GAZA – Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian woman in a Gaza Strip village where soldiers and Palestinian fighters continue to clash.

Palestinian doctors said the woman was killed by an Israeli sniper while she was standing outside her home in southern Gaza on Friday.   

The Israeli army said Israeli forces in the area identified two armed men approaching the force and opened fire, hitting both of them.   

"The soldiers were operating in the area in search of underground tunnels and other security threats," an army spokesman said.

Israel killed nine Palestinians, including one teenager and at least three of them Hamas fighters, in Gaza on Thursday. 

Israel’s four-month offensive in Gaza started after a soldier was captured by Palestinian fighters.

Journalists Beaten

In a separate incident, the Foreign Press Association on Thursday accused the Israeli army of "unprovoked violence against journalists" after two Palestinian journalists were beaten up and one of them detained in the West Bank.

"In both cases there is no evidence that either colleague was doing anything other than pursuing their journalistic duties," the FPA said in a statement.

Emad Borat, a freelance cameraman for Reuters news agency, has remained in custody since he was detained while filming soldiers entering the Palestinian village of Bilin on October 6, said Shai Carmeli-Pollak, a filmmaker.

Bilin, near the boundary with Israel, is the scene of weekly protests against Israel’s West Bank separation barrier. Pollak said Borat was beaten up inside a military Jeep after his detention and needed six stitches for a gash on his face.

Imprisoned

A military judge has ordered Borat to be released, but he remains in custody while prosecutors appeal against the order. The army has accused Borat of throwing stones at Israeli border police while filming, Pollak said.

Borat was the main photographer for Pollak’s documentary, Bilin My Love, which won best documentary at the recent Jerusalem Film Festival.

The FPA complaint also cited the case of Jaafar Ashtiyeh, a photographer for Agence France Presse.

Ashtiyeh said an Israeli soldier chased and kicked him after he tried to take photographs of an Israeli checkpoint next to the West Bank city of Nablus.

The FPA, which represents foreign journalists in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said both cases raised "serious concerns about the treatment of journalists by members of the Israeli armed services".

The Israeli army has not commented on the accusations.

Agencies