Palestinian, 65, shot by mistake

Israeli soldiers killed a 65-year-old Palestinian in his bedroom yesterday during a pre-dawn raid to seize a Hamas suspect who lived in the same building.

The man was shot as troops swooped on houses in the occupied West Bank to re-arrest five members of the Islamist Hamas group freed from Palestinian jails just the day before.

The administration of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, which often co-ordinates West Bank security with Israel, rejected Hamas charges of responsibility for Amr Qawasme's death.

Israeli soldiers broke into Mr Qawasme's home, one floor above a Hamas militant, and stormed into his bedroom, his wife Sobheye said. She heard shots and found him lying in a pool of blood.

"I was praying when they entered. They put their hand to my mouth and a rifle to my head," she said.

The Israeli army expressed its regret.