GAZA CITY, 4 April 2006 — Israeli occupation forces shot dead Raed Abayat, the top commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah movement early yesterday in a raid on the West Bank town of Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem, witnesses and security sources said.

Witnesses said that the Israeli troops backed by tanks stormed into Beit Sahour town early yesterday morning and surrounded a building in the town where the top commander and his assistant were hiding. They added that a short exchange of fire between the commander and the Israeli soldiers resulted in the killing of Aqsa commander and the arrest of his assistant who was injured in the exchange of fire.

Medical sources confirmed the death of the commander and identified him as Raed Abayat, 31.

Israeli security sources said that the troops noticed two Palestinians hiding in a house in the town and called on them to surrender but when they spotted Abayat toting a rifle, they opened fire at him. The sources added that Abayat was wanted by Israel for five years for his involvement in the murder of Israelis.  

Also in the West Bank, Israeli troops arrested 13 Palestinians overnight yesterday, among them were three members of the Islamic Jihad movement, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

In the Gaza Strip, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for a rocket firing against the Israeli city of Ashkelon. The group said in a statement yesterday that the attack came as a response to the killing of Abayat and Israel bore all the subsequent results of the assassination confirming that Aqsa went on a high alert in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to retaliate for the assassination of Abayat.

Meanwhile, the first meeting of the new, Hamas-led Palestinian Cabinet has been postponed for a second time and will now take place tomorrow, Premier Ismail Haniyeh’s office announced. The meeting was initially scheduled for yesterday. Haniyeh’s office did not give a reason for the delay.

At the top of the agenda is acting Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert’s plan for a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from parts of the West Bank. Haniyeh has rejected the plan as “a recipe for conflict.” Olmert is widely tipped to form the next Israeli government after his Kadima party won the most seats in last Tuesday’s election. The Hamas government was sworn in last Wednesday.

In another development, a Hamas spokesman said yesterday Hamas members held talks two months ago with French officials and more recently with an Indian diplomat despite US and Israeli efforts to isolate the group.

Israel and the United States have vowed to shun Hamas. Further tightening Israel’s boycott, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israeli officials would not be permitted to have contacts with Palestinians who work for Hamas-led ministries.

Regev said Israeli cooperation on a wide range of issues, including combating the spread of the deadly bird flu virus, would be conducted through UN agencies and nongovernmental organizations. But officials within the Israeli health and agriculture ministries said working-level contacts continued and that they had not been informed of any changes.

Hamas, whose charter calls for destruction of the Jewish state, brushed aside pressure from the United States and Israel, pointing to contacts with other governments.

Also yesterday, Jordanian Prime Minister Maaruf Bakhit urged the Quartet to help Israel and the Palestinians resume peace negotiations, Petra news agency said.

Bakhit made the appeal during talks with US Assistant Secretary of State David Welsh, a day after Welsh attended a meeting of the Quartet in Amman to discuss aid for the Palestinians under a Hamas-led government, Petra said.

— With input from agencies