A 13-year-old Arab schoolgirl was fatally shot by Israeli troops in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip today and another girl was wounded. The dead girl was identified as Ahassan Abu-Daraz.
An army spokesman said the soldiers opened fire, aiming at the legs, when students broke out of their classrooms in a local school and attacked troops with pieces of broken furniture and rocks.
According to a military spokesman, the riot was incited by 10 masked men who invaded the classroom and urged students to attack the soldiers outside. Two of the masked men were arrested, he said. He said the soldiers took “all precautions required by regulations” before opening fire on the students.
Meanwhile, rock throwing incidents flared all over the West Bank and in East Jerusalem today. A Jewish pedestrian was stoned by Arab youths on Hagai Street in the Moslem quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Rocks were thrown at Israeli vehicles near the Herod’s Gate entrance to the Old City. The demonstrators dispersed when shots were fired into the air.
An Israeli woman was slightly injured by rocks thrown at a bus north of Jericho. Security forces dispersed the crowd that surrounded the vehicle. A curfew was clamped on Sair village near Kiryat Arba in the Hebron area after tires were burned in a demonstration at the local high school.
Students in Nablus and Jenin left their classrooms to throw rocks and bottles at Israeli vehicles. Palestinian flags were raised near Bethlehem and in Samoa village in the Hebron hills.
MORE GOLAN DRUZE ARRESTED
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities arrested two more Druze on the Golan Heights, raising to 20 the number of Golan Druze being held under administrative detention. This means imprisonment without charges brought against the detainees. One of the two men arrested today is a religious leader who allegedly prevented pro-Israel Druze on the Golan Heights from participating in religious ceremonies. A restraining order was issued against another Druze in Majdal Shams villages.
Complaints by Golan Druze that Israeli soldiers violated their civil rights were discussed by the Knesset’s State Control Committee today. Coalition MKs protested on grounds that the matter should be investigated by the State Comptroller, not by the committee.
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