Funeral of Muhammad Nayef

Israeli troops kill West Bank boy

Nayef was buried in the Jalazun refugee camp where he lived

A Palestinian youth, 15, has been shot dead by Israeli forces in an incident outside a settlement near the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The Israeli military said Muhammad Riad Nayef was among a group of youths that troops fired on after they hurled firebombs at a guard post.

But Palestinian police quoted witnesses who said stones and firebombs were only thrown after the boy was shot.

The incident comes amid moves to restart peace talks later this months.

The wounded teenager was transferred to an Israeli hospital in Jerusalem, where he later died.

Palestinian medical sources said another four people, three youths and one ambulance driver, were injured in the incident at the Jalazun refugee camp, near the settlement of Beit El.

West Bank map

The death comes as the US is pushing to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Israel's largely ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, said on Monday that US President Barack Obama may chair a proposed meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in September.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas may meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York in late September, Mr Peres told Fox News.

The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he expected "some kind of statement, some kind of proposal" on fresh negotiations around that time.

The US and Israel have been trying to reach agreement over Palestinian demands for a complete halt to building in settlements in the occupied West Bank, before they will restart peace talks.

Israel wants to keep building to allow what it calls the "natural growth" of settler communities, and has refused to stop building in East Jerusalem.

But Nabil Shaath, a former Palestinian prime minister and a senior member of Mr Abbas's Fatah movement, said the Palestinians would reject calls to negotiate if Israel only implemented a limited freeze.

"I would say, Mr Obama, we love you... but I am sorry this is not enough to bring us to the peace process."

He said a freeze must include all of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and must last until a final peace agreement was reached.

At least 450,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The settlements are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.



source