JERUSALEM, May 1: Undercover Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man early Wednesday when they fired at his car during an overnight operation in the West Bank near Jerusalem, Israel radio said.

Police confirmed that a unit of border guards opened fire on a car when it failed to obey orders to halt near the West Bank village of Hizmeh, northeast of Jerusalem.

``The patrol shot in the air, and when the driver tried to run them over, they fired at the car and it subsequently collided with a truck that was parked in the area,'' said police spokeswoman Linda Menuchin. ``A passenger in the car was severely injured and died early this morning at Hadassa Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem,'' she said. The body of the dead man, whose identity was not immediately known, was to undergo an autopsy.

The driver of the car, which was registered in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, fled the scene, she said, without giving more details. But Israel radio, citing police sources, said an undercover unit of the border guards was hunting for a suspected armed militant group near Hizmah when it spotted a suspect car and fired when the driver refused to pull over.

In February, an undercover Israeli Army unit shot and killed a 55-year-old Hizmeh man when they were confronted by residents during a training mission in the village.The Army later reprimanded the unit and several officers for negligence in the man's death.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.