Israeli soldiers stationed at the Sofa
Crossing on the border between southeast Gaza Strip and Israel killed a Palestinian who tried to attack them Thursday night, an Israel military spokesman
confirmed, dpa reported.
The spokesman said the man tried to throw a hand grenade at the troops near the
border facility.
The grenade exploded but did not injure any Israeli soldiers.
Gaza emergency and ambulance services centre in Gaza said that paramedics
received information to pick up the body of a Palestinian who was shot dead in
the area. Palestinian physicians did not confirm that the dead man was a
militant.
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian Islamic Jihad
member in the village of Qabatya, south of the West Bank town of Jenin.
Palestinian and medical sources said the soldiers opened fire at Ala Abu
al-Rub, 21, a local leader of the Saraya al-Quds, the military wing of the
Islamic Jihad movement.
Abu al-Rub had been wanted by the Israeli army for years for
his anti-occupation activities and had been in hiding. He was killed at his
house when he came to see his family, the security sources said.
The violence between Israel and the Palestinians mounted as Israel and Hamas movement, which rules Gaza, failed to reach a longer-term ceasefire agreement being
mediated by Egypt.
The Thursday deadline set by Egypt for agreement by Hamas passed, with Hamas
saying they will resume talks on Saturday. Chief Israeli negotiator Amos Gilad
left Cairo Thursday after a few-hours visit for high-level talks with Egyptian
officials concerning the truce.
An uneasy ceasefire went into effect January 18 after Israel's 22- day military assault on the Gaza Strip aimed at weakening Hamas movement and stopping
rocket attacks on Israel. An estimated 1,400 people were killed and
5,500 wounded.
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