One child killed by Israeli army gunfire during invasion of village near Ramallah

Sunday April 22, 2007 16:04

by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

On Sunday morning one Palestinian child was shot and killed by Israeli army fire during an invasion of the village of Dier Abu Mish'al, located west of the central West Bank city of Ramallah .

A massive Israeli force invaded the village on Sunday at dawn. Troops then searched and ransacked scores of residents' homes. During the search campaign local youth hurled stones at the invading soldiers who opened fire randomly at the them and nearby houses, killing one boy.

Medical sources stated that Kareem Zahran, 14, sustained critical wounds during the clashes. Soldiers detained the boy until he died from severe bleeding. After two hours the Israeli forces handed the boy's body to a Palestinian ambulance which took him to a hospital in Ramallah city.

On the way to the hospital the army also detained the ambulance car from one hour, the medical team reported. On Sunday afternoon hundreds of Palestinians along side with Zahran's family members took to the streets in Ramallah city during the boy's funeral which ended with the burial of the child in the city cemmetry, local sources reported.

With Zahran's death, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli army gunfire in the past 24 hours in the West Bank, mounts to 8. In Jenin city, in the northern part of the West Bank, a 17-year old girl named Boshra Naji was shot and killed on Saturday evening, by Israeli military fire during an invasion of Jenin refugee camp.

The invasion is the third in less than 24 hours. On Saturday evening, soldiers assassinated three Palestinian resistance fighters during an invasion of Kafer Dan town, west of Jenin. Also in Jenin, one resident was killed on Saturday at dawn after the army invaded Kafer Dan village, west of the city. Two other fighters were assassinated on Saturday night after midnight in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.