September 25, 2003	Thursday	Rajab 27, 1424

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GAZA CITY, Sept 24: A 15-year-old Palestinian youth was killed early Wednesday during an Israeli army incursion in the southern Gaza Strip where the forces came under heavy fire, witnesses and Palestinian medical sources said.

At least 11 other people were injured, five seriously, during the operation around the Rafah refugee camp in the early morning.

Mohammed Hamdan died in hospital of injuries received from a tank shell, according to Ali Moussa, a director of Rafah hospital.

An Israeli military source said there had been a “massive exchange” of gunfire and that several Palestinian gunmen had been hit, but said it was not known if there were any fatalities.

A statement by the Islamic Hamas movement’s military wing said some of its fighters had damaged an army bulldozer and three armoured vehicles “resisting the cowardly aggression of Israeli soldiers in Rafah.”

It also condemned the death of Hamdan, calling him a “martyr” and claimed he was a Hamas member.

Palestinian sources also said that three houses had been destroyed in the operation, while another 18 had been partially destroyed. An Israeli spokesman confirmed.

Another three or four uninhabited buildings were also damaged during the exchanges, he added.

The latest death brought to 3,486 the number of people killed during the three-year Palestinian uprising, including 2,604 Palestinians and 819 Israelis.

TRUCE: Meanwhile, Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin on Wednesday ruled out any prospect of a truce while Israel continues its aggression against the Palestinians.

“It is not the time to speak of a truce today while the enemy continues its aggression,” Yassin said in a press conference here, his first since he survived an Israeli assassination attempt on Sept 6.—AFP