Israel kills two Palestinians
2004-07-02 14:09
Jerusalem - Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinians reported on Friday.
One of the two, a 25-year-old man, was shot in the early morning during clashes between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli soldiers, as the troops were pulling out of the border town of Rafah, which they had entered on Thursday.
It was unclear how the second fatality, identified only as coming from the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis, was killed.
Palestinians said the Israelis raised six houses in Rafah near the border with Egypt.
Israel Radio reported the troops uncovered a tunnel in Rafah refugee camp which had been used to smuggle weapons under the adjacent Egyptian border. The tunnel was destroyed in a controlled explosion.
In the West Bank, meanwhile, troops early on Friday morning defused a large explosives belt they discovered in Ramallah. Israeli reports said the belt was apparently intended to be used in a bombing in nearby Jerusalem. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA