Israel starts pullback

JERUSALEM, JUNE 15. Israel and the Palestinians took hesitant steps to implement a recent U.S.-brokered plan formalising a ceasefire, but the truce stumbled over a shootout in the West Bank which left a senior Israeli army officer and his Palestinian assailant dead.

Despite the shootout, Israel yesterday began moving some of its tanks on the West Bank and Gaza Strip back to positions they occupied before the confrontation broke out last September.

Israeli forces also did not return fire after five mortar shells were lobbed at Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. Local civil militia who responded with light weapon fire were interrogated by Israeli police for possibly using their weapons illegally, but the three men were released.

In Hebron in the West Bank, 10 firebombs were hurled at Israeli patrols, but there were no damages or casualties.

In Gaza, Palestinian medical sources said that six Palestinians were injured, among them a 12-year-old boy who was seriously wounded when Israeli soldiers opened fire to disperse teenage boys who threw stones at them. Eyewitnesses said Israeli soldiers had assaulted three Palestinian boys, triggering the clashes.

The events were among nearly 20 shooting incidents since Israel and the Palestinians accepted the proposed basis for a ceasefire on Tuesday. Despite continuing Palestinian fire, Israeli military units opened several main roadblocks in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, pulling back several tanks.

- DPA

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Section  : International
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