Israelis Impose More Curfews in Occupied Zones Amid Arab Strike

JERUSALEM — The Israeli army ordered more than 145,000 Palestinians to remain in their homes Friday in the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank, and thousands more stayed away from work in a general strike protesting the imprisonment of Arab women.

A 23-year-old Palestinian died Thursday in an Arab East Jerusalem hospital more than a week after he was shot in the head during a clash between soldiers and demonstrators in the West Bank town of Jenin, Palestinian sources and hospital officials said Friday.

Soldiers shot Abdul Fatah Alayan July 20, one of the worst days of violence in the occupied territories in two months. Three Palestinians were killed that day.

Scattered demonstrations, roadblocks and stone-throwing incidents were reported in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said. The army clamped curfews on at least six towns and U.N.-run refugee camps in the occupied territories.

Soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse stone-throwing Palestinian women demonstrating in the Nusseirat camp against the 21-year Israeli occupation, an army spokesman said.

A 35-year-old Palestinian from the Jabaliya camp was brought to a hospital suffering from wounds he said he received when soldiers beat him, Palestinian sources said.

The man, who said a tear gas canister exploded near his head, also had a deep 6-inch-long cut on the right side of his head, the sources said.

Arab merchants in East Jerusalem closed their shops Friday in observance of a general strike called by the underground committee organizing the uprising. The strike, called in solidarity with imprisoned Palestinian women, also shut down commerce and transportation in the West Bank. The Gaza Strip observed a general strike Wednesday.