TULKARM, West Bank, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed a young Palestinian militant in the West Bank city of Tulkarm on Thursday, medics and witnesses said.

Witnesses said the Israeli forces shot dead 17-year-old Fadel Balawneh, described by Palestinian security sources as a member of Islamic Jihad, as he tried to run away from a building which the army was surrounding. The Israeli army declined to comment. Israeli forces have mounted frequent raids in the occupied West Bank since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000.

In Gaza, an Islamist Palestinian group which says it was behind a series of bomb attacks at Internet cafes and video stores claimed responsibility for bombing the offices of the Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya on Monday.

"The Rightful Swords of Islam" said in a statement the bombing was a message "to those in charge of this channel and other channels which put themselves in the service of Zionist and other gangs who have no business but to fight Islam and Muslims."

The Arabiya newsroom was empty when an explosive device placed outside detonated, police said, and no one was injured.

The group's statement, which could not be immediately authenticated, said Al-Arabiya had repeatedly spread what it said was fabricated news.

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