An Israeli sniper today shot and killed a Palestinian who had been holed up in Bethelehem's Church of the Nativity, hitting him after he emerged from the building into a courtyard inside the church complex, a witness reported.
Mr Hassan Mesman, a member of the Palestinian police, was hit in the chest. He managed to make his way back into the church, besieged by Israeli troops for nearly two weeks, where he died an hour later.
An Israeli army spokesman said there was an operation underway in the area, but that "the army did not fire on the basilica (church) complex."
Some 200 armed Palestinians, together with 30 Franciscan friars, other religious and some civilians have been encircled by Israeli troops in the church complex since April 2nd.
[ Four days earlier, the army launched its largest operation in the Palestinian territories since the 1967 Middle East war, reoccupying most West Bank cities in its sweep for suspected militants.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army shot and wounded an Armenian monk inside the church complex on the mistaken assumption that he was a gunman and was threatening monks inside and soldiers outside.
The monk, whose identity was not revealed, was taken to the Hadassah hospital in west Jerusalem in serious condition.
AFP