Palestinian negotiators called off a planned round of peace talks with Israel yesterday to protest the killing of three Palestinians in clashes with Israeli troops in the Qalandiya refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.

The talks were due to have taken place in the West Bank town of Jericho, following negotiations last week in Jerusalem.

Palestinian officials said the decision to cancel the peace talks was also to protest Israel’s decision on Sunday to press ahead with construction of more homes for Jewish residents in east Jerusalem neighbourhoods.

A general strike has been called in the West Bank today to protest yesterday’s killings, but it is expected that the peace talks will resume today if the atmosphere remains calm.

The clashes occurred during a pre-dawn raid by an undercover border police unit who were trying to arrest a wanted Palestinian militant.

Undercover units disguised as Arabs are often used in such operations to arrest fugitives.



Protest

However, Qalandiya residents identified the undercover unit, and more than 1,000 people took to the streets, throwing cinder blocks and metal rods at the soldiers.

Regular troop reinforcements were sent to the camp and in the ensuing clashes three residents were killed and more than a dozen wounded.

The Israeli army spokesman said the soldiers opened fire, according to standing orders, when they believed their lives were in danger.

“Large violent crowds such as this which significantly outnumber security forces leave no other choice but to resort to live fire in self-defence,” said military spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner.

Armed militants fired into the air during the funerals of the three men and clashes resumed at Qalandiya and at a number of locations throughout the West Bank.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, condemned Israel for what he termed its assassination of the three men. He said the “crimes” committed by the Israelis and their continued settlement construction were a clear sign of Israel’s true intentions.



Peace process

Mr Rudeineh called on the US to intervene and prevent a collapse of the peace process.

Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah also condemned the incident. “Such a crime proves the need for an urgent and effective international protection for our people.”

Such clashes in the West Bank have been relatively rare over the last few years although a Palestinian was killed last week in Jenin during an exchange of fire when troops tried to detain a wanted militant.

The timing of yesterday’s incident was particularly unfortunate after US secretary of state John Kerry invested months of shuttle diplomacy in order to get the sides to agree to sit together around the negotiating table.

It is expected that Israeli troops will now be under strict orders to show maximum restraint in order to restore calm to facilitate the resumption of negotiations.

Over the weekend Mr Abbas indicated that he would be willing to meet Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu to boost peace talks, but so far there has been no response from Israel.