Israeli soldiers shot dead a 73-year-old Palestinian early Wednesday at Surda in the West Bank, the Israeli army said in a statement.
It said the victim, Mahmoud Assad Abdallah, was the mokhtar (traditional chief) of the village near Ramallah, where Israel is in charge of security and the Palestinian Authority takes care of civil matters.
A special unit of the Israeli army disguised as Palestinians was patrolling the village seeking a man suspected of belonging to the Islamic Resistance (Hamas) when it came under fire from the roof of a house, the statement said.
The unit returned the fire, seriously wounding the mokhtar who died while being rushed to Jerusalem's Haddassah hospital.
Large Israeli reinforcements were sent in to the village.
The Palestinian suspected of belonging to Hamas was arrested, Israeli radio said - OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
