Israeli occupation soldiers shot dead an 11-year-old boy in the West Bank on Sunday, the second Palestinian child killed by Israeli gunfire in two days, witnesses said. With world attention focused on possible U.S. war on Iraq, Israeli-Palestinian violence has surged since Israeli occupation forces killed eight Palestinians in operations against activists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip  on Wednesday and Thursday.

In the latest bloodshed, Abdel-Karim Salameh, 11, was hit in the head and killed by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank city of Tulkarm while walking home from school, about 500 meters (yards) from a crowd throwing stones at occupation soldiers, witnesses said.

Another boy was wounded, they added.

Israeli occupation army sources said they had no information on Palestinian casualties and that occupation troops had used riot dispersal gear, which can include sometimes lethal rubber-coated metal bullets, against the stone-throwers.

On Saturday, Israeli occupation soldiers shot dead nine-year-old Hanin Abu Suleiman outside her home in the Gaza town of Khan Younis, Palestinian security sources said.

Israeli military sources said occupation troops in the area had been shot at and returned fire but could not say if they had hit anyone.

SETTLEMENT ATTACK

The violence in Gaza came a day after two Palestinian gunmen dressed in occupation army uniforms shot dead four seminary students, including two off-duty occupation soldiers, in the Jewish settlement of Otniel near the West Bank city of Hebron.
The gunmen were later shot and killed by occupation soldiers.

The resistance Islamic Jihad group said it carried out the attack in retaliation for Israel's killing of the eight Palestinians earlier in the week.

Palestinian fighters have often targeted Jewish settlements in a more than two-year-old uprising for statehood. The international community says the settlements are illegal. Israel disputes this.

Hundreds of Palestinians, including many children, took part in the Gaza girl's funeral on Sunday. "She was my only daughter and I loved her very much," said her father.

About a dozen masked gunmen carried Haneen's body aloft and shouted: "Death to Israel."

In Israel, the father of Zvi Zeman, one of the four Israelis killed in the Otniel settlement attack, told reporters: "I hope very much that he will be the last victim of this war."

At least 1,750 Palestinians and 675 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian revolt began in September 2000 when peace talks failed.

PHOTO CAPTION

The home of a Palestinian belonging to the resistance Al Aqsa Brigades is blown up by Israeli occupation troops near the West Bank city of Hebron, December 28, 2002. Israel destroyed the homes of two activists following a Palestinian attack on a Jewish settlement which left four rabbinical students dead. (Nayef Hashlamoun/Reuter