In the southern Gaza Strip (news - web sites), the army said it had recovered the bodies of two armed Palestinian militants whom its troops shot dead late Thursday near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom.
With only days to go before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague (news - web sites) starts hearings on the legality of the barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, preparations were hotting up on both sides of the fence.
The Palestinian leadership has declared February 23 a national day of "rage and protest" against the montage of razor wire, fencing and concrete which often juts deep into the West Bank.
In mosques across the West Bank and Gaza, Friday prayers were devoted to warning worshippers about the impact of the barrier on their lives and urging them to participate in a series of upcoming protests.
As the hearing opens on Monday morning, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) will deliver a speech after which sirens will sound and church bells toll, and all traffic is to come to a standstill for five minutes.
On Sunday and Monday, state schools will dedicate the first lesson to informing children about the barrier and the hearing, and the Palestinian Democratic Union said civil servants and private sector employees would on Monday observe a one-hour work stoppage.
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a group of foreign peace activists, said churches throughout the territories had been asked to devote their Sunday sermons to "the wall" and that peaceful rallies had been planned in at least a dozen locations next to the barrier.
But the defence establishment was bracing itself for a day of "violence", the army said.
The daily Haaretz said troops were undergoing "refresher courses in use of water cannon and tear-gas", and that "rubber-coated steel bullets" would only be used as "a last resort to disperse unruly crowds."
Force would not be used to prevent the rallies but troops would stop any attempt to damage the barrier, it said.
Israel decided last week to boycott the hearing, arguing the ICJ does not have the authority to rule on the issue. Instead, Israel has submitted a written statement in which it says the barrier only aims to prevent the infiltration of Palestinian militants.
Despite the boycott, hundreds of Israelis are expected to travel to The Hague to defend the massive project, with many planning to march outside the court carrying pictures of victims of Palestinian attacks.
The government is to send foreign ministry officials to defend Israel's position and will cover the travelling expenses of anyone who has survived a suicide attack.
Meanwhile, military sources said Friday that Israel had mistakenly sent the remains of a foreign worker to Lebanon's Hezbollah instead of those of a recently deceased Lebanese prisoner.
The body of Mohammed Biru, a Lebanese national imprisoned for drug-trafficking, was due to be returned to Hezbollah in January as part of a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and the Shiite Muslim militia.
But, last week it became clear the remains of a foreign worker were mistakenly sent in Biru's place, the sources said, adding the two bodies would be swapped back.
In Gaza City, around 3,000 militants rallied to demand the release of four prisoners accused of killing three US citizens in an attack last October.
Demonstrators gathered in front of Gaza's main prison in which the four are being held on suspicion of carrying out the deadly attack against a US diplomatic convoy on October 15.
Two Israeli soldiers sustained light shrapnel wounds on a road near Gaza City when an explosive device detonated near them, an army spokeswoman said.
Another three soldiers were wounded in Hebron in the West Bank in a training accident, she added.
