NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) — Israeli troops shot dead an elderly Palestinian and an armed fighter after pushing into the West Bank city of Nablus before dawn on Tuesday to make arrests, a Palestinian official said.
Around 40 Israeli jeeps and three bulldozers drove into the flashpoint city before dawn, as troops took up position around homes in an effort to arrest Palestinian suspects, witnesses and a Palestinian security official said.
Abed Shaker el-Wazir, in his 70s, was apparently killed by a stray Israeli bullet as he was trying to leave his house when troops ordered Palestinians out into the open, the official said.
Three fighters from the armed Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades faction, which is loosely affiliated to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, were wounded during an exchange of fire with Israeli troops.
One of the wounded, local Al-Aqsa leader for the Nablus region Bassam Abu Sarryeh, later died of his injuries, the official added.
The family of another high-ranking Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader, Abdullah Hawas, said he had been captured by Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli army confirmed that clashes broke out between troops and Palestinian suspects that a spokeswoman said the forces had come to arrest.
She expressed regret at the death of a civilian not involved in violence during the clashes, but said that it was unclear if he was killed by an Israeli or Palestinian bullet.
Witnesses said Israeli soldiers later opened fire in order to disperse Palestinian stone throwers.
Five Palestinians were wounded, including European Press Agency photographer Alaa Badarneh, who was hit by a rubber bullet in the back, medics said.
A 30-year-old woman was later seriously hurt by Israeli gunfire outside her home, medical and security sources said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said an initial inquiry revealed she was hit by Palestinian fire.
Nablus Governor Jamal Muheisen told AFP the wounded woman was taken by ambulance to hospital in Israel.
Tuesday's deaths bring to 5,891 the number of people killed since the start of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000, the vast majority of them Palestinian, according to an AFP tally.
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