KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip, 7 September 2005 — A Palestinian teenager was shot dead by Israeli soldiers yesterday near Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, an AFP photographer and Palestinian hospital sources said. Saduni was fatally shot and three others wounded after they charged the perimeter of the abandoned Ganeit Tal settlement following two hours of confrontation between stone-throwing youth and Israeli soldiers and Palestinian security forces, the photographer witnessed.
Saduni and his friends raced past a coil of razor wire on a hill, becoming the first Palestinian civilians to enter the Gush Katif settlement bloc after Israel evacuated 8,000 settlers from the Gaza Strip last month. He raised his hands in the air in triumph and cheered to his fellow stone-throwers below him on the sand dunes overlooking the area when a bullet struck him.
In a daily ritual, Palestinian teenagers from the southern city of Khan Yunis had flocked to the dunes of the neighboring Gush Katif settlement bloc, home to Ganeit Tal, with the hopes of being the first Palestinians to get inside the territory. Palestinian security forces and Israeli soldiers had daily repelled them, but on Tuesday, the confrontation, which has gone on for the past week, turned deadly.
Meanwhile, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday and pledged EU support following Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The European Union is ready to help the Palestinian Authority “build an economy and civil society,” Moratinos told reporters after talks with Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei.
Qorei said various issues linked to Israel’s departure from the territory after a 38-year occupation have yet to be resolved, notably the fate of the Rafah border terminal between Gaza and Egypt. “The most important unresolved question is the crossing points, particularly Rafah. We have heard various proposals that we think are impractical but we hope to close this matter soon thanks to international and Egyptian efforts,” he said.
