RAMALLAH/GAZA CITY: Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian teenager who was trying to infiltrate into the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar, Israeli and Palestinian sources said yesterday.
Palestinian sources identified the dead as Suhaib Saleh, 14, from Asira Al-Qiblyeh village near Nablus.
Israeli sources said Israeli forces and Border Police thwarted an attack by Saleh. According to the sources, soldiers manning an observation post spotted a Palestinian advancing toward the settlement at around 6 a.m. The troops tracked the man down and fired at him after he lit the Molotov cocktail he had been carrying, Israeli sources said.
A subsequent search of his body revealed a knife and other tools concealed on his person, which defense officials say were meant to aid him in breaking into the settlement.
Saleh’s brother was killed near the same settlement and under the same circumstances in 2002.
Saleh’s body was handed over by the Israeli forces to the Red Crescent, and later to the Rafidya hospital in Nablus.
Palestinian security sources said they were unable to confirm whether the youth was indeed armed with a knife. They added there was no witness who corroborated the army’s version of the events, or that Saleh was killed near Yitzhar.
Israeli forensic teams were investigating whether Saleh was connected to the Palestinian who infiltrated the settlement last week and stabbed a nine-year-old boy after setting fire to a building in the Shalhevet settlement outpost. The previous attack also occurred early Saturday morning. Riots erupted between occupiers and Palestinian residents of Asira Al-Qiblyeh after that incident.
Meanwhile, Hamas said yesterday that it wanted the formation of a Palestinian national unity government to resolve the political crisis.
Fawzi Barhom, a spokesman for Hamas said: “Hamas pushes toward a national coalition government that can defend the Palestinian people and their rights.” The proposal for a technocratic government was made during a series of meeting between Egypt and representatives of different Palestinian political factions which are trying to end the current political impasse.
On Friday, a Fatah delegation left the Gaza Strip for talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials on launching intra-Palestinian dialogue. But Fatah yesterday accused Hamas of trying to sabotage the talks.
Fahmi Al-Za’arir, a spokesman for Fatah in the West Bank, said in a statement that Hamas was keeping in its jails in Gaza senior Fatah leaders, including Osama Al-Fara, who was named by Fatah as a member of its delegation to Egypt. “Holding top Fatah leaders in its jails, including a negotiator to the national dialogue, goes to prove that Hamas has decided in advance to sabotage the talks,” said Al-Za’arir.
Separately, Hamas has threatened to step up demands in a proposed prisoner swap with Israel. Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar accused Israel of going back on a promise to release 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Zahar told the Gaza news agency Ramattan yesterday that Israel is now only willing to release 450 prisoners.
Zahar said that “in this case, we will also go back on our word.”
— With input from Hisham Abu Taha
