TULKARM, West Bank, 5 December 2004 — Israeli forces detained a senior leader of Hamas’ military wing in the West Bank yesterday during a night-time raid on his hide-out, witnesses said.
Rami Al-Tayyah, 26, identified by Israeli security sources as head of the Islamic group’s armed wing in the West Bank city of Tulkarm, has been wanted by Israel since 2002.
Witnesses said Israeli forces surrounded an apartment building in Tulkarm and took Tayyah into custody. “Don’t kill him, we need him alive,” one resident quoted a soldier as telling his comrades.
The security sources said Tayyah had established numerous Hamas cells that carried out dozens of shooting and bomb attacks against Israelis.
Tayyah, the sources said, has evaded capture during the Palestinian uprising by hiding out among the local populace and moving from place to place disguised as a woman.
A member of the Islamic Jihad group and the owner of the apartment where Tayyah was hiding were also taken into custody in the raid. Troops found two automatic rifles, a pistol and ammunition at the hideout, the security sources said.
On Friday, a Hamas leader said the group could accept creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and a long-term truce with Israel, signaling a possible new overture to end hostilities.
