Boy and policeman shot dead by Israelis

Two Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy, have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the deadliest violence in four days.

Two Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy, have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the deadliest violence in four days.

In several areas, troops responded to fire from Palestinian gunmen leading large protest marches against a renewal of contacts with Israel.

The boy, Muayed Darwish, was shot in the head during a fire-fight near an Israeli enclave in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

He was in a coma for several hours, hooked up to a respirator, before being declared dead.

In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian policeman was killed after Israelis opened fire on Palestinians trying to cut holes in the border fence with Egypt.

Thirty-eight demonstrators were injured in the clashes. In the West Bank town of Nablus, 19 Palestinians were wounded, including two who were in serious condition.

The violence cast a pall over US efforts to broker a truce between Israel and the Palestinians at an emergency Mideast summit in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.

The deaths brought to 99 the number of people killed in 19 days of fighting, most of them Palestinians. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been injured.