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A 5-year-old Palestinian boy was killed on Sunday when an Israel Defense Forces shell exploded near his home in the al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials said. Medical workers and militant groups said the boy, Abdullah Buhar, was killed during fighting between IDF soldiers and Palestinian militants in the Hamas-controlled Strip. The medical workers, who examined the boy's body in a Gaza hospital, said he was killed by a shrapnel fragment from an IDF tank shell.The militant groups said they fired anti-tank missiles and mortar bombs at IDF troops during the fighting near the refugee camp. An IDF spokeswoman confirmed troops exchanged fire in the area with armed Palestinians but said they were unaware of casualties. The IDF force, composed of soldiers from the Givati Brigade and the Armored Corps, had walked from Israeli territory to the outskirts of Bureij, where they encountered fire from several sources, including from inside homes and other structures. The soldiers returned fire. It was not immediately clear whether the boy was killed by the IDF forces operating in the area or by Palestinian militants who may have misfired a mortar shell. Doctors said a 16-year-old boy also was wounded. IDF forces often carry out raids in Gaza towns and refugee camps, to stop the firing of rockets on Israel and to arrest militants suspected of terrorist activities. Also on Sunday, five mortar shells and one Qassam rocket were fired into Israel from Gaza yesterday. No injuries were reported. Despite ongoing efforts mediated by Egypt for a cease-fire with Hamas, violence has continued to ensue between Israel and militants in the coastal territory. A senior member of the militant Palestinian group Hamas said Sunday that Israel has refused its offers for a temporary cease-fire proposed through Egyptian mediation. Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau said that Israel has responded negatively via the Egyptian mediators to an offer for a truce with the group both in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank. Abu Marzouk also said that if Israel does not release 350 Palestinian prisoners, it will never get kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit back alive, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported Sunday. On Saturday, a Palestinian farmer was killed in the northern Gaza Strip in a similar incident. Also Saturday, a Qassam rocket was fired at Ashkelon from the Gaza Strip, and landed in an open field south of the city's industrial zone. No injuries or damage was reported in the incident. Ashkelon went into a state of alert as sirens sounded for the first time since the last escalation between Israel and Hamas. On Friday, Palestinian sniper fire targeted a delegation that included Israel's public security minister, Avi Dichter. Dichter was unhurt, but an aide to the minister was wounded by the gunfire.As in the days of Noah....
