Two Palestinian boys, ages 11 and 14, were killed in the last two days in confrontations with Israelis in the administered territories.
In addition, about 16 Palestinians were wounded Wednesday and seven Thursday in clashes with Israeli troops.
The Arab casualties mounted as Jewish settlers in the West Bank reported a new spate of firebomb incidents.
Ahmed Abdel-Fatah Ahdid, 11, died Wednesday when troops fired on protesters at the Tulkarm refugee camp, according to hospital officials. He was shot in the heart.
On Thursday, a 14-year-old boy was killed in the village of Ussarin, near Nablus. According to military sources, no soldiers were present in the village Thursday.
Authorities were checking into the possibility that the boy was shot by Jewish civilians who were attacked by stones.
In the West Bank, the army prevented angry Jewish settlers from the town of Ariel from conducting a “vengeance raid” Wednesday evening on the nearby village of Bidya, following a firebomb attack from the village on a Jewish car.
In another apparent firebomb attack, the driver of a fuel truck was moderately hurt Thursday near Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem.
Meanwhile, though Likud and Labor eyed each other suspiciously over their respective positions on the peace process, the two parties agreed to allocate 35 million shekels ($20 million) for consolidating settlements in the territories as well as establishing new settlements.
The details will be finalized within six weeks by Finance Minister Shimon Peres, the Labor Party leader, who has been publicly opposed to new settlements, and by Housing Minister David Levy, who favors them. Only last week, Peres said he had no money for more settlements.
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