GAZA CITY, July 23 (AFP) - An eighteen-year-old Palestinian was killed Friday morning in a shoot-out between militants and Israeli troops in Beit Hanun, in the northern Gaza Strip, a Palestinian security source said.
The security source said Hassan al-Zaanin was killed by Israeli troops, but witnesses said the teenager was part of group of Beit Hanun residents that tried to deter militants from planting a roadside bomb to blow up Israeli armor.
The troops arrived at the scene after a heated argument erupted between the residents and the gunmen, both sources said.
The witnesses said Zaanin was killed during an exchange of fire between the militants and the army and that he was hit by a Palestinian bullet.
The latest death bring to 4,189 the number of people killed since the start of the intifada in September 2000, including 3,192 Palestinians and 926 Israelis.
Israeli troops took over Beit Hanun late last month after a rocket attacks from that territory killed two people in southern Israel, just a few miles (kilometres) across the Gaza border.
The army has vowed to stop militants from using Beit Hanun as a launchpad for firing rockets and bulldozed agricultural fields where attackers typically hid.