The armed wing of the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility Friday for a suicide bombing in the West Bank that killed one Israeli soldier and two Palestinians. Activists in the West Bank village of Atil, near Tulkarem, declared on loudspeakers that the bomber was Sohieb Ibrahim Yassin, 19.
Meanwhile, Palestinian policemen angry over the killing of a fellow police officer left the Gaza Strip-Egypt crossing in Rafah on Friday after storming it earlier in the day. The protest included firing in the air and forcing European observers to close the border and flee, Palestinian and European officials said.
Some 100 policemen entered the Rafah compound and took up positions alongside border patrol officers at the customs section of the crossing, Palestinian security officials and witnesses said.
The European monitors fled the area, fearing the situation was spinning out of control, the officials said.
