Violence jolts Holy Land holiday weekend

JERUSALEM - An 18-month-old Palestinian girl was shot in the head by an Israeli soldier late yesterday as fighting jolted Jewish and Christian festivities in the Holy Land.

Seasonal greetings from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat for the Jewish people on the Passover holiday met a guarded response from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who insisted on an end to violence before peace talks could resume.

Christians in the region celebrated Palm Sunday, marking the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem at the start of Easter week.

A spokesman for Israel's civil administration said it had given permission for several hundred Palestinian Christians to enter Israel to attend the forthcoming Easter festivities.

The baby girl was in critical condition after Israeli soldiers facing stone-throwing Palestinian youths shot her in the head with a rubber-coated bullet as her family walked home through the village of Al-Khader, Palestinian witnesses and medical sources said.

Her eight-year-old brother was shot in the hand during the clash in the Israeli-controlled part of Al-Khader, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, an ambulance medic said. He said the baby had been shot from about 10 yards.

An army spokeswoman said she was checking the report.

She also said Palestinians had fired two mortar bombs from Gaza at an army base near the collective farm of Nahal Oz inside Israel and that an anti-tank bomb was thrown at troops in southern Gaza. No injuries were reported.

- REUTERS

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