Military

DATE=07/06/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=ISRAEL/PALESTINIANS (L)

NUMBER=2-291772

BYLINE=LARRY JAMES

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Palestinian officials say Israeli troops have killed three Palestinians in two shooting incidents in the Gaza Strip. Larry James has more in this report from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Hospital officials in southern Gaza say a woman in her forties and her two-year-old daughter were killed when the vehicle they were traveling in came under fire Saturday near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim.

The Israeli army has denied there was any Israeli fire in the area.

In another incident late Friday night, Palestinian security officials said a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli soldiers as he was walking near the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis.

Tensions are running high in Gaza following the deaths of two senior Palestinian militants there.

Thousands of people took part in their funeral procession, demanding revenge for the deaths of the two men who were killed Thursday, when the car they were riding in exploded. The men were members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which has claimed responsibility for a number of recent suicide bomb attacks against Israeli civilians.

Palestinians say the two men were assassinated by Israel. The Israeli army has refused to comment.

A demonstration was also held in Gaza City on Saturday by representatives of several Palestinian factions calling for the release of leaders Israel has arrested in its round-up of suspected militants.

Israeli troops occupy seven of the eight major Palestinian population centers in the West Bank. They moved into those areas following a series of attacks by Palestinian militants that killed 31 Israeli civilians. (signed)

NEB/LDJ/DW/TW