Sunday, December 29, 2002

At least 1,750 Palestinians and 675 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian revolt began in September 2000 when negotiations failed on a Palestinian state on territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.


Palestinian Boy Killed in West Bank
Israeli soldiers shot dead an 11-year-old boy in the West Bank Sunday, the second Palestinian child killed by Israeli gunfire in two days, witnesses said.

With world attention diverted by a possible U.S. war against Iraq, Israeli-Palestinian violence has surged since the Israeli army killed eight Palestinians in operations against militants in the West Bank and Gaza Strip Wednesday and Thursday.

Abdel-Karim Salameh, 11, was hit in the head and killed by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank city of Tulkarm while walking home from school, about 500 meters (yards) from a crowd throwing stones at soldiers, according to local witnesses.

Another boy was wounded, they added.

Israeli military sources said they had no information on Palestinian casualties there and that troops had used riot dispersal gear against the stone-throwers. Such equipment can include rubber-coated metal bullets that can be lethal.

An Associated Press (AP) cameraman was hit in the back of his head by a bullet when Israeli soldiers opened fire in the Gaza Strip as he was filming a demonstration, Palestinian witnesses said. AP said his condition was not life-threatening.

Witnesses said soldiers shot in the air and at the ground and the bullet that struck him had apparently ricocheted. The army said it was investigating the incident.

Saturday, Israeli soldiers shot dead nine-year-old Hanin Abu Suleiman outside her home in the Gaza town of Khan Younis, Palestinian security sources said.

Israeli military sources said troops in the area had been shot at by Palestinian gunmen and returned fire but could not say if they had hit anyone.

Hundreds of Palestinians, including many children, took part in the girl's funeral Sunday.

Two off-duty Israel soldiers were among the four students killed by the two Palestinian gunmen dressed in army uniforms in Otniel near Hebron, one of the West Bank's main cities reoccupied by the army in response to suicide attacks.

Palestinian fighters have often targeted Jewish settlements during their revolt. The international community says the settlements are illegal. Israel disputes this.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-mideast.html

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