Israeli troops kill Palestinian

ISRAELI troops enforcing a curfew on Palestinians during the Jewish Passover holiday killed a young Palestinian man in the West Bank city of Tulkarm yesterday, Palestinian witnesses and medics said.

They said Yusuf Yahya, 21, was shot several times after being spotted on a Tulkarm street by Israeli forces. They said Yahya had no connection with Palestinian militants fighting against Israel since September 2000.

An Israeli army spokesman said the man was shot after he threw two petrol bombs at patrolling troops and as he was preparing to light up a third. Military sources said later five wanted Palestinians had been arrested in Tulkarm after which the curfew was lifted and troops withdrew to the city’s outskirts.

For the Passover period Israel imposed a general closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, banning Palestinian travel within and in and out of the territories, with curfews in some places, following warnings of attacks planned by militants.

Palestinians call such measures collective punishment. Last year, a suicide bomber from Tulkarm killed 29 people at an Israeli seaside hotel as guests were sitting down to a traditional Passover “seder” meal. It was the deadliest Palestinian attack inside Israel since the start 30 months ago of a Palestinian uprising for statehood.

That bombing prompted Israel to reoccupy West Bank cities granted self-rule a decade ago under interim peace deals since eclipsed by the violence. Palestinians rose up after talks with Israel on statehood broke down in mid-2000.

In Gaza, hospital sources said a 32-year-old Palestinian policeman, Adham al-Katri, died on Thursday from wounds he suffered during an Israeli army raid into Gaza city in February. And a 21-year-old Palestinian man, Mahmoud al-Louh, died in hospital of wounds sustained in an Israeli air raid on Gaza City.

At least 1,997 Palestinians and 732 Israelis have been killed since the uprising began.