Israeli troops kill Palestinian gunman in Gaza

GAZA, Dec 13 (Reuters) Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian gunman near the Gaza Strip boundary today, witnesses and military officials said, the first such death since a truce was declared in the territory on November. 26.

Medical officials identified the man, who was shot dead opposite the boundary fence from the Israeli village of Nahal Oz, as a member of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction.

''He approached the fence, armed with a rifle and grenades, so our troops opened fire,'' an Israeli military spokesman said, adding that the soldiers in question were outside Gaza.

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared the cease-fire in what they described as a bid to restart peace efforts.

But Palestinian militants in Gaza fired around 20 rockets into Israel during the truce, causing no casualties.

Israel has also launched several deadly raids in the occupied West Bank, another territory where Palestinians are fighting for statehood.

REUTERS PDM PM0006