A Palestinian was killed and an Israeli soldier lightly wounded Saturday evening during an attempted infiltration at the settlement of Morag in the southern Gaza Strip.
The assailant was shot dead by Israeli troops after he had thrown a number of hand grenades at the settlement, wounding the soldier.
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attempted attack on Morag.
It came hours after a Palestinian girl was killed in near Morag during a gunbattle between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah.
The girl, 12-year-old Hanina Abu Seeta, died in Rafah Hospital while undergoing surgery for a gunshot wound to the leg, physicians said. Her family said she was hit by a bullet while walking home from school that came from the direction of an Israeli outpost.
Earlier, Israel used armored combat vehicles to enforce new blockades in the Gaza Strip and arrested more Palestinians in a crackdown after recent attacks.
The occupation army erected blockades at the Gush Katif and Netzarim settlements in the Gaza Strip, cutting the Strip into three.
Hundreds of Palestinian cars trying to travel between the north and south of the Strip were piled up or turned back at the checkpoints, witnesses said. "The forces divided the Gaza Strip into three parts...in order to prevent the movement of terrorists and weapons. (We) will permit passage for humanitarian situations," the army said, according to Reuters.
This new move came one day after Palestinians shot and killed a settler on Friday. The Israeli army said it arrested two Palestinians belonging to Islamic Jihad, which claimed responsibility for the shooting attack. A spokesman said six activists in Hamas were arrested in the West Bank.
(Albawaba.com)
