Palestinian shot dead in West Bank

Israeli forces say they are hunting militants

Palestinian authorities in the West Bank town of Tulkarm say Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian man during an incursion into the town.

The 55-year-old was killed by heavy machinegun fire as he stood on his balcony, according to hospital sources.

Earlier, the Israeli army said it had withdrawn its forces to the outskirts of Tulkarm after a two-day search for Palestinian militants.

Palestinian officials dismissed the claim of a withdrawal, saying a tight curfew of Tulkarm was still in force.

Elsewhere, Israeli troops briefly entered the West Bank town of Bethlehem, for the first time since the end of the siege at the Church of the Nativity two weeks ago.

And they swept into the city of Qalqilya before dawn on Sunday, in what the army said was an attempt to stop what it called "terror attacks" being planned in the city.

The continuing tension in the West Bank has alarmed international leaders, who fear a new surge in violence could scupper their efforts to revive peace talks after 20 months of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli death

The death of the Palestinian man in Tulkarm comes just a day after an Israeli reservist was killed in a fierce gun battle in the town.

Two other Israeli soldiers and eight Palestinians were said to have been wounded in the gun battle, which happened as the Israelis reportedly moved in to arrest militants.

The Israeli army has swept in and out of Palestinian-ruled towns in the West Bank, searching for militants blamed for attacks on Israelis, since it wound up an offensive earlier this month that it said was meant to halt Palestinian assaults.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a Palestinian militant group, said was responsible for the death of the Israeli reservist.

The group, which also claimed an abortive suicide attack on a Tel Aviv night club on Thursday, said it was retaliating for the recent killing of one of its commanders in the West Bank.