On the bloodiest day in the occupied territories since Israel captured them in 1967, a Jewish settler killed at least 40 and possibly 50 Palestinians and wounded an estimated 150 others today, spraying them with automatic rifle fire as they knelt together in prayer at a shrine venerated by both Muslims and Jews.
The gunman, Dr. Baruch Goldstein, a 37-year-old resident of Qiryat Arba, opened fire on the Muslim worshipers at dawn in a mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs in the tinderbox West Bank city of Hebron. The terrorist attack came as the victims were gathered to offer prayers as part of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.
The Brooklyn -born settler, a follower of the anti-Arab Rabbi Meir Kahane, was apparently beaten to death by the worshipers after they overcame their initial terror.
Motives of Attacker Unclear
It remained unclear tonight whether the settler was motivated by revenge for recent attacks against Jews in the territories, or whether the massacre was an act of calculated political terrorism aimed at provoking confrontations that would cause the peace accord to unravel. The Israeli-Palestinian agreement calls for a gradual transition to Palestinian self-rule in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The massacre touched off Palestinian rioting and clashes with Israeli soldiers that claimed about 10 Arab lives elsewhere in Hebron and other parts of the Israeli-occupied territories.
As the country braced for possible days of retaliatory rage, a Jewish man in his 70's was killed by an ax-wielding Palestinian in Kfar Saba, an Israeli town near the West Bank.
Violence Spreads in Jerusalem
Violence also spread to the plateau in Jerusalem known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as the Temple Mount. More than 100,000 Muslims attended Friday services at Al Aksa Mosque, and later some attacked a police station and hurled huge stones at Israelis praying below at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site. The Israeli police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the Palestinians, but no deaths were reported.
The massacre of the Muslim worshipers in Hebron sent shock waves through the Middle East and beyond, raising fears for the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord and prompting President Clinton to summon both sides to Washington for nonstop negotiations aimed at keeping the peace effort alive.
The chairman of the P.L.O., Yasir Arafat, described the killings as a "true blow to the peace process."
Some Israeli Cabinet members called for an independent inquiry into the massacre. Others talked about possible crackdowns on the most extremist settler groups, especially movements like Kach and Kahane Chai that espouse the Arab-hating views of Rabbi Kahane, who was assassinated in 1990.
Army Closes Jewish Enclaves
Signaling its readiness for tougher measures, the army for the first time closed off Jewish enclaves in predominantly Palestinian Hebron, along with the rest of the city. It did the same with Qiryat Arba, a neighboring settlement and a center of militancy for settlers.
Meeting in emergency session, the Cabinet heard tentative reports that 40 to 50 people had been killed and about 150 others wounded when Dr. Goldstein opened fire at the shrine.
The Israeli Army withheld its own figures, but at one point during the day Israel Radio said that the military was estimating 39 dead and 85 wounded. At the Tunis headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization, officials put the death toll at 63 and the wounded at 270.
Swift Removal of Dead
Complicating the effort to arrive at an accurate figure was a combination of rumors, confusion and the swift removal of some of the bodies by Palestinians, a common action when deaths occur at the hands of Israelis.
Similarly unclear was whether Dr. Goldstein acted alone. According to reports, he had entered the mosque in the uniform of an Israeli Army reserve soldier, thus getting past soldiers who were posted outside during the Ramadan prayers, which coincided today with the Jewish holiday of Purim, which celebrates the delivery of the Jews from a Persian plot. The site of the Cave of the Patriarchs is revered by both Jews and Muslims because Abraham is believed to be buried there.
Israeli officials insisted that Mr. Goldstein had opened fire on his own. "It was a one-man show -- no question about it," said Gad Ben-Ari, a spokesman for Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Mr. Rabin, denouncing the massacre as "a loathsome, criminal act of murder," telephoned Mr. Arafat and told him that he was "ashamed as an Israeli," the spokesman said.
Survivors Talk of Grenades
But some survivors among the several hundred worshipers, who were jammed together in prayer -- row after row of bowed heads -- said that they had heard both rifle shots and grenade explosions coming from different directions, suggesting multiple attackers.
Some also charged that Israeli soldiers were slow to react, describing the horror as having lasted anywhere from 2 to 15 minutes. A few went so far as to accuse the Israeli Army of having been part of a plot.
Rejecting the contention that the gunman acted alone, Yasir Abed Rabbo, a senior P.L.O. official, said in Tunis: "How could this be done by a single man? And how long did it take him? Nobody is going to believe that over 300 people are going to be killed or injured by a single man."
