Israeli soldiers shot dead a
mentally ill Palestinian man near a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian security officials and hospital sources said tonight.
They said the man, identified as 30-year-old Ziad Wadi, a resident of the Khan Younis refugee camp, was killed late last night and his body was recovered today.
Israeli military sources said soldiers guarding the settlement shot and killed one of three Palestinians who were trying to place an explosive charge nearby.
The sources said they had no information on whether the man who had been killed was mentally ill, but he and the other two had been in a place that is off-limits to Palestinians.
Palestinian residents in the area said Mr Wadi was apparently unaware that the coast road he was walking on, adjacent to the settlement, was a restricted area, when he was riddled with bullets.
His death raised to at least 1,107 the number of Palestinians killed during the 18-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. At least 377 Israelis have been killed in the violence.