- JABALYA, Gaza Strip (Reuters)
- Israeli soldiers shot dead a 12-year-old Palestinian boy and wounded
two other youths Thursday near a fence dividing the Gaza Strip and Israel,
Palestinian officials said.
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- The Israeli army said troops fired at the legs of seven
people inside the Gaza Strip carrying a ladder toward the fence, wounding
two of them. Palestinian officials said the group was bird-hunting, a popular
pastime among Gaza youths.
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- "We have reason to believe terrorist groups occasionally
send minors to the Gaza boundary fence to test our response, ahead of carrying
out attacks," an army spokesman said.
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- The two wounded youngsters were taken to a hospital in
Israel. Palestinian medical officials said the body of Mohsen Ad-Daour,
12, was found later at the scene and that he had been shot in the face.
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- The boy's family said he had gone with a group of friends
to hunt birds at a spot they had visited before.
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- "But this time, he didn't come back with new birds,"
Mohsen's uncle said.
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- Inside the family home in Jabalya refugee camp, the boy's
mother fainted as his body was brought in for a final farewell. Dozens
marched in a funeral procession to the local graveyard.
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- Israel says the electronic fence it has built on the
Gaza frontier prevents suicide bombers from reaching its territory, and
it enforces "no-go" areas for Palestinians near the barrier.
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- Palestinians say those who innocently stray into the
no-go zones near the fence are shot at without warning.
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