Israeli forces kill Palestinian militant in West Bank

TULKARM, West Bank (Reuters) – Israeli forces killed an
unarmed Palestinian militant on Thursday during a raid on his
house in the West Bank, an Israeli military source said.

Palestinian security sources said he belonged to the
Islamic Jihad group but were unable to give any details of the
incident.

The Israeli military source said Israeli border police
surrounded the home of a wanted militant in the village of
Shufi, near the city of Tulkarm, in a bid to arrest him.

After the militant’s family evacuated the house, Israeli
paramilitary border police entered and fired at a door on
hearing suspicious noises, killing the militant who was hiding
behind it, the Israeli source said.

The source said the militant was found to have been
unarmed. Palestinian medics said his body later arrived in
hospital.

The incident was the latest to challenge an
Israeli-Palestinian truce declared in February. Israeli
soldiers killed a teenage Palestinian stone-thrower on
Wednesday during a West Bank raid in which they detained an
Islamic Jihad militant.

Two weeks ago, Islamic Jihad carried out a suicide bombing
in central Israel that killed five Israelis. Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon said afterwards he ordered Israeli forces to wage
a “relentless attack” against the group.

Islamic Jihad is sworn to Israel’s destruction and has
helped spearhead a 4-1/2-year-old Palestinian revolt. The group
has chaffed at the cease-fire and says Israel violates the
truce by mounting raids to arrest Palestinian gunmen.