Israeli soldiers kill eight-year-old Palestinian

Israeli soldiers killed an eight-year-old Palestinian boy in the West Bank town of Tulkarem today during a stone-throwing clash, Palestinian officials said.

The boy, Abdel Karim Salameh, died when Israeli troops fired at a group of school students who were hurling stones at the soldiers, Palestinian security and hospital officials said. An 11-year-old boy was wounded.

The army did not immediately comment.

The killing came a day after troops killed a nine-year-old Palestinian girl who was standing in front of her house in the Gaza Strip refugee camp of Khan Younis.

Violence began spiralling last week, breaking a relative lull in fighting that lasted almost a month.

Israeli troops killed seven Palestinians on Thursday, all but two of them armed militants.

Late on Friday, Palestinian militants killed four Israeli seminary students - including two off-duty soldiers – when they barged into their school cafeteria during dinner. The two attackers were also killed.