Palestinian boy shot dead

The shooting was said to be accidental

An Israeli soldier has killed a five-year-old Palestinian boy and wounded his two sisters after opening fire on a Palestinian car at a checkpoint in the West Bank.

An Israeli army spokesman quoted by Reuters said a soldier had fired at the car "due to an operational mistake" at the checkpoint in the northern West Bank village of Barta - just southwest of Jenin.

He said an inquiry had been opened.

The boy - named as Mahmoud Qabha - died immediately from a gunshot wound, one sister was shot in the hand and his other sister was also wounded, witnesses said.

Yerucham Mandola, a spokesman for Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service, told Associated Press that another child had also been injured.

The incident occurred just hours before Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was due to hold talks with US President George W Bush in Washington.

During the talks Mr Abbas is expected to ask the US president to put pressure on Israel to remove West Bank checkpoints, as part of discussions on moving forward the "roadmap" peace plan.