Palestinian girl killed in Gaza

Rafah is often the scene of violent clashes

An 11-year-old Palestinian girl has been killed by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli troops continue to enforce a road blockade aimed at preventing Palestinian attacks.

The girl's family say she was hit by a bullet while walking home from school near the city of Rafah.

Palestinians are now blocked from using many main roads

Later on Saturday, a suspected Palestinian militant was also killed in the area - one of a group of men who are said to have attacked the heavily-guarded Jewish settlement of Morag.

The attackers opened fire and the army retaliated, an Israeli spokesman said. An Israeli soldier was also wounded in the incident.

The militant group Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Israeli army is continuing its policy of road closures in the Gaza area, which it says are in response to an increase in terror attacks.

The closures effectively divide the territory into three parts, preventing Palestinian movement from one part of the Gaza Strip to another.

Deal 'not ready'

Meanwhile an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has expressed his disappointment with the quartet of international mediators who announced on Saturday that their blueprint for a Middle East peace deal was not yet ready.

Delaying the implementation of the road map came after clear Israeli demands to delay it

Nabil Abu Rdeneh
Mr Arafat's adviser

The quartet representatives met in Washington on Friday to discuss a "road map" proposing the creation of a Palestinian state - but they declined to publish details of their plan.

Mr Arafat's adviser, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, said representatives of the quartet - the United States, the United Nations, Russia and the European Union - gave way to Israeli pressure.

"Delaying the implementation of the road map came after clear Israeli demands to delay it," Mr Rdeneh said.

"I believe this position will help Israel continue its escalations and aggression."

Frustration

The EU had been pushing for the peace plan to be published at the Washington meeting, arguing that the whole process needed momentum.

The EU had hoped to publish the plan on Friday

It said that time was running out if the 2005 deadline for the creation of a permanent Palestinian state was to be met.

But the US said it wanted to wait until after the Israeli general election, scheduled for the end of January, before releasing exact details of the plan.

The BBC's Michael Buchanan says there is increasing frustration about the role the US is playing.

Earlier this week, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana bemoaned the lack of a committed American partner in the process.