An Israeli soldier was wounded Tuesday afternoon in a shooting attack in the northern West Bank. He was evacuated to hospital in serious condition, but died of his wounds on his way there. Fatah's military wing claimed the attack.
Earlier, also Tuesday, Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians who were planting an explosive device near the fence of a settlement in the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli sources said the troops spotted two armed men dragging an object toward the fence of the settlement and shot at them.
Earlier Tuesday, four mortars hit the southern Gaza Strip settlement of Morag.
In addition, occupation forces nabbed 17 Palestinians in a predawn raid in the West Bank on Tuesday. Two were arrested in Tulkarem and five more in Azun, near the West Bank city of Qalqilyah.
Six more were detained in Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, one was arrested in the refugee camp of Deheisheh and three more were arrested in Dura, south of Hebron.
Meanwhile, rival members of two Palestinian security services exchanged fire in Gaza late Monday, witnesses said. According to them, locals said at least six PA policemen were wounded, one seriously, in firefights in Gaza City between officers of the Palestinian Authority's internal security service loyal to Mohammed Dahlan and military intelligence forces loyal to the cousin of president Yasser Arafat, Moussa Arafat.
The fighting was sparked by a personal conflict between a Dahlan supporter and a supporter of Yasser Arafat, Palestinian sources have indicated.
In a separate incident, Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists exchanged fire in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
