Israelis Kill 2 Arab Boys, Hurt American

Israeli troops today shot and killed two Palestinians--a teen-ager and a 5-year-old boy--and wounded an American photographer during clashes with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

Deyaa Fayez, 5, was the youngest victim so far in the 10-month-old uprising in the occupied territories, Palestinians said. He died at Al Ittihad Hospital after being shot in the chest, stomach and left arm as he played in a schoolyard.

The boy was shot when Israeli soldiers opened fire on youths who threw stones at their patrol car from the schoolyard, Arab reporters said.

Hospital officials identified the dead teen-ager as Khaled Tbaileh, 14, of Nablus, who was shot in the chest.

Doctors said both boys were killed by plastic bullets.

The wounded American was identified as Neal Cassidy, a 37-year-old free-lance photographer from Oakland, Calif. Doctors said he was hit in the right knee by a plastic bullet.

Cassidy was the first foreign journalist to be wounded in the uprising.

The deaths brought to 301 the number of Palestinians killed. Six Israelis also have died.

Cassidy was on assignment in Israel for the biweekly Oakland-based newspaper Frontline, said Phyllis Bennis, a writer for the publication. He also works for Impact Visuals, a photo agency in New York, she said.