Israeli major shot dead in Gaza

JERUSALEM, NOV. 25. Palestinian gunmen have shot dead an Israeli army officer near the Jewish settlement of Gush Katif in the southern Gaza strip, the army said. It said in a statement yesterday that Maj. Sharon Arameh (25), was cut down `by Palestinian gunfire' directed at an army unit from the Palestinian self-rule town of Khan Younis close to the Mediterranean coast.

Meanwhile, the two-month spiral of bloodletting showed little sign of letting up today, with the mounting death toll among Israel and the Palestinians clouding the latest diplomatic steps to restore calm.

Five Palestinians and two Israelis were killed yesterday, even as the Prime Minister, Mr. Ehud Barak, and the Palestinian leader, Mr. Yasser Arafat, held their first contacts in three weeks in a Moscow-brokered ``Tele-summit'' and agreed to renew low-level security cooperation.

On the diplomatic front, Mr. Arafat was in Jordan for talks with King Abdullah II before a visit to Cairo to meet the Egyptian President, Mr. Hosni Mubarak.

- Reuters, AFP

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Section  : International
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