Israeli Troops
Kill
Palestinian Teenagers
By Aljazeera
10 April, 2005
Aljazeera
Israeli
occupation troops have fired at a group of Palestinian youths in the
southern Gaza Strip, killing three teenagers.
The incident on
Saturday in the Rafah refugee camp, located along the border with Egypt,
shattered weeks of calm and added to tensions surrounding plans by Jewish
radicals to march on a disputed holy site in Jerusalem.
Ali Abu Zaid, a
22-year-old Rafah resident, said a group of boys were playing football
in an open area when the ball was kicked toward the border fence. "The
kids ran after it, and that's when we heard gunfire," he said.
Palestinian hospital officials said the two dead youths were 14 and
15 years old.
The Israeli army
said a group of youths had entered an unauthorised area near the border
and ignored warning shots to stop. The shots were fired by forces patrolling
the area in an armed vehicle, the army said.
The Rafah refugee
camp has been a frequent flashpoint of fighting since violence broke
out in late 2000. The Israeli army frequently operates in the area to
halt weapons smuggling across the border.
But violence has
dramatically dropped since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian
leader Mahmud Abbas declared a cease-fire on 8 February.
Since the 8 February
declaration, a total of 13 Palestinians have been killed in clashes
with Israel. But Saturday's shooting was the deadliest single incident.
Five Israelis have also died during the period, all killed in a 25 February
bombing outside a Tel Aviv nightspot.
The chief Palestinian
peace negotiator, Saib Uraiqat, said the shooting threatens peace prospects.
"Every time we have such a violation of the cease-fire it really
endangers the fragile quiet," he said. "We urge the Israeli
government to refrain from any acts that could endanger the ceasefire."
Hamas, the largest
Palestinian resistance group, pledged to avenge the deaths of the three
teens. "The Palestinian people cannot stay silent in the face of
this crime and it cannot pass without punishment," said Said Siyam,
a Hamas leader in Gaza.
He would not comment
on whether Hamas remained committed to the truce. Muhammad Hindi, leader
of the Islamic Jihad resistance group, called the shooting an "ugly
crime" and said the Palestinians would have to re-evaluate the
ceasefire.
But he too declined
to say whether the truce would be called off. Shortly after the shooting,
Palestinians fired five mortar shells towards Jewish settlements in
Gaza, causing no injuries, the army said.