Israeli troops kill Gaza teenager

The Palestinians tried to scramble over a tank, Israel says

A Palestinian teenager has been shot dead by Israeli troops in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics say.

The Israeli army said the youth was among a crowd that broke through a fence surrounding the Gush Katif settlement, evacuated last month.

An army spokeswoman said warning shots were fired and that the troops were not aware of any of the youths being hit.

This was the first Israeli-Palestinian clash in the Gaza Strip since the Israeli pullout last month.

Guarded settlements

Palestinian medics said the teenager was hit in the head and chest by heavy machine gunfire.

They added that at least two other Palestinians were wounded in the clash at the former Jewish settlement.

According to the Israeli army, a group of at least 30 youths had approached the defences around the large settlement bloc.

It said the crowd broke through a fence and began scrambling over a tank.

All the settlements that Israel built in Gaza during nearly 40 years of occupation have been evacuated in recent weeks in accordance with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza pullout plan.

But the settlements have still not been handed over to the Palestinians, the BBC's Alan Johnston in the Gaza Strip says.

That is expected to happen in the next week or two, our correspondent says.

But for now, he says, all the empty settlements are still guarded by the army and the death of the teenager has made it clear that the troops are as ready as ever to use lethal force to keep out Palestinians.