Israeli army kills three Palestinians

31/10/2005| IslamWeb

The Israeli occupation army has continued its onslaught in the West Bank shooting dead three Palestinians.

Soldiers shot and killed a man said to be planting a bomb in Qabatya overnight on Monday, bringing to three the number of Palestinians killed in the northern West Bank town within 24 hours.

Troops operating in Qabatya noticed several Palestinians placing a bomb in the street, the Israeli army said.

The Palestinians shot at the soldiers as they tried to flee, and the soldiers returned fire, killing one, an army spokesman said. Seven others were injured in the shooting.

The shooting came just hours after Israeli troops killed a leader of Islamic Jihad's military wing, al-Quds Brigades, and an aide.

Aljazeera has learned that Israeli troops raided Jenin overnight and surrounded the house in which Jihad Zakarna, 22, and his aide were hiding. His aide was identified as Arshad Abu Zaid, 21.

Eight others were injured in the raid, the sources said.

Arrests

In total, eight Palestinians were arrested by Israeli soldiers overnight in the West Bank, including four members of Islamic Jihad in the northern town of Jenin, not far from Qabatya.

The latest death took the total number of people reported killed in Israeli-Palestinian violence since September 2000 to 4872.

About three-quarters of the dead have been Palestinians, including hundreds of children.

Elsewhere, Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip fired five makeshift rockets into Israel's southern Negev desert early on Monday, causing no damage or casualties, police sources said.

PHOTO CAPTION

Armed Palestinians carry the body of Islamic Jihad militant Arshad Abu Zaid during his funeral in the West Bank town of Qabatiya, near Jenin, October 31, 2005. (REUTERS)