Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Army captures top Islamic Jihad militant after West Bank siege | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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JENIN, West Bank (AP) – A top Islamic Jihad militant surrendered to Israeli soldiers early Thursday, witnesses said, after a daylong siege during which army bulldozers knocked down the four-story house where he was hiding.

Dozens of troops surrounded the building in the town of Jenin in the hunt for Iyad Abu Rob. Witnesses said Abu Rob, a senior commander of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank, emerged from the wrecked house after midnight and was taken away by soldiers along with one of his aides, the witnesses said.

On Wednesday, more than 70 army jeeps and 25 armored personnel carriers entered Jenin. Troops announced a curfew over loudspeakers as part of an arrest raid, residents said. Several armored personnel carriers surrounded the building, and snipers took up positions on nearby roofs.

Troops shot dead a local man who hurled rocks at an army patrol, witnesses and hospital officials said. Exchanges of fire broke out at several points in the city and 11 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers were wounded, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. One of the Palestinians was moderately hurt, and the other 10 were slightly wounded, Palestinian doctors said. The Israeli army said the soldiers were also lightly wounded. In a separate operation, dozens of troops entered the village of Kfar Kalil near Nablus where two wanted men were hiding, as an army bulldozer began to demolish a building, witnesses said.

The army said troops entered Kfar Kalil to search for wanted men, surrounding two houses. After an exchange of fire, two of the men inside surrendered. Another was shot, the military said, but his condition was not known.

Several Palestinian suspects have been killed recently in army operations in the West Bank to track them down.