1. Headlines: (a) Straightforward, active voice, directly accusing Palestinians; (b) Circuitous, accusing Israeli guns, not Israelis.

2. A photo of baby Shalhevet in her parents' arms was shown. No such photo of baby Iman.

3.We are told that Palestinian gunmen shot and killed a baby girl, whereas the killing of the Palestinian girl came about as an unitended consequence (compare red highlights). Also, in (b) we are told that the troops fired "in response to a failed mortar attack". No such apologizing for the Palestinians.

4. Immediately after telling us that baby Shalhevet was killed, we are told what Prime Minister Sharon said about the incident. Nowehere in story (b) are we told what the official Palestinian reaction was.

5. The name of the Palestinian baby is reported as "Imam". It is in fact, "Iman". Note that the Israeli girl's name -- not easy to spell -- is spelled correctly.

6. A full paragraph in story (b) is given to Prime Minieter Ariel Sharon's expressions of sorrow. Arafat's expressions of sorrow -- more effusive than Sharon's -- were not reported in story (a).

7. Note the last minute insertion by the editors of news about the killing of a settler.

8. Half of the story is spent on the alleged seizure of Palestinian weapons. The killing of baby Iman is not mentioned again. In (a) the story goes back to baby Shalhevet at the close of the story.

9. In neither story did a single quote from a Palestinian official appear. By contrast, generous quotes (in light blue) from Israeli officials were provided in BOTH stories, the first where they vented off anger, the second where they expressed sorrow and explained themselves, making further accusations against the Palestinians.

10. A large portion of the story was given to the reaction of settlers in story (a). Only s small paragraph was given to the reaction of the Palestinians in story (b) -- focusing on the reaction of a relative. (Sections highlighted in green.)

11. Story (a) is short and focused on the killing of the baby. The second is long and drifts away from the killing of the baby after the first half.

By DEBORAH SONTAG - NYTimes

JERUSALEM, March 26 - Palestinian gunmen shot and killed a baby girl today outside the family home in the divided city of Hebron, Israeli officials said. The baby's father was wounded, heavy fighting ensued and tensions in the volatile West Bank town were running very high tonight.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman said the killing of the girl, Shalhevet Pass, who was 10 months old, was a deliberate, cold-blooded escalation of violence on the eve of an Arab summit meeting in Jordan.

"This was a premeditated murder in which a sniper put his cross hair on the head of a baby girl and blew it off," said Raanan Gissen, the spokesman. "It was intended as a provocation to ensure that Israel will respond in such a way as to create a real commotion before the start of the Amman summit." Israel sealed Hebron with a blockade.

The Israeli Army also suggested that residents of Abu Sneina, the neighborhood from which army officials said the shots had been fired, evacuate their homes for their own safety, Israeli news reports said. Shaul Yahalom, a leader of the National Religious Party, called on Mr. Sharon to order the Israeli Army to enter Abu Sneina and "eliminate" the gunmen. The Hebron settlers, who met with Mr. Sharon in Jerusalem, demanded that the army "retake the hills" surrounding Hebron.

They also asked Mr. Sharon to "fulfill his campaign promise to provide security" or risk huge demonstrations protesting his administration, a statement from the settlers said. After the baby was killed, Palestinians and Israeli troops engaged in an intense gun battle. The Israelis fired tank shells and machine guns at Abu Sneina. Some settlers began to march on Abu Sneina late tonight, clashing with the Israeli soldiers who restrained them from entering.

Earlier in the day, settlers in the nearby community of Qiryat Arba had thrown stones at Palestinian homes, according to Israeli news reports.

Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, the Israeli defense minister, called on the settlers to control their anger. "The cruel murder of Shalhevet Pass is a hard blow, but we cannot lower ourselves to the level of her murderers," he said.

Littlest Victim in the Mideast: Israeli Guns Kill 4-Month-Old

By DEBORAH SONTAG - NYTimes

JERUSALEM, May 7 - After some 500 deaths in seven months, Imam Hajo today became the youngest known victim of the current Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Imam, who was 4 months old, was killed inside her home in Gaza when Israeli troops fired on a densely populated refugee camp in response to a failed mortar attack on a Jewish settlement. Two dozen Palestinians, including Imam's mother and several other children, were wounded.

Videotape shot at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, showed the baby lying on a gurney with an identification sticker on her chest. Her eyes were shut, her ears still held tiny earrings and her lips had dried blood on them. Her doctors said she was killed by shrapnel.

"This baby was probably carrying a Katyusha rocket so we cannot blame Sharon for her blood," a relative said sarcastically.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed regret. "I heard today to my despair that an Arab baby was hurt," he said. "I know that in the same area mortar bombs were fired today. But I am certainly sorry about this matter. I think it is a saddening thing."

[An Israeli settler was shot dead early Tuesday near Itamar, in the West Bank, The Associated Press reported, quoting the Israeli Army.]

Since last September, the Israeli- Palestinian fighting has left a trail of wrenching images, the faces of children who got caught in the struggle raging around them: cherubic faces bursting with life that circulate on the Internet after death; faces contorted in fear; lifeless faces staring out from miniature coffins.

At times, both sides have used those images for propaganda. And sometimes the images get pushed aside by other developments.

Israeli Navy officials announced at a news conference tonight that on Sunday they had seized a small boat filled with sophisticated heavy weapons bound for Gaza. The boat, the Santorini, was intercepted off Rosh Hanikra, near the Israel-Lebanon border. It was believed to have originated in northern Lebanon.

The weapons aboard included 48 Katyusha rockets, 4 guided antiaircraft missiles, 20 rocket-propelled grenades, 120 antitank grenades, 70 antitank mines, several dozen assault rifles and a large amount of ammunition, Israeli officials said.

"The load of arms exposes the intentions of the Palestinians to escalate the war," Ephraim Sneh, the transportation minister, said in an interview. "It cannot be disguised any more as a protest. The meaning is very, very serious. It heralds an upsurge of the violence."

An Israeli official said documents aboard the boat indicated that Ahmed Jabril, secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, was behind the shipment. The Damascus-based group is not a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Yasir Abed Rabbo, the Palestinian information minister, denied that the shipment was in any way connected to the Palestinian Authority, and described Mr. Jabril as a hostile rival to the Authority and the P.L.O.