Five die as thousands protest on Palestinian day of rage

Five people have died as thousands of Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops in a day of rage.

Five Palestinians were killed and 81 injured by Israeli fire in stone-throwing clashes and gun battles, Palestinian doctors say.

Another 55 were hurt by rubber-coated steel bullets, according to hospital officials.

Across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, demonstrators burned Israeli and US flags, as well as effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

In one march, led by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, the crowd chanted: "Sharon, wait, Fatah is going to open your grave in Gaza."

One of the fiercest clashes erupted in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Hundreds of Palestinians threw stones at troops who responded with rubber bullets and live rounds, killing a 21-year-old Palestinian.

After an hour, Palestinian gunmen joined the confrontation, drawing heavy Israeli fire from tank-mounted machine guns. In the town of Nablus, four Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops.

In the divided town of Hebron, Palestinians fired at Jewish enclaves, and in return Israeli tanks shelled the neighbourhood where the gunmen had taken up position.

In the Gaza Strip, 30 gunmen from Arafat's Fatah group led a large march, firing in the air.

Israel's defence minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, has said Israel will send forces to "any place we feel is endangering us."

The Islamic militant group Hamas, which carried out two suicide bombings this week, killing two Israeli teenagers, said more attacks would follow. "Our message to Sharon is that we will not give up," said the Hamas leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

In Israel's Arab communities, tens of thousands of people marched peacefully to mark Land Day, a symbol of Israel's 1.2 million strong Arab community's struggle for equality. Land Day is the annual commemoration of 1976 protests against land expropriation in which six Israeli Arabs were killed by police.