Israelis, Palestinians Keep Up Tit for Tat

Fierce fighting erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip, casting a shadow over tentative efforts to resume talks on implementing a so-far unheeded cease-fire. Elsewhere, two children, one Palestinian and one Israeli, were wounded Saturday in separate shootings.

Israel fired two missiles at a Palestinian police post in the Gaza Strip on Saturday in response to Palestinian mortar fire. The missiles hit a police station in the Gazan town of Khan Yunis, near the Gaza airport, and three Palestinians were slightly injured by flying debris, said Brig. Gen. Abdel Razek Majaydeh, the police commander of Gaza.

The Israeli army said the strike came in response to several Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets, including the firing of seven mortar shells at the Jewish settlement bloc of Gush Katif near Khan Yunis.

The renewed combat left doubts as to the chances for a speedy resolution of more than 10 months of violence, despite remarks by Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres that a channel of dialogue had opened with the Palestinians.

Peres said Israeli and Palestinian representatives were “conducting conversations” on implementing a U.S.-brokered cease-fire, which never took hold after being agreed to in mid-June.

In the West Bank, a 7-month-old Palestinian boy was seriously wounded near the village of Baker al Hatab in what witnesses said was an unprovoked shooting by Israeli troops.

The army said it was unaware of the incident but was checking.

Baker al Hatab, like other West Bank communities, has been sealed off by Israel. Villagers often get around the barrier on foot, though occasionally they are chased away by Israeli troops.

On Saturday, village resident Naameh Odeh said she and her infant son, Noor, were trying to return to their home but were blocked by Israeli troops near the barrier. Soldiers fired tear gas toward her and others, she said.

Odeh said she retreated to a taxi parked near the checkpoint. She said that while she was waiting, a shot was fired at the taxi from the roadblock, injuring her boy.

Also Saturday, shots were fired from a passing car at an Israeli bus on the outskirts of Jerusalem, said the city’s police spokesman, Shmuel Ben-Ruby. A man and a 6-year-old girl were moderately injured, Ben-Ruby said.