Palestinian teen burned to death, autopsy shows

RAMALLAH, West Bank -- An autopsy showed an Arab teenager who Palestinians say was killed in a revenge attack was burned to death, officials said yesterday.

Palestinian Attorney General Abdelghani al-Owaiwi said he received initial results from a Palestinian doctor who was at the autopsy in Tel Aviv. He said it shows that Muhammad Abu Khdeir, 16, suffered burns on "90 percent of his body" and was breathing while on fire.

Al-Owaiwi said the young man also had wounds on the right side of his head, apparently from impact with a rock or another hard object. The Israeli Health Ministry could not be reached for comment.

Palestinian militants yesterday fired two rockets deeper into Israel than any other attack in the current round of violence. The Israeli military said its "Iron Dome" defense system intercepted the rockets that were aimed at Beersheba. The military also said at least 29 other rockets and mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel over the weekend. Israel retaliated with airstrikes on militant sites in Gaza.

Clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters spread yesterday to Arab towns in northern Israel as hundreds of people took to the streets and threw rocks and fire bombs at officers who responded with tear gas and stun grenades, police said.

The charred body was found in a forest Wednesday after Khdeir was seized near his home.

Palestinians accused Israeli extremists of killing him to avenge the slayings of three Israeli teens who had been abducted in the West Bank. Israeli leaders have condemned the killing of the Palestinian youth and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.