Israelis Kill Arab Youth; Bomb Wounds Soldier

Israeli troops shot to death a 16-year-old Arab, and a soldier was slightly wounded Saturday when a Palestinian hurled a homemade bomb at an Israeli army patrol in the occupied West Bank, the military command said.

Palestinian witnesses said 100 to 150 Palestinians were detained after the bomb attack in Ramallah, 10 miles north of Jerusalem.

Clashes between stone-throwing Palestinians and soldiers occurred Saturday in the occupied Gaza Strip, where Palestinians staged a partial commercial strike. Arab doctors said nine Palestinians were wounded.

Seven Palestinian teen-agers were shot in the legs or arms at the Nuseirat refugee camp and the village of Zawaydah, said officials at Gaza’s Ahli Arab and Shifa hospitals.

Farid Rajab Ilmaghari, the 16-year-old wounded in the head in Nuseirat, died in Israel’s Tel Hashomer Hospital, the army and Arab reports said.

Doctors at Ahli and Shifa hospitals said they treated two other Palestinians for wounds in their limbs.

The army confirmed two wounded and said it was checking reports of other casualties. It said a curfew was imposed on Shajaiya quarter in Gaza City following clashes there.

An Arab reporter said Palestinians also confronted troops at an open-air market in Rafah. He said that soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets and that seven girls and women aged 15 to 25 suffered slight rubber bullet injuries.

In Ramallah, troops opened fire at the assailant after the bomb attack but missed. Soldiers closed the area and conducted searches, arresting several suspects, the army said.

Palestinian witnesses in Ramallah said the bomb was thrown at an army jeep close to several other military cars parked at the city’s central Manara Square. The residents said troops fired about 50 rounds of ammunition, mostly in the air.

Dozens of soldiers sealed off the area and detained 100 to 150 Palestinians.