Haaretz,
July 27, 2004
A 13-year-old Palestinian girl was reportedly killed on Monday as she played
soccer near her home in southern Gaza, Palestinians claimed.
The Israel
Defense Forces told Army Radio in response to report that the army had fired
toward the city of Khan Yunis to deter a possible infiltration attempt on the
settlement of Netzer Hazani. The IDF is investigating whether the girl was
killed as a result of Israeli gunfire.
The soldiers had been firing to
deter mortar attacks by Palestinian militants.
Medics said teenager Sara
Mahmoud Zorob was shot in the chest in an outlying neighborhood of the city of
Khan Younis and died on the way to the hospital.
"She was outside playing
with the other kids and then the shooting started. She was playing soccer," a
cousin told
Reuters. "After she got shot, the other kids started screaming.
What did she do, a kid like this? She was just playing."
Neighborhood
witnesses said a boy of 12 who was playing nearby and a 56-year-old man were
also shot and wounded. Both were in moderate condition after being hit in the
leg.
Monday's incident came a day after militants fired a missile into
the heart of the main Gush Katif settlement bloc, hitting a community center and
wounding six people including children.
Also Monday, IDF troops opened
fire at a Palestinian man who attempted to throw a Molotov cocktail at them as
they patrolled near Nablus in the West Bank, Army Radio reported. The man was
wounded and evacuated to hospital by other Palestinians.