Israeli troops killed two Palestinians early on Wednesday, while an unknown Jewish group killed a Palestinian north of occupied Jerusalem. A fourth Palestinian died of injuries in Rafah. Meanwhile, the US called on Israel to withdraw its forces from Beit Jala in the West Bank, saying their latest incursion into a Palestinian-controlled area would "only make matters worse."
The Palestinian news agency, WAFA, reported that Israeli troops killed Mohammed Hamran, 24, when armored vehicles and troops entered Khan Yunis city in the Gaza Strip.
“[Hamran] died of died of shrapnel injuries in the chest during an Israeli incursion into Al Fukhari area in southern Khan Yunis,” said WAFA, adding that another Palestinian was seriously injured in the attack.
In Tulkarem, the agency said that the occupation troops killed Emad Hazahzeh, 19, in the Far’oun area.
The occupation troops opened fire on five Bedouins in the area, killing Hazahzeh and wounding four others, WAFA said.
Israeli troops were digging in for an indefinite stay Wednesday after tanks rolled into this autonomous Palestinian West Bank town, despite resistance on the ground and growing criticism abroad.
In Beit Jala, the Israeli military presence failed to stop attacks on the nearby Jewish settlement of Gilo in occupied east Jerusalem, where mortar fire prompted Israel to announce its troops would remain in the village until further notice, AFP said.
Israeli tanks and troops held their positions for a second straight night after seizing parts of this mostly Christian city overnight Monday.
Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert, speaking after three mortar shells hit Gilo, causing damage but no casualties, said: "We are at war," according to AFP.
In a separate incident, another Palestinian man was killed and two others injured by unknown gunmen in the West Bank early Wednesday, Israeli radio reported.
That shooting occurred near the Jewish settlement of Anatot, north of Jerusalem, when assailants opened fire on a Palestinian car, killing one of the passengers and injuring two others, the radio said, cited by AFP.
Haaretz newspaper identified the Palestinian killed as Khader Al Khatib.
Ambulances were rushed to the scene and Israeli police have opened an inquiry.
An anonymous caller claimed responsibility for the attack in the name of an unknown Jewish group, saying it was to avenge the killing of a Jewish settler by Palestinians at the start of the 11-month Intifada, or uprising, the radio reported.
An Israeli police spokesman said that no possibility had been ruled out, but that the attack was probably by Jewish terrorists "because the car clearly had a Palestinian license plate.”
Earlier, a Palestinian youth died of injuries he sustained on Tuesday after being shot in the head in Rafah city in the Gaza Strip, said reports.
Haaretz quoted the army as claiming that Tamer Riyadh was suspected of having planted a bomb in the area.
Meanwhile, the United States called on Israel to withdraw its forces from Beit Jala, saying their latest incursion into a Palestinian-controlled area would "only make matters worse."
"The Israelis need to understand that incursions like this will not solve the security problems, they only make matters worse," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher in Washington.
Israeli television reported gunbattles between soldiers and Palestinian resistance fighters in Beit Jala, which Israel handed over to the Palestinians in 1995 under interim peace accords.
It said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer had decided the army would stay until further notice, according to Haaretz newspaper.
Palestinian security sources said Israeli tanks also poured into the Gaza Strip refugee camp of Deir El Balah late Tuesday, setting off heavy gunbattles.
Witnesses told AFP that Israeli forces also entered the Palestinian refugee camp of Aida in Bethlehem in a bid to clamp down on Palestinian fighters, who turned out in force Tuesday for the funeral of chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Abu Ali Mustapha, in Ramallah.
In addition, Palestinian security sources said that Israeli tanks entered the Palestinian autonomous town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, destroying a Palestinian security post in the process.
According to AFP, the latest developments came as anger in the Arab World against Israel and its strongest ally, the United States, soared because of the latest moves. Palestinians complained anew that the Jewish state was using US weapons for its policy of "targeted killings" of Palestinian officials in violation of US law, said AFP.
Some 30 pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged a noisy but peaceful protest outside the White House Tuesday, waving Palestinian flags and signs denouncing Israeli "state terrorism," AFP said.
Boucher said Washington had not determined that Israel was violating the Arms Export Control Act that requires purchases of US weapons to be used for internal security and legitimate self-defense.
"The act contains provisions on reporting to Congress in the event of substantial violations of those agreements," he said, cited by the agency.
"No decisions have been made that such a report would be required in the current circumstances."
Boucher stressed US officials had repeatedly told Israel that Washington opposed "targeted killings," like that of Mustapha, no matter what kind of weapons were used, and that it also frowned on the use of heavy weaponry in the conflict.
"It's not a question of the weapons so much as it is a question of the event," he said. "Obviously, they are aware and we are aware of the restrictions on the use of American weaponry."
AFP's latest death tally for the Palestinian uprising against 34 years of Israeli military occupation comes out to 13 Arab Israelis, 572 Palestinians, and 154 Israelis, putting the ratio of casualties at around four Palestinians killed for every Israeli loss.
Israel’s wounded number in the high hundreds, according to army sources, while the Palestine Red Crescent Society puts the number of Palestinians injured at over 14,000.
Amnesty International reported early this year that almost 100 Palestinian children had been killed by Israeli soldiers, nearly all in situations where the occupation troops were under no immediate threat.
The latest Palestinian uprising against 34 years of Israeli military occupation began last September – Albawaba.com
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