Boy Dies as Rocket Hits Gaza Refugee Camp

A Palestinian rocket aimed at a Gaza Strip settlement fell short yesterday, killing a Palestinian boy when it hit his home at the edge of a crowded refugee camp, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

Medics said a 13-year-old boy was killed and his 7-year-old brother critically wounded by the rocket fire in the Khan Yunis refugee camp in the Strip.

The death could further inflame tensions between militant groups fighting Israel and Palestinian security forces who last week intervened to try to stop rocket fire at Israel, prompting clashes with Hamas.

But it was not immediately clear who fired yesterday's rocket, and there was no claim of responsibility.

"The Interior Ministry has issued warnings to all Palestinian factions that these rockets represent a serious danger to people's souls and property," ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa said.

The recent clashes with Hamas marked the worst Palestinian internal violence in years.

Security forces had intervened on PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' orders after a rocket killed an Israeli woman last week in an attack gunmen said was in response to Israel's killing of militants. Rocket fire has diminished since then to sporadic attacks.

Jonathan Lis adds: Palestinian police yesterday arrested a teenage boy on suspicion of stabbing to death his 12-year-old friend, Yazen Musa, from the West Bank village Karyut, east of Nablus.

The victim's family had filed a complaint with the Israeli police Wednesday claiming he was murdered by settlers, but police were unable to substantiate those allegations. Yesterday, Palestinian investigators arrested two teens who had been with the victim at the time of the stabbing. One allegedly murdered Musa, and both attempted to conceal the crime by implicating settlers.