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Palestinian Policeman Shot Dead By Israeli Fire In Gaza Strip
GAZA CITY, Feb 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - An armed member of the Palestinian security forces was shot dead early Thursday by Israeli soldiers as he tried to enter a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, the army said.
Nineteen year-old Nasr Mohammed al-Hasanat, was spotted by soldiers as he was entering a greenhouse in the settlement of Kfar Darom in the southern Gaza Strip and was killed in exchanged gunfire, an army spokesman said.
Family members said Hasanat, who was from Deir al-Balah near Kfar Darom, worked for the Palestinian security services.
The Israeli army informed the Palestinians that Hasanat was wearing a uniform when he was shot dead, Palestinian security officials said.
His body was seized by Israelis and was later turned over. He was buried at a funeral attended by several hundred mourners, including some who fired assault rifles in the air.
Hasanat's death was another indication of the increasing level of violence in the region after the election of rightwing Likud leader Ariel Sharon as Israel's new prime minister on February 6th.
Thursday's shooting marked a third day of killings that began on Tuesday with an Israeli helicopter attack that killed Massoud Ayyad, a member of Arafat's Force 17 bodyguard unit.
The day after Ayyad's death, Khalil Abu Olbeh, a Palestinian driver for Israel's Egged bus company, rammed his bus into a crowded bus shelter near Tel Aviv and led Israeli security on a 20-kilometer (12-mile) chase before the Israelis shot him and forced a crash, CNN reports.
Three of the victims from the hit and run were buried on Wednesday, and funerals for the other five were being held on Thursday.
While the Israelis blamed Yasser Arafat for the escalation in violence - more than 430 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed since September 28th - Arafat said it was Israel's "serious" military escalation that was worsening the already deteriorated relations between the Mideast neighbors, CNN reports.
Israel tightened its closure of the Palestinian territories after Wednesday's attack, sealing off the Gaza Strip entirely.
Palestinian security officials said the Israeli army also razed farmland in the northern Gaza Strip, actions often taken to increase visibility for army positions near Jewish settlements.
In addition, Israel's conservative President Moshe Katsav called for a policy of non-cooperation with Arafat on Thursday. "We should stop any cooperation with Yasser Arafat unless he will express his determination against the terrorist activities," Katsav said in Jerusalem to CNN.
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