Israeli troops kill Hamas militant in Gaza Strip

Gaza City - Israeli soldiers stationed on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip shot dead a Palestinian militant Wednesday morning in the centre of the salient, medical officials said.

They identified the dead man as Mohamed al-Bahaisa, 24, of the al- Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the radical Islamic Hamas movement ruling Gaza.

Witnesses said they heard an intense exchange of gunfire in the area. An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was unaware of a firefight, but said she would check the report.

On Tuesday, three Palestinian militants and a 13-year-old boy were killed in three separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, which came after militants fired more rockets into southern Israel from the area, and also planted pipebombs on the border.

The ongoing Palestinian-Israeli attacks come as a Hamas-led delegation is holding talks with senior Egyptian security officials on a proposal for a truce in Gaza.

An Egyptian official told the official Mena news agency that Israel had accepted the proposal in principal, but Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, would not confirm or deny this, saying only the talks on the truce were ongoing. (dpa)

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