The first anniversary of the intifada was marked by the killing of two Palestinians, on of them a ten-year old boy, by Israeli troops near the flashpoint city of Hebron on Thursday.
AFP said the name of the boy was Mohammad Yusef Abu Zweid who, according to AFP, was in a crowd of youths throwing stones at Israeli army positions at Bani Nain checkpoint just east of Hebron when the troops opened fire and advanced towards a Palestinian checkpoint. Armed clashes erupted as Palestinian gunmen fired back at the Israelis.
At least two other Palestinians were wounded in the incident, officials cited by AFP as saying.
According to the Tel Aviv-based liberal daily Ha'aretz, eight Israelis were injured in the clashes.
The killings came despite understandings to implement a cease-fire reached at a meeting Wednesday between Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
The other Palestinian was a 17-year-old youth who was killed by Israeli troops at the entrance to the West Bank village of el-Khadr near Nablus, Reuters reported.
Friday morning, clashes re-erupted near the IDF's Termit outpost in Rafah on the Israeli-Egyptian border in the Gaza Strip, with the Palestinians cited by Ha'aretz saying that one Palestinian was critically wounded.
However, Friday prayers at the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, at which the intifada was sparked off exactly one year ago when the then opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the holy site, concluded early in the afternoon and Palestinian prayers returned to their homes without any major incidents, Ha'aretz added. Israeli Police were widely deployed in Jerusalem and the area around the Aqsa Mosque.
Israeli security forces are reported to be in a state of high alert as Palestinians began activities on Friday to mark one year since the beginning of the intifada.
Demonstrations organized by the Palestinian Authority and other groups are anticipated over the weekend. According to the liberal daily, Israeli forces are mainly on alert for Palestinian attacks on soldiers and settlers throughout the occupied lands and less for suicide attacks over the Green Line inside Israel.
Five other Palestinians were also killed by the Israeli army late Wednesday and Thursday as clashes erupted in the Gaza strip – Albawaba.com
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