- NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters)
- A six-year-old Palestinian boy was shot dead when a Palestinian gunman
opened fire at an Israeli military jeep during a raid in a West Bank refugee
camp on Saturday, the Israeli army said.
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- Television footage taken of the incident by foreign television
networks showed a gunshot ricocheting off an armored Israeli jeep toward
an upper floor of an adjacent building.
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- Twenty seconds later women's screams could be heard.
Moments later, a Palestinian holding the limp body of a boy with blood
on his face and neck is seen outside the building. A Palestinian gunman
was filmed in an alley minutes before the incident.
-
- Palestinian residents said the dead boy, Khalil Walwil,
was killed either when soldiers on a nearby hill opened fire at the building
while he stood by a window or when troops shot at Palestinians throwing
stones at Israeli forces in the camp.
-
- An Israeli military commander, who was in the jeep that
came under fire, said the boy was killed when a Palestinian gunman in an
alley shot at his jeep as forces left Balata camp. The commander said none
of his troops returned fire. "I did not fire back at him (the gunman)
because his fire was not accurate," said the commander, who under
military regulations could only be identified as Lieutenant Colonel Guy.
-
- "About 10 seconds after that I heard from behind
my jeep terrible screams from a Palestinian woman. I turned around and
I saw a family with a few people screaming. The father held his son who
was covered in blood and they ran to ambulances there."
-
- Television footage showed Palestinians throwing stones
at Israeli army vehicles as they drove through the camp minutes earlier
but there was no indication the soldiers had responded.
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- The boy's uncle Said Walwil said his nephew was killed
when troops on a nearby hill fired at the house. Other residents said the
boy was killed when soldiers fired at stone thowers.
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- The boy died of his wounds on the way to hospital. Palestinian
medics said that soldiers stopped the ambulance transporting the boy to
hospital for 15 minutes.
-
- The army said it was checking the report. A spokesman
said that Lieutenant Colonel Guy had offered to transport the boy to hospital
in a military ambulance but family members had refused.
-
- Israeli soldiers raided the camp to search for militants
planning suicide bombings, but left empty-handed. © Reuters 2004.
All Rights Reserved.
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