WEST BANK: Israelis kill Islamic Jihad commander and militant

An Israeli undercover unit shot dead two Palestinian militants in the West Bank on Saturday (July 29), including a top Islamic Jihad commander, Palestinian armed groups said. Palestinian witnesses said undercover soldiers in the West Bank city of Nablus opened fire at several Palestinians, killing two gunmen without engaging in a clash. Initial reports from the witnesses said the militants had returned the soldiers' fire. The army said troops fought a gun battle with the militants. Palestinian armed groups said the dead men were Islamic Jihad's most senior commander in Nablus and a member of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction. The witnesses said the senior Islamic Jihad commander appeared to be the army's target in the raid. The Israeli military said it was checking the report. Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa have killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000. Last week, the Israeli army destroyed a Nablus government compound where Israel believed Hizbollah militants and others planning attacks on the Jewish state were holed up. Israel launched an offensive against Hizbollah in Lebanon after the guerrilla group captured two soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12. It also has stepped up raids in the Gaza Strip to get militants there to free another soldier.

ITN Source | July 30, 2006

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