THE 19-year-old who killed four Israeli Arabs on a bus had deserted the army to protest at Israel’s upcoming withdrawal from Gaza, taking refuge in a militant Jewish settlement with his military-issued rifle.

Thousands of police fanned out across northern Israel and Jerusalem today to prevent possible rioting as a grieving and angry Arab community prepared to bury four Israeli Arabs gunned down by a Jewish soldier opposed to Israel’s impending pullout from the Gaza Strip.

A JEWISH extremist opened fire inside a bus yesterday, killing four Israeli Arabs before being slain by an angry crowd, police said.

A passenger on an Israeli bus opened fire on today, killing three people in an apparent argument among passengers, an Israeli police spokesman said. Five other people were wounded.