'Excessive' Israeli force condemned

The funeral of a Palestinian killed on the Lebanon border

The United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution condemning the "excessive use of force" against the Palestinians.

The UN condemns acts of violence, especially the excessive use of force against Palestinians, resulting in injury and loss of human life

UN resolution

The United States - a key ally of Israel - abstained from the vote, but the other 14 members voted in favour.

The vote followed a warning from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak that he would break off peace negotiations if Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat failed to halt more than a week of violent clashes within 48 hours.

At least 80 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed during the unrest.

Although the UN resolution condemned the violence and urged a resumption of the peace dialogue, it made no direct reference to Israel by name.

Correspondents say this is a compromise aimed at heading off a threatened US veto of a bill which it described as biased against Israel.

Violence continues

Israeli warplanes attacked targets in southern Lebanon after the Hezbollah militant group captured three Israeli soldiers in the area.

Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops continued in Gaza

It was the first time Israeli aircraft had entered Lebanon since Israel pulled all its troops out of the country in May, ending a 22-year occupation.

Israeli officials have also closed Gaza airport after nine people were injured, two seriously, when Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a bus near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

In the West Bank town of Nablus, Joseph's Tomb, a Jewish shrine, was ransacked by Palestinian crowds after Israel withdrew its forces from the area.

President Clinton has telephoned both Mr Barak and Mr Arafat and appealed for calm as part of continuing US efforts to keep any hope of further peace talks alive.

Recriminations

Israel's Prime Minister Barak said if the Palestinians did not respond to his two-day deadline, the army would "use all means to end the violence".

Ehud Barak says the violence threatens the peace talks

A senior member of the Palestine National Council, Hanan Ashrawi, attacked Mr Barak's comments, describing them as typical of Israel in blaming the victims for the violence.

She told Mr Barak to call on his army to stop shooting Palestinian people on their own land, and called for a change in mentality among Israelis.

Israel must stop behaving like an occupying power and start behaving like a partner in peace, she suggested.

Artillery battles

The trouble on the Lebanon border after a riot in which Israeli soldiers shot dead at least two Palestinians.

Artillery battles have ensued along the border and Mr Barak has issued a demand to Syria and Lebanon to bring an end to the violence.

Israel confirmed that three of its soldiers had been captured by Hezbollah.

It said the armed forces would make "every effort to locate the abducted soldiers and to return them home safely".

Hezbollah said it had captured the soldiers from an Israeli army position in the Shebaa Farms district, an area that remained in dispute after the Israeli's withdrawal from Lebanon.

Arab anger

Anti-Israeli protests have continued across the Arab world, with the most violent taking place in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

The Hezbollah leader Sheikh Nazrallah has called for attacks on Israel

Reports say several policemen and students were injured in clashes as security forces tried to stop demonstrators marching on the Israeli embassy.

For a second day, there were similar scenes in the Syrian capital, Damascus, while in Amman, the Jordanian authorities banned demonstrations after one person was killed at a Palestinian camp on Friday.

Amid mounting Arab anger, the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, has continued his efforts to convene an emergency Arab summit.