Seven-year-old Palestinian killed by stray bullet

A seven-year-old Palestinian boy was killed today during a firefight between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in a West Bank refugee camp, hospital officials said.

The boy, Khaled Walweel, was in his home in the Balata camp when he was killed by a stray bullet to the head, according to doctors at Rafidiyah Hospital in the nearby West Bank city of Nablus.

Israeli troops entered Balata before dawn and took over several homes, residents said.

After daybreak, two jeeps drove into Balata to pick up the soldiers in the lookout posts and came under Palestinian fire.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.