2 killed in clashes between youth, Israeli soldiers in Gaza

Two Palestinians were killed and three injured on Saturday in clashes between young men and Israeli soldiers at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, Palestinian medics said.

The medical source said that 13-year-old Marwan Barbakh and 15-year-old Ibrahim Othman were shot dead in the clashes, while another three young men were injured.

Medical sources added that 11 young men sustained wounds in clashes with Israeli soldiers stationed behind the separating fence in east of Gaza and east Jabalya, north of Gaza.

On Friday, the Israeli soldiers shot dead seven young men and wounded 90 others in the fierce clashes that broke out after Friday's prayer, following a speech of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haneya to enlarge the uprising.

According to official medical reports, 20 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,000 injured by rubber and live bullets since tension and clashes broken out in the Palestinian territories in early October.

Meanwhile, four Israelis died in the past week in militant attacks in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and dozens were injured in varying degrees in attacks throughout the country.

The Palestinian Prisoners Center said in a report that since Oct. 1, the Israeli army has arrested 650 Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The report added that most of the Palestinian detainees are women and children, including people who were wounded in the ongoing wave of tension that has been going on in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Tension and violent clashes flared in the West Bank and east Jerusalem after the Israeli measures made at al-Aqsa mosque compound in east Jerusalem and following an attack on settlers that killed two Israelis near the West Bank city of Nablus. Endit