Middle East violence continued today despite truce talks. Israeli tanks and bulldozers entered the Palestinian-ruled Brazil refugee camp this morning in the southern Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt, Palestinian witnesses and security officials said.
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An Israeli armoured personnel carrier near Ramallah today Photo: Reuters
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A Palestinian hospital official said one Palestinian man was killed in exchanges of fire as the bulldozers, under covering fire from tank machineguns, demolished buildings. The army said it entered the camp to look for tunnels used to smuggle weapons.
Israeli soldiers used rubber bullets and tear gas against protesters in the Palestinian village of Husan after gunmen threw an explosive device at the Beit Romano religious school in the nearby West Bank city of Hebron, witnesses said.
The army said one soldier was slightly wounded and the witnesses said at least five Palestinians were hurt. Dozens of cars were damaged, they said.
Israeli troops yesterday killed four armed infiltrators from Jordan and shot dead four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip whom they suspected of preparing to attack Jewish settlements.
Two Israelis were shot dead in separate incidents at the weekend in the West Bank, and a Palestinian was found dead overnight near a Jewish settlement in the northern West Bank. The cause of death was not clear.
Israeli and Palestinian security officials broke off their latest talks overnight to study a compromise plan proposed by US mediators for establishing a truce. Details were not released.
A main obstacle has been differences over demands by Palestinian officials that political moves should accompany any ceasefire. The Palestinians say Israel has introduced unacceptable security demands.
- A 15-year-old Palestinian boy died today of wounds inflicted by Israeli fire earlier this month in the Jabalya refugee camp, a Palestinian official said.
AFP