Palestinian teen killed by Israeli troops

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (AP) - A 16-year-old Palestinian was fatally shot by Israeli troops after throwing firebombs at the gate of a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, Israeli officials said Saturday.

The Israeli military said soldiers had fired warning shots before opening fire on a group of Palestinians hurling firebombs at the Beit El settlement.

In other West Bank violence, a Palestinian man drove his Mercedes into two Israeli policemen checking motorists at a checkpoint outside Jerusalem on Saturday, Israeli police said. The driver was arrested after he told police he targeted the officers, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Rosenfeld said the attack was politically motivated, but did not elaborate. One officer was moderately hurt and the other was slightly injured, police said.

The two attacks were the latest in a series of violent incidents in the West Bank.

On Friday, a Palestinian man was killed after he was struck in the chest by a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops dispersing a protest against Israel’s West Bank separation barrier.

The military said protesters had been hurling rocks at troops, but video footage obtained Saturday by The Associated Press showed a small group of protesters shouting at troops but not throwing anything in the minutes leading up to the firing of the tear gas.

After troops opened fire, some of the protesters took cover behind riot shields, the film showed. Suddenly, 31-year-old Bassem Abu Rahmeh is seen after taking a hit to the chest, then rolling down a small incline and coming to a stop at the bottom, where he lay unresponsive, blood spreading over the front of his green “Fiat” shirt.

The film was supplied to AP Television News by Israel-based Anarchists Against the Wall. The military said Saturday that troops opened fire to disperse a violent, three-hour protest that was taking place in a closed military zone.

A Palestinian man wielding a knife was also shot and killed Friday by Jewish settlers after he entered their West Bank settlement, the Israeli military said.

Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, officials announced that the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt would be open Saturday and Sunday to let medical patients leave the blockaded territory.

Gazans began lining up at the border Saturday morning, and by midday the first passengers started crossing.

Israel and Egypt have kept Gaza’s borders virtually sealed since the Islamic militant Hamas seized the territory by force in June 2007.