By News Agencies
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A British peace activist going
only by the name Alice cries for help as she holds her hand
over the headwound of British peace activist Thomas Hurndall,
who had been shot in the head moments earlier, at the start
of a protest, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip (news - web
sites), Friday, April 11, 2003. Hurndall, age 21, from
Machester, England, had been standing between Israeli troops
and Palestinian children when Israeli soldiers opened fire,
according to a fellow activist from the International
Solidarity Movement who witnessed the scene. Hurndall was
declared brain dead after arrival at a Gaza hospital. (AP
Photo/Khalil Hamra) |
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Israel Defense Forces troops shot a
British peace activist working with the International Solidarity
Movement on Friday, witnesses said.
Doctors said the Briton was brain dead.
The activist was standing in between IDF troops and a group of
Palestinian children when soldiers opened fire, said Khalil
Abdullah who works with the Palestinian-backed peace group.
"A group of ISM people were trying to set up a small protest
tent alongside a road used by the army. The soldiers opened
fire," said Abdullah, who witnessed the shooting.
The 24-year-old Briton was shot in the head and declared brain
dead shortly after arriving at the United Nations Work and Reliefs
Agency hospital in Rafah, where the shooting occurred, according
to Dr. Ali Musa.
An IDF spokeswoman said she was checking the report.
On March 16, American activist Rachel Corrie, 23, was killed while
trying to stop an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip.
Corrie, a student in Olympia, Washington, was the first member of
the group to be killed in 30 months of fighting between Israelis
and Palestinians.
The group claimed the bulldozer ran over her and then backed up.
The army denied the claim and said the operator of the armored
bulldozer did not see her.
Last week, Israeli troops in an armored personnel carrier
allegedly shot Bryan Avery, 24, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, in
the face. He had been working in the West Bank city of Jenin. The
army said it was firing at gunmen in the area and was not aware it
hit Avery.
Activists in the group work in the West Bank and Gaza as human
shields, often placing themselves between the Palestinians and the
Israelis.
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