ABC

Blast at Palestinian Security HQ Meanwhile, two Palestinian policemen died in an apparent gas explosion at a Palestinian security headquarter in Bethlehem. A police spokesman said the explosion was from our stores and has nothing to do with the clashes. Police were evacuating wounded and ammunition following the explosion, which shattered the windows of a jeep in the police courtyard. In other signs of friction, Palestinian stone throwers clashed with Israeli soldiers, who responded with tear gas, in the northern Gaza Strip around midday. In Hebron in the West Bank, similar clashes erupted after Palestinians found graffiti insulting the prophet Mohammed on walls near the Jewish enclave. No injuries were reported.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), October 19, 2000