Two Palestinian boys killed in Gaza

GAZA CITY: Two Palestinian boys, aged 12 and 13, were shot dead on Friday by Israeli troops firing into the Gaza Strip from across the border, medical sources said. Ahmed Abu Zubeida, 12, and Zaher Al-Majdalawi, 13, were in the area around the former Jewish settlement of Dugit, which was dismantled as part of Israel s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the sources said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said troops opened fire on several Palestinians crawling towards the fence with Israel. She said they ignored repeated orders to stop and planted a suspicious device near the border. We identified hitting three. One was lightly injured and was taken to hospital inside Israel, the spokeswoman said. She said there had been 64 events at the border of Palestinians trying to plant explosives or detonating explosives against Israeli soldiers on the other side so far this year. The deaths bring to 5,738 the number of people killed since the start of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000, the vast majority of them Palestinians, according to an AFP count. Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed 16 civilians and 37 gunmen since they resumed two weeks ago following an upsurge in Palestinian rocket strikes after a six-month ceasefire broke down. Nearly 270 rockets have hit Israel since May 15, according to the army, killing two civilians, wounding 20 others and sending hundreds fleeing from the town of Sderot that has borne the brunt of the fire.