An American woman peace protester was killed Sunday by an Israeli bulldozer, which ran her over during the demolition of a house at the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. Another activist was wounded in the incident.
Rachel Corey, 23, from Olympia, Washington, was killed when she ran in front of the bulldozer to try to prevent it from destroying a house, doctors in Gaza said.
"Corey was killed in the al-Salam neighbourhood when an Israeli bulldozer covered her with sand as she stood in front of a bulldozer," said Dr Ali Musa, a doctor from the al-Najar hospital in the southern Gaza Strip. He said she died from skull and chest fractures.
Greg Schnabel, 28, from Chicago, said the protesters were in the house of Dr. Samir Masri.
"Rachel was alone in front of the house as we were trying to get them to stop," he said. "She waved for bulldozer to stop and waved. She fell down and the bulldozer kept going. We yelled 'stop, stop,' and the bulldozer didn't stop at all. It had completely run over her and then it reversed and ran back over her."
Corey was the first member of groups, called "International Solidarity Movement," to be killed in the Palestinian areas. Schnabel said Corey was a student at Evergreen College and was to graduate this year.
He said there were eight protesters at the site, four from the United States and four from Great Britain. "We stay with families whose house is to be demolished," he told the Associated Press by telephone from Rafah after the incident.
Hours later, two Palestinians were shot dead by occupation troops in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said. A Palestinian youth was shot in Khan Yunis, according to the sources, while another man was shot in southern Rafah on the Egypt-Israel border.
Meanwhile, with the Jewish holiday of Purim drawing closer, Israel imposed a full curfew on the Palestinian territories on Sunday.
The curfew came into effect midnight Saturday, and will remain in force until after Tuesday's festivities.
Israeli military sources told the press that the decision to impose a curfew was taken in light of several warnings received by the security establishment about imminent bombing attacks. No Palestinians will be allowed to enter Israel.
Israel often imposes full curfews on the Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip during Jewish holidays. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
