Two killed in Mideast violence

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- An Israeli soldier has died of wounds he suffered on Monday morning when a roadside bomb exploded underneath his vehicle in the West Bank, the Israeli army said.

Capt. Shalom Cohen, 22, was killed while on patrol south of Hebron. Another soldier was lightly injured.

In a separate incident, a car bomb went off Monday morning near the Kissufim crossing from Israel into Gaza, an apparent attack by a suicide bomber, an Israeli army spokesman said.

A charred body was found in the car, but there were no other injuries.

Israel Radio reported that Israeli authorities had tipped off Palestinian security officials that the Gaza incident was going to occur.

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Right-wing members of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet accused the Palestinian Authority of failing to take action to prevent terrorist acts.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat has told the United States he will implement a new policy aimed at thwarting terrorism.

And at the Shuafat refugee camp near Jerusalem, bulldozers flattened more than a dozen unfinished houses that the city of Jerusalem said were being illegally built.

The houses were near new homes in the Jewish suburb of Pisgat Ze'ev.

On Sunday night, a young Israeli girl was shot by Palestinian gunmen as a bus filled with Israeli settlers came under fire, an Israeli army spokesman said.

The shooting occurred near the Israeli settlement of Shilo, which is located north of the Palestinian West Bank town of Ramallah.

The army spokesman said the girl was in moderate condition.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians vowed revenge at the funeral of an 11-year-old Palestinian boy who was shot dead Saturday in southern Gaza.

Palestinians have said Israeli soldiers fired on the boy and at least two other children while they played.

The Israeli army could not confirm the report of the child's death, but it said soldiers did fire at Palestinian militants who had been throwing grenades at a military post. The Palestinian Red Crescent said the child was killed at Rafah.

In the West Bank, Palestinians say Israeli soldiers sprayed cars and houses with gunfire earlier in the weekend. Israel said it was reacting to Palestinian rifle fire on a Jewish settlement.

The violence is undermining a cease-fire brokered by the U.S. last month, which is officially still in place despite Israeli and Palestinian security officials failing to agree on a timeline to implement the recommendations of the U.S.-led commission to end nearly 10 months of fighting.

Palestinian eyewitnesses told the Associated Press that the children injured Saturday were shot by Israeli soldiers from a guard tower some 350 yards from where they had been playing.

The Israeli army spokesman said Palestinian militants had been shooting and throwing hand grenades and firebombs toward the military post throughout the day from inside the Rafah refugee camp, prompting the army to return fire.

In a written statement, the army said it tried to disperse the dozens of protesters with rubber bullets but also fired live ammunition in an open area that was far from the crowd.