http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2818767.stm

Shepherd shot by Israeli army

An 75-year-old shepherd was among three Palestinians who died on Tuesday in fresh Middle East violence.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the shepherd was spotted
riding a donkey in "an area in which Palestinian movement is
prohibited", prompting troops to open fire.

In the West Bank, two young men also died from Israeli
gunfire in separate incidents.

The killings come a day after the US took the rare step of
criticising Israel over the number of civilian casualties in army operations, following the deaths of eight Palestinians.

Investigation

Abdallah al-Ashab, who often took his flock to graze near the
Jewish settlement of Netzarim, just south of Gaza City, was
hit in the neck, Palestinian doctors at the city's main hospital
said.

The Israeli army was unable to say whether warning shots
had been fired, but said he had entered a restricted zone.
They said the incident would be investigated.

Meanwhile, a teenager was killed during a raid on an internet
cafe in Jenin by undercover Israeli troops.

The Israeli army said Hissam Mahmoud Amr belonged to the
militant Islamic Jihad group and had thrown a petrol bomb at
the troops.

Some witnesses said he was unarmed and not a militant,
although others said he was a member of Islamic Jihad.

Six Palestinians and two Israeli border police were said to
have been injured.

And later on Tuesday evening, a 25-year-old man was shot
dead on Tuesday evening in a stone-throwing incident in the
West Bank town of Tulkarm.

Witnesses said he had been a bystander; the Israeli army said
he was armed.

In other incidents:

Jewish settlers travelling in a car shot at
stone-throwers just outside Nablus in the West Bank,
seriously wounding a 14-year-old Palestinian boy,
medics and witnesses said. Israeli police said they were
investigating.

A 19-year-old Israeli woman was reportedly stabbed in
the stomach by a Palestinian as she waited at a bus
stop in the southern Negev desert town of Arad. An
Israeli police spokesman said the man had been caught.

Two Israelis were indicted on charges of attempted
murder of a Palestinian labourer they are accused of
running over on Saturday near a Gaza checkpoint, the
Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

US concern

Army operations on Tuesday followed similar activities by
Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip on Monday.

A raid on the Bureij refugee camp on Monday which left eight
Palestinians dead, including a pregnant woman, drew rare
criticism from the United States.

"We continue to be seriously concerned about civilian
casualties," said State Department spokesman Richard
Boucher.

"We have urged the Israeli
Government to take appropriate
caution to prevent the death or
injury of innocent civilians and
damage to civilian humanitarian
structures."

Palestinian hospital officials said
the pregnant 33-year-old was
killed by falling masonry when
the army blew up a house
during the raid.

The US, Israel's greatest financial sponsor, has been seeking
a period of quiet in the West Bank and Gaza as it tries to win support from Arab and Muslim countries for a war against Iraq.

Palestinians however see Israel's latest offensive as an effort to deal militant groups a fatal blow before any US campaign.