The Israeli army killed Sunday in Nablus Hamas' military leader for the northern West Bank, the army said in a statement. "Muhannad Taher, head of Hamas in Samaria (the northern West Bank) was killed in Nablus," the army said about the man who ranked at the top of its most wanted list.
The army said an elite unit had killed Taher, known as the "Engineer-4."
It added one of his lieutenants, Imad Darawsa, also died in what it called "an exchange of fire." A third Hamas member was seriously wounded and had been evacuated to a hospital, it added.
Taher, 26, a Nablus native, has been wanted by Israel since 1999, a military source told AFP. He was considered one of Hamas' top bomb makers and had majored in Islamic studies at Al-Najah University in Nablus, the source said.
Palestinian witnesses said Israeli troops surrounded the home of one of Taher's associates in Nablus, called on its occupants to evacuate the building and opened fire after most of them left.
"He was responsible for suicide attacks that killed more than 100 Israeli and left hundreds wounded, notably in a deadly attack on a bus in Jerusalem on June 18," the army said in its statement.
Earlier, Palestinian sources said two Palestinians were killed and one wounded by Israeli army fire in Nablus. The soldiers took the dead and wounded, they said, but the victims' identities were not known.
Hamas has vowed to avenge the death of Taher. "The assassination will increase Hamas' determination to continue Jihad and resistance," Ismail Haniyah, a Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, told Reuters. "Hamas will never forget the blood of its martyrs."
Also in Nablus, Israeli soldiers bulldozed the home of Hamas activist, Amar Masri, 30, witnesses said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
