Israeli troops kill 13-year old Palestinian girl

JERUSALEM, Dec 19 (Reuters) Israeli troops shot and killed a 13-year-old Palestinian girl near the West Bank town of Tulkarm after soldiers accidentally mistook her for a gunman trying to enter Israel, the army said today.

She was the third Palestinian to be killed by Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank today.

Earlier, Israeli commandos shot dead a Fatah militant in Nablus, witnesses said. An army spokeswoman said the militant tried to evade arrest.

Troops also killed a militant in the West Bank town of Tulkarm, the army said.

An army spokesman said that the girl's shooting was under investigation and that troops treated her at the scene but she died on her way to an Israeli hospital.

The spokesman added that the senior general in the region had ordered that a soldier and the commander at the scene be suspended from duty pending the outcome of an inquiry.

While a Gaza truce declared by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert last month has largely held, Israel has kept up military action in the West Bank.

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