Body of Israel Boy Found; Palestinians Suspected

Police on Saturday found the body of an 8-year-old Jewish boy whose head was crushed with a rock, and they said Palestinian guerrillas may have killed him, Israel Radio reported.

The report said police in the northern port city of Haifa discovered the boy’s body in a dry riverbed in his hometown of Kiryat Tivon, 10 miles south of Haifa.

Police found his skull cap, a sign that he was religiously observant, and a large rock that may have been the murder weapon, near the body, the radio said. They said Palestinian guerrillas were suspected, but they did not elaborate.

The Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, criticized as “one-sided” the U.N. Security Council’s condemnation of Israel’s policy of deporting Palestinian activists.

The Security Council on Friday demanded that Israel allow 33 activists already expelled to return immediately to their homes.

“Israel expresses displeasure with the Security Council’s one-sided approach, which ignored Israel’s security needs,” said ministry spokesman Alon Liel. He said Israel would continue to use deportations selectively.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops shot and wounded eight Palestinians in clashes Saturday, and four more were wounded in an argument with a fellow Arab suspected of being an Israeli agent, hospital officials and reporters said.

In the occupied Gaza Strip, the army imposed a curfew on the Nusseirat refugee camp after troops opened fire to break up violent demonstrations, residents said. Hospital officials said seven residents suffered moderate wounds.

An eighth man was in critical condition after being shot in the abdomen during a protest at the nearby Bureij camp earlier in the day, hospital officials said.

Clashes also broke out in Rafah at the tip of Gaza, where troops used tear gas and nightsticks to disperse more than 100 protesters who tried to hold an illegal march.

The army also clamped curfews on three West Bank villages, fearing renewed unrest.