Wizdom
23-11-03, 16:23
Israelis Gun Down 10-Year-Old Boy
Nazir Majally, Asharq Al-Awsat
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 23 November 2003 — Israeli troops yesterday shot dead two Palestinians, including a 10-year-old boy who was killed after a stone-throwing clash in the West Bank widened into a battle with gunmen from militant groups.
The killings underscored the type of routine, daily violence that has characterized a three-year-old conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 2,500 Palestinians and almost 900 Israelis. The bloodshed came as efforts were under way to draw up a cease-fire deal and restart frozen peace talks.
Also yesterday, Jordanian security forces caught a militant attempting to cross the heavily secured border with Israel before dawn and were questioning the man, Israel’s Channel Two TV reported. Israel’s military refused to comment on the report. In Jordan, a government spokeswoman said she was unaware of any infiltration attempt.
Earlier this week, at another section of the normally quiet border, a Jordanian gunman killed an Ecuadorian tourist and wounded four others as they were passing through a border crossing terminal into Israel.
Violence along the Israeli-Jordanian border has been rare since the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994.
In another development, a Palestinian official reacted with skepticism to an Israeli TV report that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon might begin next summer to dismantle several Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — territories the Palestinians want for a future state.
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said he hoped the report of settlement removal was not simply a “public relations stunt.” “We need genuine moves toward peace,” he said yesterday, calling for the implementation of the US-backed road map peace plan, which aims to stop the fighting and create a Palestinian state by 2005.
The settlement report followed a speech Sharon made Thursday, in which he said he was considering going ahead with some unilateral steps toward the Palestinians.
Sharon did not elaborate, and Israeli media have been speculating that he is planning soon to announce a program of steps that might include easing travel restrictions on Palestinians or changing the way the military operates in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Two Israelis were shot and killed yesterday in an Arab neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israeli medics said.
The two were guarding equipment at a construction site, Israeli police reported. Israeli Radio said they were keeping watch over a security fence between Israel and the West Bank.
Nazir Majally, Asharq Al-Awsat
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 23 November 2003 — Israeli troops yesterday shot dead two Palestinians, including a 10-year-old boy who was killed after a stone-throwing clash in the West Bank widened into a battle with gunmen from militant groups.
The killings underscored the type of routine, daily violence that has characterized a three-year-old conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 2,500 Palestinians and almost 900 Israelis. The bloodshed came as efforts were under way to draw up a cease-fire deal and restart frozen peace talks.
Also yesterday, Jordanian security forces caught a militant attempting to cross the heavily secured border with Israel before dawn and were questioning the man, Israel’s Channel Two TV reported. Israel’s military refused to comment on the report. In Jordan, a government spokeswoman said she was unaware of any infiltration attempt.
Earlier this week, at another section of the normally quiet border, a Jordanian gunman killed an Ecuadorian tourist and wounded four others as they were passing through a border crossing terminal into Israel.
Violence along the Israeli-Jordanian border has been rare since the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994.
In another development, a Palestinian official reacted with skepticism to an Israeli TV report that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon might begin next summer to dismantle several Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — territories the Palestinians want for a future state.
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat said he hoped the report of settlement removal was not simply a “public relations stunt.” “We need genuine moves toward peace,” he said yesterday, calling for the implementation of the US-backed road map peace plan, which aims to stop the fighting and create a Palestinian state by 2005.
The settlement report followed a speech Sharon made Thursday, in which he said he was considering going ahead with some unilateral steps toward the Palestinians.
Sharon did not elaborate, and Israeli media have been speculating that he is planning soon to announce a program of steps that might include easing travel restrictions on Palestinians or changing the way the military operates in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Two Israelis were shot and killed yesterday in an Arab neighborhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem, Israeli medics said.
The two were guarding equipment at a construction site, Israeli police reported. Israeli Radio said they were keeping watch over a security fence between Israel and the West Bank.