IDF troops kill Palestinian

Israeli troops shot a man dead in an overnight raid on a village close to the city of Jenin, witnesses and officials said on Thursday.

The soldiers were involved in a mission to arrest militants in the town of Qabatiya, which they entered just after midnight. Some 50 Palestinians were said to have begun throwing rocks at them near to the town's vegetable market.

Medical workers told the Reuters news agency that the 21-year-old man, Ahmed Imad Yusuf, had been shot in the chest during the violence. Locals said the man worked on the market and was not a militant.

Israeli public radio said a young Palestinian had been killed in the town, which it said was the stronghold of an Islamist militant group.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army said the incident was being investigated. The troops left having arrested three people.

Separately, the Islamist group Hamas told the news agency AP that four of its senior members had been arrested in the town of Ramallah.

Clashes between troops and Palestinians have been on the increase in recent months, with Israel seeking to arrest suspects in the occupied territories. Since peace talks resumed in July, seven other Palestinians have been shot dead while three Israelis have died.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told officials to press ahead with plans to build 3,500 more homes for settlers in the West Bank. The decision came only hours after Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners.

rc/mkg (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)