NABLUS, West Bank, 13 November — Israeli troops killed a Hamas activist in a raid on a West Bank village yesterday which also netted 16 men allegedly wanted for anti-Israeli attacks, the army said. Palestinian officials said Israeli forces arrested at least 30 people in the village. One house was completely destroyed by tank fire and the interiors of many others trashed as Israeli troops searched for suspects, they said.
The raid came a day after Israel said it was delaying withdrawal from two Palestinian towns reoccupied last month.
The latest Israeli incursion into Palestinian-ruled territory followed an attack inside Israel on Sunday night in which a Palestinian gunman shot dead a security guard near the border with the West Bank. Dozens of Israeli troops backed by armor moved into the Palestinian village of Tell, west of Nablus, before dawn, targeting the villagers. The force withdrew several hours later. Palestinian officials identified the Hamas man as Muhammad Hassan Reihan, whose house was bulldozed by the raiding force.
The fresh violence occurred after Palestinian President Yasser Arafat told the UN General Assembly he welcomed US support for a two-state solution to the conflict, while accusing Israel of practicing state terror against the 13-month-old Palestinian uprising.
Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, secretary-general of the Palestinian Authority, condemned the latest incursion.
In the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian boy died from gunshot wounds to the head he suffered in an exchange of fire last week between gunmen and Israeli soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip, hospital officials said.
