Israeli tanks fired ata Palestinian house in a battle with Palestinians inthe northern West Bank today, military sources said.
They denied initial reports from Palestinian residents thata helicopter gunship fired two missiles into the building in asuburb of the city of Jenin, a militant stronghold.
"Israeli tanks fired at a building where gunman who carriedout a shooting near Jenin (earlier in the day) were hiding," anIsraeli military source told reporters. A Jewish settler waswounded in the shooting.
Israel Army radio said tanks had shelled the building.Residents said no one was inside it at the time but that itburst into flames after an hours-long gunbattle.
Earlier Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian and wounded another today near Israel's boundary with the Gaza Strip.
The army said soldiers opened fire after two Palestinians entered an off-limits area used in the past by gunmen to launch attacks on troops or to try and infiltrate Israel.
Palestinian security officials said Israel had informed them of the death and had handed the body over, while the second Palestinian was hospitalised.
The incident occurred near Kibbutz Nahal Oz on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, an area where Palestinians planted an anti-tank land mine earlier this month and tried to carry out a suicide bombing last week.
Also today a 16-year-old boy from the Nusseirat refugee camp in Gaza, died from wounds sustained in an Israeli air strike on October 20th. The attack killed 12 Palestinians, both militants and civilians.