WASHINGTON (AFP) - The parents of Rachel Corrie, the US peace activist crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer asked Congress to call on the Israeli government to stop harassing non-violent activists in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites).

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Speaking to lawmakers, Craig and Cindy Corrie said they wanted the Israeli government to cease firing upon peace activists trying to protect Palestinian water supply and homes from "illegal demolitions".

Reading a statement, Cindy Corrie asked "members of Congress to demand that the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, when called upon for assistance, provide all reasonable support to non-violent, US volunteers in the Occupied Territories, as well as support to other internationals as appropriate."

US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) discussed the matter on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), who pledged a full probe into the incident, said White House spokesman Sean McCormack.

"Sharon said his office would personally attend to the investigation of this incident. We have asked the Israeli governement to complete an investigation on the incident," said the spokesman.

The Israeli army termed the young woman's death a "regrettable accident".

Corrie, a 23-year-old from Washington state, died when a military bulldozer ran her over in the town of Rafah, said Rafah hospital's chief doctor Ali Mussa and another US activist who witnessed the incident.

"We are speaking out today because of Rachel's fears about the impact of a war with Iraq (news - web sites) on the people in the Occupied Territories. She reported to us that her Palestinian friends were afraid that with all eyes on Iraq, the Israeli Defense Forces would escalate activity in the Occupied Territories," Cindy Corrie said.

"Now that she's no longer there, we are asking members of Congress and, truly, all the world to watch and listen."

The peace activists from the International Solidarity Movement were blocking the paths of two bulldozers and an Israeli tank tearing down Palestinian buildings in Rafah, which sits on Gaza's Israeli-controlled border with Egypt.

"In my last phone conversation with Rachel, she expressed that when we fail to support and protect the Internationals who resist non-violently, we also undercut the non-violent initiatives of the Palestinians," Corrie's mother said.

The area is a flashpoint in the conflict which has claimed 3,089 people, including 2,314 Palestinians and 717 Israelis.

Increasingly deadly Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip, a stronghold of militant Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, earlier this month drew a rare US rebuke to Israel for the mounting civilian death toll.

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