JERUSALEM, (Islamweb & Agencies) -Another Palestinian child was added to the Middle the Palestinians martyrs tally Saturday, while the Palestinians warned of potential catastrophe if Israel does not act urgently to help bring an international peace plan to fruition. (Read photo caption below).
An 11-year-old Palestinian was shot in the head by Israeli occupation soldiers at Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on a day that saw the soldiers come under gunfire attack several times during the day.
Three other Palestinian children were wounded during the incident.
The child's death brought the death toll since the start of the intifada last September 28 to 639 -- 501 Palestinians, 119 Israelis, 13 Arab Israelis and six Europeans.
Earlier, senior Palestinian official Abu Rudeina warned of a potential "explosion" in the region.
He accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of stalling the Mitchell peace plan and said delays were only fanning the flames of unrest as a US-sponsored ceasefire has failed to take hold on the ground.
The Palestinians say more than 30 people have been killed in direct attacks which have been criticised by US and UN officials. Israel says the policy is needed because Palestinian Yasser Arafat refuses to rein in Resistance men who carry out anti-occupation attacks!
For his part, Sharon has said there could be no backing down from a seven-day period of total calm, negotiated by US Secretary of State Colin Powell during his visit to the region at the end of June, before moving forward with the Mitchell plan.
The Palestinians have repeatedly insisted the week of calm is over and that it is time to go to the next phases, including a freeze on Israeli settlement building and a timetable for ending the army blockade around the Palestinian territories.
But Israel says: the seven-day countdown for implementing the Mitchell plan has not yet begun because the Palestinians are continuing their attacks.

THE ISRAELI LEBANESE BORDER
Meanwhile in Damascus, US Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East William Burns called for maximum restraint on the Israeli-Lebanese border, in order to revive the moribund peace process.
After a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara, Burns also emphasised the "commitment of the United States to reviving as quickly as possible a comprehensive process based upon UN security council resolutions 242 and 338, the principle of land for peace."
"What is important now is for all sides to recognise the importance of reviving a political process, and in the meantime exercising maximum restraint", Burns said in response to a question on the July 1 Israeli air strike against Syrian troops in Lebanon.
He called on all parties involved to avoid "the escalation which can arise from violations of the blue line," drawn by the United Nations after the May 2000 Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara called on the United States to adopt an "honest" policy towards countries in the Middle East, "applying the Security Council) resolutions to all parties."
PHOTO CAPTION:
Palestinians wave Palestinian and Iraqi flags during a rally at Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, July 7, 2001. Thousands of relatives of Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli occupation soldiers attended the rally calling for a continuation in the uprising against occupation. (Suhaib Salem/Reuters)