Israeli troops kill Palestinian in Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian in a confrontation with stone-throwers on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, medics said.

The shooting occurred near the Israel-Gaza frontier while youngsters hurled rocks at an armoured force that entered the area after Palestinians fired mortar bombs and rockets at Jewish settlements and at a town in southern Israel.

Medics said an 18-year-old Palestinian was killed by army gunfire and two other Palestinians were wounded. They said about 30 people were in the crowd.

Israeli military sources could not confirm the death but said troops fired at a Palestinian who climbed on to an armoured vehicle and posed a danger to its crew. The sources said between 200 and 300 Palestinian "rioters" confronted the force.

Since Sunday, at least nine Israelis have been injured in mortar bomb and Qassam rocket attacks on Gaza settlements and the southern Israeli town of Sderot, the army said.

Tensions in the Gaza Strip have risen since Israel's assassination on Saturday of Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, leader of the militant Hamas group. Hamas vowed to carry out "100 retaliations" for the killing.

- REUTERS