WEST BANK (voa) – Israeli forces have killed several leading militants during a West Bank assault – including a man thought to be the planner of the Passover bombing that triggered Israel’s invasion of Palestinian cities.
The accused mastermind, Qais Idwan, headed the military wing of Hamas in the northern part of the West Bank. He was among six men killed when Israeli helicopter gunships and tanks pulvervized a house in Tubas.
Fighting continues elsewhere – particularly in Nablus and Jenin. Palestinian sources report at least 20 Palestinians killed Friday. In Ramallah, Israeli forces stormed and searched the home of Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo.
Elsewhere, a leader of the Al-Martyr’s Brigades was killed in Nablus by the blast of explosives strapped around his waist. In Hebron, Palestinians say Israeli helicopter gunships attacked the car of a suspected Islamic Jihad militant, injuring at least five passersby while the suspect escaped unhurt.
A stand-off continues in Bethlehem where Israeli forces surround Palestinian gunmen and others holed up in the Church of the Nativity since Tuesday.
Israeli forces are not allowing journalists to enter Bethlehem or other towns they invaded in the offensive to crush Palestinian militants. Israel says it has arrested 1,100 Palestinians in its sweep of towns including Ramallah, Qalqiliya, Jenin, Tulkarm, Bethlehem and Nablus.
