Palestinian bomber kills himself in West Bank

A Palestinian suicide bomber was killed in the West Bank yesterday when he apparently detonated his explosives belt prematurely after spotting an Israeli patrol, the Israeli army said.

Separately, soldiers shot dead a Palestinian teenager during a confrontation with stone-throwers in the West Bank village of Beita, near Nablus, witnesses said.

The suicide bomber was found in the Palestinian village of Jinsafut near the Jewish settlement of Kedumim.

"A suicide bomber apparently blew himself up prematurely," an army spokeswoman said.

"The explosion occurred after the terrorist noticed an Israeli force about 100 metres away. Troops found the remnants of an explosives belt near his body."

There were no other casualties. Islamic Jihad, a militant group sworn to Israel's destruction, claimed the bomber as its own in a statement to Lebanon's Al-Manar television. Palestinian witnesses in Beita said Fuad Jarwan, 18, had been killed as he sat on his balcony studying for a high school exam while violence raged nearby.

An army spokesman said dozens of Palestinians had attacked soldiers with rocks and concrete blocks. "The force spotted a terrorist lighting a petrol bomb, opened fire at him and saw that he was hit," he said.