Israeli troops kill Palestinian militant in W. Bank

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) – Israeli troops killed a
Palestinian militant during a clash outside the West Bank city
of Nablus on Thursday, sources in his faction and medics said.

Israeli military sources said troops fired on two gunmen in
Balata refugee camp trying to attack Jewish worshippers en
route to a nearby shrine known as Joseph’s Tomb.

Sources in al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed spin-off of
the dominant Palestinian group Fatah, described the militant as
a comrade. They said he was 16 years old and was on Israel’s
wanted list in connection with a Palestinian uprising.

The clash occurred hours after witnesses said Israeli
soldiers fired on Palestinian stone-throwers in Balata,
critically wounding another teenager.

The army denied responsibility, saying troops had come
under fire but did not shoot back.

Bloodshed in the occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank has
largely subsided since Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared a ceasefire in
February.

But truce violations have multiplied in the past few weeks.
The violence has raised fears that Israel’s planned pullout
from Gaza in August could be disrupted and has dampened hopes
of peace talks afterwards.