Israel Arrests Six in Gaza Strip
The Palestinian Authority expressed outrage after an army investigation cleared Israeli soldiers who killed 12 Palestinians in three incidents last week, calling it a cover-up. None of those killed carried firearms.

On Friday, the military released the results of an investigation into the killings of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers over four days last week.

Responding to the findings, Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said it was ``shameful for Israel not to bring to justice those who kill innocent children, innocent mothers in cold blood.''

The report said that in two cases, Palestinians were moving in a suspicious manner in areas that are off-limits to civilians, and soldiers acted according to regulations when they opened fire.

In the third incident, in which two Palestinian children and two teen-agers were killed in a targeted missile attack on suspected militants, one of the missiles missed the target, apparently because of a technical mishap, the statement said.

The army had investigated the deaths of four Palestinian farmers in Gaza, four laborers in a West Bank quarry and the four youngsters in the missile attack.

Military officials said the quarry workers had been masked, armed with an ax and that there was ``a possibility'' they were en route to carrying out an attack. The teens killed in the missile attack were accomplices of the wanted militiamen, the military officials said. Palestinians have insisted all 12 were civilians.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html