arab Casualties

JERUSALEM — A U.N. relief agency protested today to the Israeli army about the sharp rise in the number of Palestinian casualties since July in the occupied territories.

Meanwhile, a 19-year-old Arab protester died after he was shot in the mouth, two other Arabs were shot and killed and at least 34 others were wounded today as violence swept the West Bank and Gaza Strip, hospital officials said.

The clashes came as Palestinians staged a general strike in the territories to protest the jailing of thousands of Arab activists by Israel. Militants hoisted white sheets sprayed with red swastikas and scrawled anti-Israeli graffiti on walls.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which aids Palestinian refugees, said the number of Palestinians shot by army gunfire in the Gaza Strip jumped from 19 in July to 130 so far this month. The count did not include today’s casualty toll. Figures for the West Bank are still being compiled.

“There is a clear trend of a growing use of live ammunition that cannot be justified,” a senior U.N. official said. “Our concern is very real. This is not just a knee-jerk reaction to a bad day.”

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, linked the increase in casualties to the introduction in August of plastic bullets that penetrate the body like live ammunition but generally are not fatal unless fired from less than 20 yards.

The introduction of plastic bullets lowered the threshold for opening fire. While troops are allowed to use live ammunition only in life-threatening situations, they can now fire plastic bullets to disperse stone-throwers.

In violent clashes in the Arab village of Jabal Mukaber straddling Jerusalem’s city limits, riot police fatally shot 19-year-old Jamal Mattar in the mouth during a stone-throwing protest, officials at Jerusalem’s Mukassed Hospital said.

An Israeli photographer said about 20 stone-throwers faced off with riot police, with the two groups standing on opposing hills. Police fired tear gas and then live ammunition, the photographer said.

Mattar’s death brought to 272 the number of Palestinians killed since the uprising began Dec. 8. Six Israelis have been killed.