NABLUS, West Bank (AFP) -- Israeli soldiers shot dead an elderly Palestinian man in a pre-dawn raid on Tuesday in the flashpoint West Bank city of Nablus, a local security official said.

Abed Shaker el-Wazir, in his 70s, was apparently killed by a stray Israeli bullet while in his house during a military operation, the official added.
Three fighters from the armed Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades faction, which is loosely affiliated to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah Party, were wounded during an exchange of fire with Israeli troops, the official said.
One of the wounded was described by Palestinian security as the local Al-Aqsa leader for the Nablus region, Bassam Abu Sarryeh.
Last week, another Al-Aqsa fighter was killed by Israeli troops in Nablus.
Wazir's death brings to 5,890 the number of people killed since the start of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000, the vast majority of them Palestinian, according to an AFP tally.