Quds city, Nov 7, SPA -- An Israeli soldier was shot and killed, apparently by Israeli troops, during a West Bank operation in which a Palestinian was also killed, the Israeli army and Palestinian residents said Sunday. The troops separated into two groups during the operation overnight to arrest militants in the village of Ilar near Tulkarem, the army said. One group of soldiers sited two armed Palestinians and shot toward them, killing one, the army said. Palestinian residents said the dead man was an unarmed farmer who got caught in an exchange of fire between Palestinian militants and soldiers. No other Palestinians were hurt in the incident, the residents said. According to the army account, after the Palestinian was killed, the two groups of soldiers agreed to meet and began to walk toward each other from separate areas in the village. At this point, one set of troops came under fire. Three soldiers were wounded, one critically who later died of his wounds. The two other soldiers were moderately wounded. The gunfire apparently came from the second group of soldiers, the army said, reversing an earlier report the soldiers were apparently shot by the militants. The army opened an investigation into the incident, the spokesman said.
