Palestinians say five killed were 'unarmed civilians'

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Israeli troops shot dead five Palestinians in the West Bank, but the army and Palestinian security officers disagreed as to whether or not the men had posed a threat to the soldiers.

An army statement said an Israeli force "identified an armed gang of terrorists" on Sunday and said they had opened fire on an Israeli vehicle travelling towards a Jewish settlement. It said the army force "fired precisely" and killed the five.

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The army had initially said only four Palestinians had been killed but confirmed the fifth fatality on Monday.

Palestinian security officers and witnesses said the five killed were all civilians, none was armed and they were nowhere near where the gun battle took place.

The shooting was in an Israeli-occupied part of the West Bank near the Palestinian-ruled city of Qalqilya.

The Palestinian officers said the five, aged 16 to 28, had bled to death because the Israeli army would not for hours let Palestinian security or ambulances through to the Razazeh area east of Qalqilya where they lay dying.

Three other Palestinian residents -- two of them wounded -- managed to escape, a security officer said.

"They were not in the area of the gun battles. They were in another area. They were surprised by the rain of Israeli bullets coming towards them," said the security officer, who declined to be identified.

The only "weapon" one of them had was a water pipe with a skewer inside, the officer said.

Israeli army posts and vehicles used by both the military and Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza have been frequent targets of Palestinian gunfire since protests against occupation erupted two months ago.

Palestinians have accused Israel of using excessive force to try to quell an uprising aimed at securing an independent state.

In two months of violence, at least 280 people, the vast majority of them Palestinians, have been killed.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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