JERUSALEM – A shaky cease-fire held Saturday through violence and mutual complaints, while U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Israel and the Palestinians to build quickly on the truce by taking steps toward peace talks.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called on Israel to rein in Jewish settlers and said Israel hadn’t loosened restrictions on Palestinian areas enough to make life easier.
Israeli officials charged that Mr. Arafat had failed to clearly order an end to all shooting, saying a reduction in violence falls far short of a cease-fire.
Violence has diminished. But Saturday night, Palestinian gunmen began firing on Israeli troops near the border with Egypt. When residents, fearful of Israeli retaliatory fire, tried to stop them, they began firing randomly, killing a boy and injuring four people, witnesses and Palestinian security officials said. Suleyman al-Massari, 12, died.
A Palestinian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Palestinian authorities were searching for “some gunmen who are not respecting the law.”
Witnesses initially said Israeli forces had fired back, but the official said that wasn’t clear. The Israeli army declined to comment.
Kahled Abu Musa, a 29-year-old grocery store owner, said he and others saw armed men shooting at Israeli troops.
“Some residents tried to prevent them from shooting from the residential area,” he said. “The gunmen started firing randomly and I saw some people start to fall down.”
Earlier Saturday, five Palestinians were slightly injured in the Gaza Strip after throwing stones and, according to the Israeli army, climbing a fence outside Neve Dekalim settlement. The army said soldiers fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the group. Hospital officials in Khan Yunis said the injuries came from live ammunition.
The Israeli army also reported Palestinian gunfire, grenades and two mortar shells before dawn Saturday at Israeli targets in the Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported.
After talks with Mr. Annan, Mr. Arafat said he had told the U.N. chief that “unfortunately, the situation is very difficult.”
“Settler attacks have increased. … Movement on the roads remains difficult,” Mr. Arafat said, “and I am sorry to say that Israeli soldiers are not listening to the orders they get from the political leadership.”
Under the cease-fire agreement mediated by CIA director George Tenet, both sides committed to preventing violence and resuming security cooperation. Israel was required to begin redeploying its troops to positions held before violence broke out Sept. 28 and to set a timetable with the Palestinians for lifting the closure.
Israel has reopened some roads and allowed food, fuel and other goods to move in and out of Palestinian areas. But Palestinians say too many main West Bank roads are still closed and long lines remain at some Israeli checkpoints on open roads. Crossing from Palestinian areas to Jordan and Egypt also was slow.
Avi Pazner, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Palestinian gunfire showed that Mr. Arafat had not made clear that all violence must stop.
Since violence broke out Sept. 28, 491 people on the Palestinian side and 111 on the Israeli side have been killed.
Mr. Arafat said Saturday that the Palestinians were committed to the cease-fire. “We hope the other side will make the same commitment, especially to stop the crimes of settlers against our crops and our people and our villages everywhere,” he added.
