Palestinian Girl Shot Dead by Israeli Troops

11/04/2004| IslamWeb

A 12-year-old Palestinian girl was shot dead by Israeli troops in Gaza yesterday as fighting in Iraq looked set to complicate Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's efforts to win support for his plan to disengage from the Palestinians in Washington next week. Iman Tulba sustained a fatal bullet wound to the head in the southern town of Khan Younis and died shortly after arriving in hospital, medics said. An anti-tank rocket had earlier exploded on the outskirts of the nearby Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim, Palestinian security sources said. It was unclear if the incidents were related and the army had no immediate response to the shooting. Sharon will visit Washington in a bid to secure a crucial endorsement from US President George W Bush for his "disengagement" plan, which has been fiercely criticised by members of his right-wing Likud party. US support is essential if the plan is to survive a party vote on the issue later this month. The Bush-Sharon summit is scheduled for Wednesday, but Sharon's chief of staff Dov Weisglass, political adviser Shalom Turjeman and national security adviser Giora Eiland flew to Washington over the weekend in order to put the final touches to the crunch preparations, public radio said. Bush will also meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak tomorrow. The prime minister hopes that with official US support for the plan, he will be able to persuade the majority of Likud's 200,000 members to back it at a party vote, likely to be held in late April. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A 12-year-old Palestinian girl was shot dead in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday.