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Six More Palestinians Die in Clashes With Israeli Soldiers

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JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: This week's intensive mediation efforts by the United States have failed to pull Israelis and Palestinians back from the brink.

Violence exploded again Friday in the West Bank and Gaza as Palestinian groups called for confrontations with Israeli forces. At least six more Palestinians were killed, raising the overall death toll to at least 76.

There were furious clashes in Jerusalem's old city. Israeli police stormed a bitterly contested holy site, tearing down Palestinian flags, while Palestinians torched a police station. Dozens of injuries were reported.

The worst of the violence was in Gaza, where Palestinians attacked Israeli posts with rocks, firebombs and gunfire.

CNN's Ben Wedeman reports.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One more funeral, and for the people of Gaza, another martyr for Palestine. Palestinian groups declared Friday a day of rage, and that rage wasn't hard to find in the streets of Gaza, where the coffin of Mahmoud Sbeitah (ph) was carried aloft by a chanting crowd. Sbeitah was killed in a clash with Israeli forces Thursday.

And there was rage at Netzarim Junction, where mostly teenage boys, aided by a lone woman, hurled stones, Molotov cocktails, and home-made bombs at invisible Israeli soldiers hunkering down in a bunker or firing 0.50 caliber rounds from a distant settlement. The few Palestinian police at Netzarim were either unwilling or unable to hold back the crowd.

(on camera): The area between where I'm standing and the factory behind me has become a free-fire zone. Whoever crosses does so at his own risk.

(voice-over): Despite the danger, many made it across safely to get closer to the Israeli position. Some were pinned down; others weren't so lucky. Palestinians have become accustomed to this dangerous duel, but when a hail of bullets rips through the air, panic breaks out. Cover is where you find it. "The Israelis only know the language of force," says Yusif, "so that is the language we will speak."

But the language of force is taking a heavy toll here. Throughout the day ambulances ferry the wounded to hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to see heroes. Heroes Palestine.

WEDEMAN: "More martyrs," they say here, "for Palestine."

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Netzarim Junction, Gaza.

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