Israeli troops shot dead a 13-year-old Palestinian boy Sunday on the edge of the West Bank town of Bethlehem as he and other youths pelted soldiers with stones, and wounded a pregnant Palestinian woman in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, according to reports.
Khifah Obeid was hit in the chest and mortally wounded during a demonstration at the northern entrance to the town, in which youths were protesting at the killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces, reported AFP.
The Palestinian official news agency (WAFA) said the bullet penetrated the child’s chest through his back. He was rushed to Beit Jala state hospital where he succumbed to his injury.
An Israeli army spokesman reported an exchange of fire between troops and Palestinian gunmen during the protest. But Palestinian witnesses denied there had been shooting at the demonstration, said AFP.
The rally was aimed in particular at protesting the killing of five Palestinian schoolboys by an explosive device last week, and the targeted liquidation of a militant from the resistance Islamic group Hamas, blamed by Israel for organizing the suicide bombings inside Israel.
Obeid's death brought the number of people killed in the 14-month Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation and Jewish settlements to 991, including 779 Palestinians and 190 Israelis, according to AFP day by day tally.
Meanwhile, Sadiyyah Hussein, a 31-year old mother was shot in the abdomen and the hand near the Egyptian borders in Rafah.
The victim, who is in her eighth month of pregnancy, is being treated at Abu Youssef Najjar Hospital. Her injury was described as moderate, said the Palestinian agency.
ISRAEL ARRESTS ALLEGED IRAQ-SUPPORTED PALESTINIAN CELL
Some 15 Palestinians were arrested by Israel's Shin Beth security services for allegedly being members of an Iraqi-sponsored militant cell, Israeli security sources announced Sunday.
The prisoners are members of the Iraq-based Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) and came from the West Bank towns of Ramallah and Jenin, and many received military training in Iraq, the security sources said, as quoted by AFP.
They said that weapons were smuggled to the group through the West Bank's border checkpoint with Jordan by a member of the group, Abdul Razzaq Yehiya, whose car had a permit that allowed him to forego Israeli border security checks.
Iraqi intelligence sent agents to fund their operations, which included the kidnapping and murder of an Israeli teen from Jerusalem in July and the planting of an explosive near Haifa, which injured five Israelis, the security sources alleged.
The cell was planning further attacks at Ben Gurion International Airport, and in downtown Jerusalem and in Tel Aviv, they added.
BEN ELIEZER: TROOPS TO REMAIN IN JENIN
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said some 22 mortars were fired at Israeli targets over the weekend, which prompted the Israeli army to hit Palestinian targets in Gaza early Sunday, injuring three Palestinians.
He also informed the cabinet that the Israeli army would remain in the West Bank town of Jenin in light of the recent surge in violence and alerts of possible attacks on Israeli targets, reported the Tel Aviv-based Haaretz newspaper.
The Israeli ministers also heard how the army carried out 16 operations to kidnap Palestinian suspects over the past week. Eighteen Palestinians on Israel's wanted list were arrested and another six were killed during these offensives, according to the paper.
In a burst of US enthusiasm for diplomacy, former US Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns are due to arrive in the region on Monday, according to Reuters.
The two aspiring mediators are expected to attempt to revive a truce deal and peace talks, said AP.
But Nabil Abu Rudeinah, an adviser to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat accused Israel of trying to sabotage US peace efforts by killing Abu Hannoud, the agency said.
The US has been particularly concerned with calming the Mideast conflict ever since Sept. 11, when Washington set about rallying Arab support for its war on terrorism.
The US diplomats are expected to push for more efforts by both sides to comply with the report issued months ago by the Mitchell Commission, which calls among other things for a freeze on Israeli settlement activity on occupied Palestinian land.
Sharon, however, has repeatedly made clear his support for the settlement movement.
The premier is also a prime supporter of making Jerusalem the "eternal" capital of Israel. The city was seized in 1967 and is not included within the original boundaries of Israel as drawn up in 1967. Virtually no government in the world recognizes the Israeli claim.
Sharon, who took office promising to secure the safety of ordinary Israelis within a very short period of time, recently told leaders of his Likud Party to prepare for a long conflict.
But as customarily, Sharon pinned any failure in the efforts for a cease-fire on Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
According to Haaretz, Sharon told the cabinet that Zinni's visit to the area "is a test for Arafat and the Palestinian leadership to show whether their intentions really are to advance the diplomatic process."
Sharon added that Israel placed great importance on reaching a cease-fire agreement with the Palestinians and that the government would make every effort to secure such an agreement.
DRUZE MINISTER WANTS PROBE INTO DEATHS OF 5 CHILDREN
Minister without portfolio in charge of Arab affairs, Salah Tarif, called on the government to set up a special committee of investigation into the deaths of five Palestinian children Thursday in Khan Yunis. The children were killed by a device planted by the Israeli army.
Tarif said the matter must be investigated and the conclusions drawn quickly. He warned the government that emotions were running high in the Gaza Strip and urged Israel to avoid any operation that endangers innocent lives, said Haaretz.
Ben-Eliezer reiterated a statement by the occupation army on Saturday, saying that the device was in an open area used by Palestinians to fire mortars at Israeli settlements, and not near a school. He expressed his sorrow over the death of the five children, and stressed that the army “would learn the relevant lessons.”
He said that the assassination of Hamas military leader Mahmoud Abu Hannoud on Friday “was the most important operation carried out by Israel” since the start of the Palestinian Intifada or uprising against 34 years of occupation – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
