Palestinian girl killed by Israeli fire in Gaza: medics

GAZA CITY, Oct 8, 2004 (AFP) - A nine-year-old Palestinian girl was killed Friday by Israeli troops in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanun, medics told AFP.

Samah Nassar was fatally hit in the chest, they said.

Ninety-five Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the army launched 10 days ago a major offensive in the Gaza Strip to try to stop militant rocket attacks on southern Israel.

The latest deaths brought to 4,459 the number of people killed since the start of the four-year-old intifada, including 3,431 Palestinians and 954 Israelis.

Despite heavy army presence, Gaza militants managed to fire two rockets Friday which hit on the other side of the border, near the town of Sderot, without causing any casualties, Israeli military sources said.

Four Israelis have been killed in such rocket attacks on Sderot over the past four months, two of them last week.