A 20-year-old Palestinian with learning difficulties was shot dead by Israeli troops during clashes near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, medical and security sources said.
Witnesses said the clashes had broken out when around 20 Israeli jeeps entered the village of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, in the early morning.
The victim, named as Mujahed Samadi, had wandered out into the streets with a stick in his hand which the Israelis appeared to have mistaken for a weapon.
A spokesman for the army said on Wednesday, that initial reports indicated that soldiers had identified a 'suspect armed with a weapon who was threatening them and fired in his direction.'
The death brings the overall toll since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian uprising to 4,955, according to an AFP count. The majority have been Palestinian.