10-year-old boy killed in Gaza

The boy was hunting for birds when he was hit

A Palestinian boy and three militants have been killed by Israeli troops in separate clashes in the Gaza Strip.

Mahmoud al-Kayed, 10, died after being hit by shrapnel from Israeli tank fire as he hunted for birds in north Gaza.

Two militants were killed near the town of Khan Younis and a third shot at a refugee camp in central Gaza.

The violence came as Israel reopened a key checkpoint close to the West Bank city of Ramallah as a step towards easing restrictions on Palestinians.

It followed a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian security officials in the area.

Mahmoud al-Kayed died after he was hit in the chest by shrapnel from Israeli tank fire near Kibbutz Nahal Oz close to the border with Israel.

'Suspicious figures'

Witness Nimr As-Ous, 22, was picking olives in a nearby grove on Friday morning when he heard the gunfire.

"I started to run when I heard the firing. Mahmoud and his friends were trying to catch birds with a net when they were hit by shrapnel," he told French news agency AFP.

The Israeli army said they had opened fire on suspicious figures spotted close to the border crossing point, which is banned to Palestinians.

Maghazi residents say tanks and helicopters were used

"They appeared to be carrying wires and other pieces of equipment for an explosive device and were thought to be planting a bomb near the community," a military source said.

Earlier, two militants were killed and several people - including two women - wounded in a clash with troops near the town of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza strip.

The Palestinian al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade said the dead men were members of its group, which is loosely affiliated with President Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement.

Israeli sources said troops fired at "suspicious figures" crouched down in an off-limits area near the boundary with Israel.

That clash reportedly came after Palestinian militants fired five mortar rounds at Jewish settlements in the Strip which exploded harmlessly.

Call 'from mosque'

Another Palestinian was killed in a separate exchange of fire in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.

The armed wing of Hamas said the dead man was one of its militants.

According to Palestinian witnesses in Maghazi, mosque loudspeakers were used to call out local militants to resist the attack and the Israelis sent in tanks and helicopters to back up their soldiers.

Israeli military sources claimed the dead man was about to carry out an attack on a Jewish settlement.

The latest violence comes as Palestinian prime minister-designate Ahmed Qurei and President Yasser Arafat wrangle over the appointment of an interior minister, who would have responsibility for security.

The deadlock has led to a delay in the formation of a new Palestinian government, which is crucial to progress towards peace in the region.