A Palestinian security officer was shot dead by Israeli troops Friday morning in Deir al-Balah in the southern Gaza Strip near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom, Palestinian medical sources told AFP.
Osama Hassan Selim, 25, was shot while posted at a Palestinian security checkpoint near the Jewish settlement, the source said, citing witnesses.
They said the circumstances of the shooting were unclear.
Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post said that the Israeli army arrested five Palestinians Thursday night “as they crossed the security fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel.”
The alleged infiltration attempt took place near Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
The five were unarmed and told the soldiers they crossed into Israel looking for work.
The Palestinians were transferred to the police for questioning, according the Post, citing a report Friday morning on the Yediot Ahronot Hebrew daily website.
A bomb exploded overnight in an industrial area of the northern Israeli coastal city of Hertzlia, situated north of Tel Aviv, but there were no reports of any injuries, police said Friday, according to reports.
The Jerusalem Post said that the bomb, which blew up late Thursday near a packed restaurant in Herzlia’s high-tech industrial zone, caused damage but no injuries.
The paper said that one woman was treated for shock in the blast, which took place when a commercial vehicle blew up while it was parked near the Giraffe Noodles Bar restaurant.
The vehicle was demolished and collateral damage was caused to cars and surrounding structures, it added.
Witnesses told the paper they saw a man with what was described as a "middle-eastern appearance!" fleeing the scene shortly before the blast.
Tel Aviv Police chief. Yossi Sedbon said the charge was detonated by a cellular telephone mechanism.
The two-kilogram bomb included nails in order to increase the lethality of the blast, Army Radio reported.
Sedbon termed the lack of injuries in the blast as "miraculous."
"This attack could have caused a great number of victims given the type of explosive used," he told military radio, adding that "the lack of any victims is thanks to the time and placing of the device," AFP quoted the senior officer as saying.
According to the Post, the blast comes hot on the heels of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's messages to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat that if he does not rein in the terror activities of his Force 17 personal guard, Israel will take matters into its own hands.
Sharon made the statements upon returning home from four days in the US on Thursday -- Albawaba.com
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