Israeli Army officers insisted that soldiers stationed outside had "reacted immediately," in the words of one officer, but had trouble at first entering the mosque because they were stampeded by worshipers trying to escape. "There was complete pandemonium going on," the officer said.
35 Bullets in 12 Seconds
Officials said the weapon used by Dr. Goldstein, an Israeli-made Galil assault rifle, is capable of emptying a full magazine of 35 bullets in only 12 seconds. They said the gunman could then quickly reload and fire away again and then again, losing little time.
While it may take time to sort out fact from rumor, one thing was clear: Baruch Goldstein was able to unload several magazines in a very cramped space.
"We heard machine gun fire coming from the back as we prepared to kneel," said Shaaban Shweiki, a Hebron resident who escaped with a leg wound. "There were powerful explosions, and many people all around me were falling to the ground."
In the turmoil, some worshipers finally managed to overpower the attacker. An Israeli police spokesman, Eric Bar-Chen, said it seemed that Dr. Goldstein was beaten to death, although a final determination had not been made. A Palestinian told an Israeli television interviewer that worshipers struck the assailant with a fire extinguisher, killing him.
Settler Speaks of 'Mental Crisis'
Noam Arnon, a settler, said Dr. Goldstein had suffered a "mental crisis" brought on by frequent killings of Jews at Arab hands. Zvi Katzover, the Mayor of Qiryat Arba, said that Dr. Goldstein was the settlement's main physician and had treated many Jews wounded by Arabs, even holding a wounded man from Qiryat Arba in his arms as he lay dying after a Palestinian drive-by shooting two months ago.
"He spoke out against the Government's abandonment of security for Jews and against the settler leadership," Mr. Katzover said. "He said we should be more aggressive, although he didn't spell it out. I heard him express sorrow and pain about the peace process, that something serious should be done to blow up the process. He didn't talk about shooting and killing. But he said that a formula must be found to blow up the process."
Indeed, in a recent interview with Israel's Army Radio broadcast again today, Dr. Goldstein attacked the Israeli authorities for, in his view, failing to protect Jews living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
A suicide note that he left behind in Qiryat Arba did not speak of such matters, the radio reported.
"I very much enjoyed working with you," it said. "May God help you continue serving this holy community faithfully. With love of Israel, Baruch Goldstein."
Call to Disarm Settlers
Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem like Faisal al-Husseini said the time had come to disarm the 130,000 Jewish settlers in the territories and Mr. Arafat asked that the United Nations Security Council meet in urgent session to create an international force to protect Palestinians. The Council opened consultations in New York on a draft statement concerning the massacre.
While it seemed unlikely that the Israeli Government would take away the settlers' weapons, it may nonetheless have to come to grips in coming days with the question of possible new policies toward them.
Some leftist ministers in the Rabin Government suggested that a change may be in the wind, with talk of crackdowns on extremists.
The settlers are far from a monolithic force, and Hebron and Qiryat Arba shelter some of the most hard-line claimants to the Jewish right to populate the entire biblical Land of Israel.
Widespread Condemnation
Uri Ariel, leader of the dominant settlers' group, the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, denounced the Hebron attack. "This condemnation is unequivocal," he said. All major opposition parties on the political right issued similar condemnations.
But in Qiryat Arba and Hebron, where costumed parades for the festive Purim holiday continued as though nothing had happened, some residents applauded Mr. Goldstein.
"This is a great gift for Purim," said Aryeh Ben-Yosef of Qiryat Arba, a town of about 5,000. Using a phrase often used for martyrs, he said of the physician:
"God will avenge his blood."
Among the vast majority of Israelis living within the country's borders before the 1967 Middle East war, there was obvious shock at an act of brutality they usually associate with Arabs -- with themselves as the victims.
Still, normal rhythms did not change: The country celebrated Purim, and, as it does every Friday afternoon, it then slowed to the point of stopping for the Jewish Sabbath.
Concerned that Palestinian unrest may spread over the weekend, the army said that it has poured troop reinforcements into the territories and Jerusalem, including the walled Old City.
Fears of a new cycle of violence were borne out today as Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protesters clashed repeatedly after the mosque attack, leading to about 10 deaths and dozens of injuries. Fighting was especially severe around a hospital in Hebron where the mosque casualties were taken and in the Gaza Strip, a perennial source of unrest.
An armed wing of Hamas, the militant Islamic group, warned of reprisals for the Hebron massacre. In leaflets distributed in Gaza City, it said: "Our response will not take long."
