Four Palestinians, Israeli Soldier Killed in New Clashes

25/09/2003| IslamWeb

Four Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed early Thursday in two separate operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Six Israeli soldiers were wounded. In the central Gaza Strip, two Palestinians were killed and six Israeli soldiers were injured early Thursday during an Israeli raid on the Bureij refugee camp, Israeli military and Palestinian sources said. Palestinian sources said that the occupation troops had surrounded the house belonging to local Islamic Jihad leader, Jawad Shahin. Palestinian fighters in the house, and the Israeli soldiers exchanged fire. According to Palestinian sources, Shahin managed to escape. However, the bodies of two Palestinians were found when occupation troops later withdrew from the area. In the West Bank city of Hebron, occupation troops surrounded a building in which two Islamic Jihad fighters were holed up. The troops fired on the house, killing two Palestinian fighters and seriously wounding a third. **Israeli Pilots Refuse 'Track-and-Kill' Duty*** Meanwhile, twenty-seven Israeli pilots said yesterday they would refuse to carry out operations in the Palestinian territories, an Israeli air force officer said. The pilots sent a letter to the Israeli air force commander declaring their refusal to carry out duties, which include track-and-kill operations, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. "We, veteran pilots and active pilots alike ... are opposed to carrying out illegal and immoral attacks, of the type carried out by Israel in the territories," one of the pilots told Israel's Channel 2 television. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Palestinians carry a wounded man shot during a raid by Israeli troops in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza Strip September 24,2003. (Photo by Reuters)