Rumors spread that the reservists were part of an elite undercover Israeli unit, leading a Palestinian mob to subsequently storm the police station.

A Palestinian mob attacked the Israelis, stoned them, beat them and tried to set their truck on fire.

The settlements' greenhouses, which were left intact by Israel, were also looted by Palestinian mobs.

A few dozen miles away, on the West Bank, Israeli soldiers were fighting pitched battles with frenzied Palestinian mobs.

However, the list of religious sites destroyed by extremism failed to include the destruction of Joseph's Tomb in the West Bank last fall by a Palestinian mob.

Let's not forget who is at fault in this situation: the Palestinian mob.

Now they respond to the murder of two Israeli soldiers by a Palestinian mob in Ramallah with helicopter gunships (front page, Oct. 13).

To the Editor: Regarding the recent violence in the Middle East, an Oct. 3 letter says, "Let's not forget who is at fault in this situation: the Palestinian mob."

But the Egyptian leader did an about-face on Thursday after a Palestinian mob killed two Israeli solidiers and Israel retaliated with strikes by helicopter gunships.

Another source blames "a Palestinian mob".