Military

DATE=07/07/2005

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= ISRAEL / PALESTINIANS / S-ONLY

NUMBER=2-325750

BYLINE= LARRY JAMES

DATELINE=JERUSALEM

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Israel Troops Kill Palestinian Militant in West Bank

INTRO: Israeli soldiers killed one Palestinian militant and seriously wounded another, when they opened fire on a group of men they said were planning to carry out an attack on Israelis near the West Bank town, Nablus. VOAs Larry James has more in this report from Jerusalem.

TEXT: Israeli media said the troops intercepted at least three armed Palestinians in the Balata refugee camp, early Thursday morning, as they approached a bus of Jewish worshippers returning from a religious site, nearby. One of the Palestinians was killed, one wounded and one was believed to have escaped.

Shortly before midnight the Israeli military reported another shooting involving the same group of Jewish worshippers. In the earlier incident, another Palestinian teenager was wounded by soldiers who were accompanying the worshippers on their way toward the site where some Jews believe the biblical figure Joseph is buried. Muslims say it is the burial site of a Muslim sheikh. The site has frequently been the scene of violence during the past five years of violence.

All the Palestinians involved in the shootings were member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which is linked to the ruling Fatah Party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

NEB/LDJ/WD