An Israeli soldier who opened fire with a machinegun at a Palestinian car in the West Bank today killed a five-year-old boy and wounded his two sisters, witnesses said.
The shooting came hours before Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was due to hold talks with US President George W. Bush in Washington, during which he was expected to ask Mr Bush to put pressure on Israel to remove West Bank checkpoints.
The shooting was at a checkpoint at the entrance to Barta'a village, just southwest of the West Bank city of Jenin.
Five-year-old Mahmoud Qabha died immediately from a gunshot wound after the soldier on an armoured vehicle fired at his father's vehicle, a witness said.
One of his sisters was shot in the hand and another sister was wounded also, the witness said.
The girls were taken to hospital in the nearby Israeli city of Afula, family members said.
The Israeli army was checking the report, a military spokesman said.
The shooting occurred despite a three-month ceasefire announced by leading Palestinian militant groups on June 29th. Some militants, spearheading a 34-month-old uprising for an independent state, do not accept the truce.