BBC Saturday, 16 June, 2001, 22:20 GMT 23:20 UK

Palestinian boy killed despite ceasefire

A 12-year-old Palestinian boy has been shot dead in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.

A Palestinian security official said Suleiman Al-Masri was hit in the stomach when residents tried to prevent armed Palestinians from opening fire on an Israeli position.

Three other Palestinians from Rafah, including a doctor, were injured.

The incident occurred as Palestinians and Israelis took steps to implement a US-brokered ceasefire aimed at ending more than eight months of bloodshed, which came into force on Wednesday.

The Palestinian Authority has called on the various factions not to shoot from Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank and Gaza.

'Exchange of fire'

Major-General Abdel-Razek Al-Majaydeh, head of Palestinian general security in Gaza, said "Those people violated Palestinian national interests and they violated President Arafat's position about a ceasefire."

The Israeli army reported that the Palestinians shot at their post nearby, but said the troops did not return fire.

However, Palestinian witnesses said Israeli soldiers had fired back.

The boy's death is the first incident of its kind to occur since the Palestinian uprising, or intifada erupted in September.

UN efforts

The confrontations came as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan continued his efforts to bolster the fragile ceasefire agreement.

During a meeting in the West Bank, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat accused the Israeli army of failing to implement the ceasefire.

He also said that attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinians had increased since the ceasefire.

Mr Arafat asked for an enhanced UN role with the deployment international observers "so we can see on the ground what is and is not being done" by Israel to implement the ceasefire terms.

Accusations

He said Israel had done nothing to ease the blockade on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza as required by the CIA-brokered truce.

Mr Annan is now meeting the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon.

BBC Middle East correspondent Frank Gardner says Mr Annan's arrival has been a breath of fresh air in the West Bank, with his insistence that any future peace deal be based on Resolutions 242 and 338 which call for a complete Israeli withdrawal from occupied Arab land.

On Friday Israeli and Palestinian security officials met to assess progress in implementing the ceasefire, but the meeting ended with both sides blaming the other for breaching its terms.

The terms include requirements that Israel ease its blockade of Palestinian areas and pull its troops back to pre-September 2000 positions. Palestinians must arrest militants, collect illegal weapons, shut down bomb factories and prevent arms traffic.

Israel has presented the Palestinians with a list of all the incidences of violence since the ceasefire was agreed, arguing that these constitute violations of the Tenet plan.

UN officials say there is no prospect of the truce lasting without any progress on the political front, which means - first and foremost - implementation of the recommendations of the Mitchell commission which were published in May.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001