HIGHLIGHTS: Israel Claims Tank Crew Fired at Palestinians Approaching Tank, Footage Shows Palestinians Running Away from Tank Before Being Fired upon||Arafat Reportedly Blames Yemen & Sudan for Funding Bombing Attacks Against Israelis||Poll Indicates Majority of Israelis Favour Expulsion of Arafat|| STORY: The BBC has obtained video footage which appears to show an incident in the West Bank city of Jenin two weeks ago in which two Palestinian children were killed by Israeli tank fire.

The Israeli occupation army has apologized for causing the deaths of six-year-old Ahmad Abu Aziz and his 13-year-old brother Jamil, but unashamedly claimed the tank crew opened fire to deter Palestinians breaking a curfew and approaching them.

However, the footage shows a tank firing the first of two shells, at close range, at a group of civilians who are running away.
(Read photo caption)

The dead boys' father, Youssef Abu Aziz, told the BBC that they had gone outside to buy chocolate, thinking the Israeli curfew imposed on their city had been lifted.

The film of their last moments begins with the two boys and a number of other civilians running towards the camera along an otherwise deserted street in Jenin.

Filmed from high building some distance away the footage is shaky, but clearly shows the sequence of events.

A white car speeds along the road, horn blaring, the driver - Dr Samer al-Ahmad - apparently warning the people to run for their lives.

Now recovering from his wounds, Dr al-Ahmad told the BBC that, moments earlier, an Israeli officer had said to him that it was allowed for him to be on the streets.

But then he said the tank crew opened fire on him with a machine-gun "without warning... I was hit but I drove on".

Soon afterwards in the film, the Israeli tank appears at the end of the street. It stops for a few seconds before firing in the direction of the retreating Palestinians, the blast engulfing it in a ball of flame and smoke.

BBC correspondent Orla Guerin, who viewed at first had the Abu Aziz tape, says the occupation army has many questions to answer, including:

· If the soldiers wanted to clear the street why didn't they fire warning shots?
· Why were tank shells used in a crowded civilian area?

Guerin says Israel has a poor record in prosecuting its own soldiers when faced with evidence like that seen in the tape.
When the Israeli army was asked to comment on the footage, it refused.

MORE PALESTINIANS ARRESTED

Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces arrested 19 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who were "suspected of armed resistance activity."

The Israeli occupation army said three of the suspects were picked up in Jericho, the only one of the eight main Palestinian towns and cities in the West Bank not taken over by Israel in the past two weeks.

ARAFAT REPORTEDLY ACCUSES SUDAN & YEMEN OF SPONSORING BOMBING ATTACKS AGAINST ISRAELIS

Arafat met Thursday at his Ramallah headquarters with Piero Fassino, head of the Italian opposition party, Democrats of the Left, and blamed foreign powers for funding extremists, singling out Yemen and Sudan as countries that sponsor terrorism.

"These fanatics have received funds and arms from fanatical Arab and Islamic countries, along with the order to go ahead with suicide attacks," Arafat said, according to a Palestinian official who made a transcript of the meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Arafat, whom Israel accuses of direct links to suicide bombers and militias that target Israelis, said he ordered Palestinian banks to report to the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) the suspicious flow of money from abroad.

ISRAELIS FAVOUR EXPULSION OF ARAFAT

A poll in the Maariv daily showed that 58 percent of Israeli adults favor expulsion of Arafat, while 28 percent are opposed. The Market Watch survey questioned 590 Israelis and said the poll had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.

At the same time, Israel's outgoing military commander said Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) should be expelled from the Middle East because he is directing Palestinian terror and has not intentions of making peace.

"As long as Arafat is here, we will not be able to reach an agreement and he will continue to promote terrorism," Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz said in an interview published Friday in the Yediot Ahronot newspaper

Mofaz has come under stiff criticism for voicing that opinion in the past. Mofaz steps down Tuesday after four years as chief of staff and is expected to enter politics with a right-wing party.

PHOTO CAPTION

Top: The two boys and others run on the street; Dr al-Ahmad's car approaches
Bottom: Israeli tank appears, and opens fi