The renewed violence and Israel's political turmoil came just days before United States President Bill Clinton's visit to Israel and the Palestinian areas next week.

The trip was intended to shore up the Wye agreement and restore calm to the region, but appeared to be having the opposite effect.

In the West Bank town of Ram just north of Jerusalem, several dozen Palestinian high school students overturned garbage dumpsters today and hurled stones at Israeli soldiers who responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Four students were injured.

Outside Netanyahu's office, dozens of Jewish settlers staged a protest after assailants believed to be Palestinian militants opened fire and wounded a West Bank settler late Monday.

The driver is a resident of the Ganim settlement, one of several thatbecame isolated enclaves after Israel withdrew troops from two per cent of the West Bank in the first stage of the Wye agreement.

``Only 17 days have passed since the withdrawal and already they are shooting at us,'' read a sign held up by protesters outside Netanyahu's office. Settlers opposed to an Israeli troop withdrawal have argued that they would become easy targets for attack.

In a Jerusalem hospital, a 21-year-old Palestinian university student remained hooked up to life support today after being wounded in a clash with an Israeli civilian and soldiers.

The victim, Nasr Erekat, is a cousin of Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat who warned that the violence would escalate if Israel continued to hold up implementation of the peace agreement.

Erekat said he felt very sad and blamed Netanyahu for the violence. ``It is the responsibility of Mr Netanyahu's policies of non-compliance, of surviving at any cost,'' he said.