by Suzanne GoldenbergAn Israeli teenager went to the West Bank to see a young Palestinian woman he had met on the internet, and ended up dead, his body full of bullets. Opinions were divided last night on whether the couple was a modern Middle Eastern version of Romeo and Juliet or whether the boy was lured to his death.
The boy's body was handed over to Israel, more than 24 hours after it was discovered near the city of Ramallah. Reports on Wednesday had suggested that the body was that of a Palestinian. The dead teenager is believed to have been 16, and to have run away from his home in the coastal city of Ashqelon on Tuesday, carrying a large sum of money.
He becomes the 367th victim of the violence that has engulfed Israel and the Palestinians. But this death appears to have badly shaken the authorities on both sides. The Israeli prime minister, last night described the murder as "cold-blooded". A spokesman for the Palestinian Authority said it condemned all killings of Israeli civilians. Israel army radio reported that the boy may have been deliberately lured to the West Bank so that he could be robbed and murdered. The radio said that no money was found on the body.
Israel's Channel Two television reported that soldiers had seen the boy walking on the edge of Ramallah with a young Palestinian women. It said a car had pulled up alongside the couple, carrying several men in civilian clothes who opened fire.
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