Israel troops kill Palestinian grandfather, grandson: medics

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian militants launched several rockets into southern Israel, as Israeli aircraft struck targets in the Gaza Strip early Wednesday in the heaviest exchange of fire between the sides since they agreed to an internationally brokered cease-fire in November.

A Palestinian was killed on Sunday when an Israeli tank opened fire on a group of militants east of Gaza City, medical sources and witnesses said.The witnesses said the tank on the Israeli side of the border opened fire on the group, killing one of them, amid rising tensions following rocket and mortar attacks on Israel and air raids launched in reprisal.A rocket and mortar round were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel earlier on Sunday, with neither projectile causing casualties or damage, a military spokeswoman said.

An American soldier in Iraq died of his wounds on Sunday after being shot, the US army said in a statement."A United States Forces-Iraq soldier died of wounds sustained from enemy small arms fire Sunday during advisory operations in northern Iraq," it said, adding that the soldier's name would be released once his family was notified.His death was the first of a US soldier in Iraq as a result of hostile action since two American troops were killed by an Iraqi army comrade who opened fire on them on an Iraqi base on September 7.

Palestinians on Sunday called for an international investigation of Israel’s treatment of detained Palestinians after a 30-year-old Palestinian died in custody and a hunger strike by four other inmates sparked a week of West Bank protests. The death of Arafat Jaradat set off more clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian stone-throwers in several areas of the West Bank on Sunday. In one incident, two Palestinians were wounded by army fire, including a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the chest, a Palestinian health official said.

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli undercover troops broke into a West Bank apartment building in a failed arrest raid Thursday, igniting a violent protest and signaling that Israeli-Palestinian security coordination may be in trouble, officials said.

A Gazan man was killed by Israeli fire in northern Gaza on Tuesday, medical sources said, as Palestinian factions met to discuss tensions with Israel along the border."A Palestinian was killed by an Israeli tank shell near Erez," Adham Abu Selmiya told AFP, identifying him as 21-year-old Mohammed Ziyad Shalha.Earlier, witnesses reported seeing Israeli troops firing at two men in the same area who were said to be collecting gravel, in what was understood to be the same incident.

The high-profile deaths of two children in Gaza last November were the result of Hamas rockets falling short and not Israeli airstrikes, the United Nations has concluded. Palestinians and some media outlets blamed Israel for the deaths of Omar al-Masharawi, the 11-month-old son of a BBC reporter, and Mohammed Sadallah, aged four, whose lifeless body was kissed by visiting Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil as the boy was taken to hospital.

Calling for revenge against Israel, gun-toting Islamic Jihad militants on Saturday took part in the funeral of two of their comrades killed on a rare cross-border raid into Israel.Nader Abu Dakkar and Hamdi Abu Hammad, both aged 17, were shot dead in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops on Friday after they breached the Gaza border fence and headed toward nearby Israeli villages, the military said.Despite their youth, Islamic Jihad identified the two young Palestinians as members of Al-Quds Brigades, its military wing.