Palestinians Reach Truce to End Clashes

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM – Palestinian Authority security forces and protesters agreed to a truce on Wednesday to end violent clashes in Shechem, local officials said. The violence highlighted deep disenchantment with the internationally backed Palestinian leadership.

For now, the deal to end the clashes eases tensions in the area, which on Tuesday was gripped by some of the fiercest antagonism directed at the Palestinian Authority in years. But the truce failed to address the underlying and widespread opposition to Palestinian security coordination with Israel.

The clashes erupted after an arrest raid by Palestinian security of a Hamas operative. The two sides exchanged fire as angry residents pelted an armored jeep with objects and chased it away. One man, a bystander, was reported dead. The violence was reminiscent of the way Palestinians typically protest against Israeli troops.

A semblance of normal life returned on Wednesday. Shoppers walked around the debris from the clashes as firefighters atop cranes smashed broken glass out of storefront windows bordering the city’s main square. Palestinian security forces were deployed in armored vehicles in the city center.

A committee of Palestinian factions and other prominent figures said that under the truce, PA security forces would cease to arrest suspects wanted by Israel in the city, unless they broke Palestinian law. Authorities would discuss the release of one of the men arrested in the recent raid. They would also release Palestinians detained in Tuesday’s clashes, unless they damaged property or looted.

With reporting by AP.