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Rachel Corey
(Photo: Reuters)
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By Arnon
Regular, Haaretz Correspondent, and Agencies
The killing of an American woman
peace protester Sunday by an IDF bulldozer, which ran her over during the
demolition of a house at the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza
Strip, was a "regrettable accident," a spokesman for the the IDF
said.
"This is a regrettable accident," said IDF spokesman Captain
Jacob Dallal. "We are dealing with a group of protesters who were
acting very irresponsibly, putting everyone in danger."
Rachel Corey, 23, from Olympia, Washington, was killed when she ran in
front of the bulldozer to try to prevent it from destroying a house,
doctors in Gaza said. Another activist was wounded in the incident.
Hours later, two Palestinians were shot dead by IDF troops in the Gaza
Strip, Palestinian sources said. A Palestinian youth was shot in Khan
Yunis, according to the sources, while another man was shot in southern
Rafah on the Egypt-Israel border.
"Corey was killed in the al-Salam neighbourhood when an
Israeli bulldozer covered her with sand as she stood in front of a
bulldozer," said Dr Ali Musa, a doctor from the al-Najar hospital in
the southern Gaza Strip. He said she died from skull and chest fractures.
Greg Schnabel, 28, from Chicago, said the protesters were in the house of
Dr. Samir Masri.
"Rachel was alone in front of the house as we were trying to get them
to stop," he said. "She waved for bulldozer to stop and waved.
She fell down and the bulldozer kept going. We yelled 'stop, stop,' and
the bulldozer didn't stop at all. It had completely run over her and then
it reversed and ran back over her."
Since the start of the Intifada, groups of international protesters have
gathered in several locations in territories, setting themselves up as
"human shields" to try to stop IDF operations.
Corey was the first member of the groups, called "International
Solidarity Movement," to be killed in the conflict. Schnabel said
Corey was a student at Evergreen College and was to graduate this year.
He said there were eight protesters at the site, four from the United
States and four from Great Britain. "We stay with families whose
house is to be demolished," he told the Associated Press by telephone
from Rafah after the incident.
The U.S. State Department had no immediate comment
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