A senior activist from the armed wing of Islamic Jihad gave himself up to Israeli forces in the northern West Bank following a 15-hour siege around the building in which he was holed up, sources on both sides told AFP.
Occupation soldiers raided the northern city of Jenin early Wednesday and surrounded a five-storey building, in which a number of wanted Islamic Jihad operatives, including Iyad Abu Ghob, were hiding.
Ghob and a second man left the building at around 1:00 am, an Israeli army spokesman was quoted as saying. Israeli security sources accuses Ghob of standing behind last month's suicide bombing attack in the northern Israeli city of Hadera, killing six Israeli citizens.
Poll: Palestinians want negotiations
Meanwhile, a fresh poll published on Wednesday revealed that the majority of Palestinians support the resumption of negotiations with Israel to reach a final settlement. The results of a public poll, prepared by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion (PCPO), indicated that "(59.5%) of the Palestinians support the resumption of negotiations with the Israelis as to come to the Final Settlement."
The poll shown that the majority of the Palestinians (54.5 %) support the Palestinian- Israeli accord on Rafah Border Crossing.
Director of PCPO, Dr. Nabil Kukali, said that poll was carried out during the period November 16 - 21, 2005, through face to face interviews with a random sample of (830) Palestinian adults from the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Dr. Kukali said: "the poll results saying that a noticeable fall of (4.4%) in the popularity of Hamas has been recorded, compared with a previous poll conducted on 3/8/2005, and that this fall is the first of its nature since 1997, where from that date onwards the support to Hamas was increasing rapidly. On the other hand maintained Fateh Movement its rate of popular support."
