Fatal shooting in Ramallah

Israeli forces swept into a second West Bank city early on Monday, resulting in confrontations with Palestinians in the al-Jilazoun refugee camp near Ramallah.

Hospital officials and witnesses said a second Palestinian was also wounded. The man killed was shot in the chest, they said.

Israel's military did not immediately comment on the al-Jilazoun incident.

Israel accuses militants of Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, of abducting the teenage seminary students near Hebron while they were hitchhiking.

Dozens detained

The army said it had detained dozens of Palestinians over the weekend at West Bank locations, including Hebron, where support for the Islamist faction is strong.

One of those arrested was the speaker of the Palestinian parliament, Aziz Dweik, according to Palestinian security officials.

The crisis is a double test for US-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose forces have sought to help Israel in its search.

Abbas' Fatah movement recently formed a new cabinet comprising technocrats, under a power-sharing deal with Hamas, his previous rivals.

"Those who carried out the kidnapping of our youngsters are Hamas people - the same Hamas with whom Abu Mazen has forged a unity government, which has very serious implications," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, referring to Abbas.

Some Palestinians accused Netanyahu of seeking a pretext. He champions Jewish settlement of the occupied West Bank.

Kerry condemns abductions

US Secretary of State John Kerry condemned the abduction, saying "many indications point to Hamas' involvement" and noting that the Islamist militant movement "has used kidnapping in the past".

In Gaza, three Palestinians were injured, including a 3-year-old child, when Israeli helicopters gunship carried out six successive airstrikes on training facilities belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, medics and witnesses said.

ipj/jr (dpa, Reuters, AFP)