ISRAEL-P.L.O. . . . NEW TENSIONS AFTER DEADLY MELEE

As thousands of Palestinians chanted "Death to Israel" in Gaza City while PLO police buried three comrades who were killed in a skirmish with Israeli soldiers Monday night, some Palestinian police vowed revenge for the bloodiest clash since autonomy began. The incident, an Israeli army attack on a Palestinian police station near the village of Beit Hanoun, instantly threatened to derail PLO-Israeli talks on extending Palestinian self-rule from Gaza to the West Bank. Palestinian officials today said the attack was unprovoked. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who offered condolences and called the killings "very unfortunate," nonetheless said they appeared to be caused by a misunderstanding "more on the part of the other side than on our part." Still, TIME Jerusalem bureau chief Lisa Beyer says, solid details of the event remain unclear and no real threats from the most hair-trigger Palestinians have surfaced. "It may for once be that people are waiting before they decide how to react," she says.