The militant group told the family that it considers the young man a Palestinian martyr, a title given to those killed in the conflict with Israel, including suicide bombers, said Zacariyya Zubeidi, head of an Al Aqsa cell in the West Bank town of Jenin and one of Israel's most wanted militants.
"The family remained angry, and it's their right to be angry, but we consider him one of the many martyrs that fall every day," Zubeidi said in an interview. "This is a war between us and Israel, and it is natural for there to be accidental victims."
In the Gaza Strip yesterday, a 7-year-old Palestinian girl, Fatima al-Jallad, died from a gunshot wound to the head, hospital officials said. She was shot Friday while playing outside her home in the Khan Younis refugee camp, Palestinian officials said.
Residents said the girl was killed by Israeli soldiers who had fired from an outpost at the nearby Jewish settlement of Ganei Tal.
An army spokeswoman said that she did not have information about a girl shot, but that soldiers had fired warning shots into the air as several people entered an off-limits border zone between Israel and Gaza.
Israel launched a new offensive into Gaza after two suicide bombings in the Israeli seaport of Ashdod killed 10 Israelis. In all, nine Palestinians have been killed and almost 40 have been wounded in the Gaza offensive.
Khoury was one of dozens of Arabs among the more than 940 people killed on the Israeli side since Israeli-Palestinian fighting broke out in September 2000.
Most of the Arabs were killed in suicide bombings in buses, malls, and restaurants, while some were victims of mistaken identity. In the same period, more than 2,700 people were killed on the Palestinian side.
Khoury's father, Elias, said yesterday that he hoped his son was the last victim. "This has to stop," he said an interview with Israel Radio. "I wished the victims of the recent days could be the last ones, and bring the leaders on both sides to reason."
George Khoury was a second year student of economics and international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In high school, he participated in several international gatherings on religious tolerance, his father said.
The victim's grandfather, Daoud, was killed in a 1975 bombing attack by Palestinian militants in Jerusalem, Elias Khoury said.
