Four Palestinian teenagers were injured by live Israeli gunfire in separate clashes in the Gaza Strip today. Also, another boy was declared dead two weeks after Israeli troops shot him in the West Bank. Doctors announced the death this morning of the 12-year-old boy who had lain unconscious for around a fortnight after Israeli soldiers shot him with a live bullet in clashes in a village north of Ramallah. Violence erupted around the Gaza Strip this morning, with Palestinian teenagers being hit by live bullets at two border crossings with Israel and a third near a Jewish settlement.
Tensions were high in the Middle East this morning, following a night of fierce gun battles in southern Jerusalem. Fighting also erupted in other locations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, ending one of the bloodiest weeks in the Middle East since fighting intensified last September. Meanwhile, a huge security operation was launched for the funeral of a Jewish toddler shot dead in Hebron.
Amid tight security, several hundred people joined the funeral for 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass in the flashpoint West Bank town of Hebron, where witnesses reported a minor clash between stone-throwing settlers and Palestinians. It was one of the deadliest weeks since the intifada, or uprising, exploded across the region in late September, with 15 people dying since Monday, including 12 Palestinians, the baby and two Israelis blown up in suicide bombings.
The attacks triggered air strikes on Wednesday against targets of Force 17, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's elite bodyguard force, that Israel accuses of having a direct role in the violence. The United States on Tuesday used its veto power for the first time in four years to defeat a last-minute resolution to authorise observers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
