Israeli troops shoot two dead
Israeli troops shot dead two men early today, bringing the Palestinian death toll to 17 since the two sides agreed last week to work on a firming up a ceasefire.
The Israeli army reported numerous Palestinian attacks on its troops during the past 24 hours, but said there were no fatalities on the Israeli side.
With the truce looking shakier by the day, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat flew to Cairo today for consultations with the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinians said.
Palestinian taxi driver Asmi Asm said that overnight he and other drivers were ferrying labourers from the West Bank city of Nablus to the town of Tulkarem, near the border with Israel.
The workers then intended to join the thousands of Palestinians who slip into Israel to work illegally.
Asm said the convoy came upon a pile of rocks blocking the road.
When some of the passengers began dismantling the barrier, Israeli troops concealed in a nearby olive grove opened fire, killing two people and wounding six, he said.
The military said it was checking the report. Israel army radio said that soldiers shot at vehicles when they failed to stop at a roadblock, which was set up near the spot where an Israeli motorist had been wounded by Palestinian gunfire some hours earlier.
