Israeli soldiers kill militant, straining truce

Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian gunman in a raid in a West Bank refugee camp yesterday and a leading militant group vowed retaliation "like an earthquake".

But al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said it wanted to otherwise stick to a ceasefire, which militant groups agreed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last month to observe to the end of 2005 to give him a chance to talk peace with Israel.

The killing stoked Israeli-Palestinian tensions days after a Texas summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and US President George W. Bush designed to provide impetus for Israel's planned mid-year withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Mr Abbas condemned the killing as a "serious violation" of the ceasefire he and Mr Sharon declared at a summit in Egypt in February.

Israeli officials said the army reserved the right to go after "ticking bombs" - militants planning imminent attacks.

It was Israel's first killing of a militant in more than a month and followed Mr Sharon's accusations that Mr Abbas, elected in January to succeed the late Yasser Arafat, was not doing enough to rein in militants as he had promised.

The two sides gave conflicting accounts of the shooting in Balata camp in the West Bank city of Nablus.