A senior UN official has been shot dead and an Irish observer injured by Israeli gunfire in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.
The UN official, named as Briton Mr Ian Hook aged 50, has been described as a "very senior member of the United Nations". In a separate incident the Irish observer, Ms Caoimhe Butterly (23), was shot in the thigh and is being treated in hospital.
In August Ms Butterly, along with three Palestinian teenagers, was injured by Israeli gunfire in Jenin.
Ms Butterly has spent time in the Palestinian territories since Israel briefly reoccuppied the area earlier this year. She works to provide protection to Palestinians as an international presence.
A spokeswoman for the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) said the two were shot by Israeli forces.
Speaking from her hospital bed Ms Butterly told ireland.com: "The army was firing live rounds. One solider lifted the hatch of his tank, looked straight at us and opened fire."
UN spokesman Mr Rene Aquarone said: "I can confirm that an international staff member has been shot dead in Jenin."
Doctors said he worked for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in the refugee camp. Palestinian doctors said he was killed by gunfire while working in his office in the northern part of the camp and that another UNRWA official was thought to have been wounded. An UNRWA spokesman did not comment.
There was heavy gunfire in the refugee camp today during an Israeli military operation to seize an Islamic Jihad militant behind a suicide bombing in October that killed 14 people.
Military sources said Israeli forces were involved in an exchange of fire with Palestinian gunmen in the area.
The Department of Foreign Affairs is investigating the matter.