As the final statement of the Sharm Al Sheikh summit was being made this afternoon, Farid Moussa Issa Massassrah, 28 years old from Beit Farouk, Nablus was shot dead by Israeli settlers while picking olives in his family's olive grove. Israeli settlers, under the protection of the Israeli military, attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives in their orchards in Beit Farouk, firing live ammunition at the farmers. Farid was shot in the head with live ammunition, and three others were injured, including Farid's cousin, Majdi Mahmoud Issa, 42 years old from Beit Farouk, who was shot by live ammunition in his chest, and remains in critical condition. Ambulances were prevented from entering the area to transport the injured, in addition to preventing civilian cars carrying those injured.
Mohammad Hassan Taleb Al Dakheel, 26 years old, from Nablus, died this afternoon as a result of injuries sustained on 2 October. Mohammad has been in critical condition for the past 17 days after being shot in the head by live ammunition.
Thousands of Palestinians participated in the funeral of 14 year old Muayad Osama Abd Al Jawarish from Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, who was killed yesterday after being shot with live ammunition to his head.* Severe clashes erupted following the funeral in the Bethlehem area. Exchange of fire was reported near the Southern entrance of Bethlehem. The Southern Commander of the Israeli Defence Forces stated this evening that one soldier was wounded and is in critical condition. He stated further that tanks had been deployed around Beit Jala, and that Israeli attack helicopters would be brought in if the situation did not calm down. Recent reports state the Israeli helicopters are preparing to attack the village.
At Beit Hanoun/Erez Crossing in Gaza, Nabil Sa'ed Abed Khater, 41 years old, from Shaja'iyeh, Gaza, and a member of the Palestinian National Security, was killed after being shot in the chest by live ammunition. At least 40 Palestinian workers were injured after clashes erupted at the crossing, including Jalal Abu Hajar, 30 years old from Jabalya, who is in critical condition from live ammunition to his stomach. Reports received this past hour state that Rafah Refugee Camp has been attacked by Israeli helicopters firing LAW missiles, with 4 injuries reported thus far. No further information is available.
In Ramallah, clashes erupted once again at the Northern entrance of the city. There have been no reports of serious injuries thus far. Recent reports state that heavy gunfire is being heard from the nearby Israeli settlement of Pisgot.
In Jenin this afternoon, Israeli settlers attempted to destroy 55 dunums of Palestinian Olive orchards in the area. Olive harvesting is one of the main livlihoods for many villages in the West Bank and Gaza. Jenin has been declared a closed military zone by the Israeli authorities.
Clashes continued throughout other cities in the West Bank in protest to the Sharm Al Sheikh agreement. A strict internal closure remains in place within the West Bank, despite agreements made this afternoon to lift it. Israeli controlled areas of Hebron remain under curfew for the 18th consecutive day, with attacks by Israeli settlers reportedly taking place in the evening. The village of Huwarra remains under curfew for the 10th consecutive day. The majority of villages and towns in the northern West Bank remain completely isolated from one another, with a number of areas declared closed military zones. The prevention of medical supplies and food reaching these areas continues.
This afternoon, medical supplies and equipment flown in to Egypt and intended to be transported to Gaza for Palestinian hospitals was prevented from entering by the Israeli authorities on the Egypt-Gaza border crossing.
**Correction: In Update--16 October 2000, Web posted 11:50 PM GMT+2, we reported that Muayad was shot in his stomach. He was shot to the head with live ammunition on his way home from school.
The September 2000 Clashes Information Center website, http://www.addameer.org/september2000/ was down this evening. Both Palestine Online and Planet, the two local service providers hosting the site, went down between 8PM-10PM. Our service provider has managed through great risk to his personal safety to get to the server in order to repair the problem. The server is near Jerusalem, which is currently blocked off by Israeli military checkpoints. We are currently in the process of moving the site to be hosted outside the country for increased reliability and security. In the event that the server does go down again, we will continue to offer regular updates through our contacts abroad. Please note that our mirror sites at the moment are: