Troops shoot dead five Palestinians

ISRAELI forces shot dead five Palestinians in three separate confrontations yesterday, including two men who crossed into the southern Israeli desert from Egypt, the army said.

Palestinians said one of the dead was a four-year-old boy, shot during what the army said was a firefight as troops searched for weapons smuggling tunnels in the Gaza Strip.

Also, the US Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer, sent a strongly worded message to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office over the weekend, saying Israel had not met promises to ease tough restrictions imposed on the Palestinians, a diplomatic source said.