Israel: October 7, 2000

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The violence continued. The army withdrew from Joseph's Tomb, which was promptly attacked and demolished by Palestinians. The government gave the Palestinian Authority 48 hours to end the violence, otherwise the army would be unleashed. A bus carrying Israelis towards the Egyptian border was shot up, injuring eight. An Israeli civilian was killed by stone throwers. A Jewish mob burned down an abandoned mosque. On the Israeli border with Lebanon, Hezbollah ambushed an army patrol and took three soldiers prisoner. Hezbollah mortars, rockets and machine-guns hit Israel. Four soldiers were wounded. Israeli artillery and warplanes hit targets in southern Lebanon, wounding some twenty civilians.  The Hezbollah demanded that all Lebanese held in Israel be freed in order to get the captured soldiers back. Israel threatened to attack major targets in Lebanon and Syria if the soldiers were not returned. The Hezbollah operates under the protection of the Syrian army.  This could mean war.