Israeli troops shot dead four Palestinian protesters yesterday as thousands of people took to the streets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to demonstrate against the siege of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, witnesses said.
The protests, which erupted after midnight and resumed around midday, were the first sign of popular support for Arafat since troops besieged his West Bank headquarters on Thursday and prompted aides to suggest the army's siege could backfire.
Buoyed by the support, Arafat vowed never to surrender to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and refused to hand over 50 suspected militants who Israel says are holed up with him in his devastated presidential headquarters in the city of Ramallah.
"He reiterated he will not kneel before Sharon and has issued an order to his men that no one may surrender from the building," said Hatem Abdel Khader, a Palestinian aide who spoke to Arafat by phone.
Israel had said earlier about 20 suspects were hiding inside the compound. The number was raised to 50 after people leaving the headquarters area were questioned by Israeli security services.
Marching under pictures of the Palestinian leader and chanting "We will give our soul and blood for Arafat," protesters poured onto streets of Gaza City and in Hebron, Tubas, Salfit and Bethlehem in the West Bank after midnight. Some were armed.
Palestinian hospital officials said two protesters were shot dead overnight in Ramallah and two others were killed in the early hours of the morning in the northern West Bank. The army confirmed only two of the deaths, and said its troops killed armed men and were responding to gunfire.
Palestinian hospital sources also said an Israeli soldier killed a teenager who defied a curfew in the West Bank city of Nablus. They said the soldier fired from a tank-mounted machinegun but the army had no information about the fifth reported death.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Bethlehem under posters of Arafat. "We are all under siege," they shouted.
Suggesting the siege could backfire by rallying support for Arafat among his disgruntled population, Palestinian Labor Minister Ghassan al-Khatib said, "It is strengthening Arafat. It is giving [him] public sympathy and public credibility."
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