The Israeli Defense Forces ended their largest raid of the West Bank in months yesterday after killing the West Bank terrorist commander of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hailed the operation as another impressive achievement against terrorism, while Arafat's chief spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh told WND that Israel has "committed another atrocity against our people. I call on the international community to restrain Israel before it commits another act of aggression."
Advertisement - story continues below
In the latest operation, Israeli soldiers uncovered a hideout in a Nablus house Saturday, killing Nayef Abu Sharkh, head of Fatah's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank – and Israel's most-wanted man in the area – and five other gunmen.
The dead included the local commanders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Three Palestinians were killed in separate incidents earlier in Nablus.
TRENDING: Susan Rice conducts New Age ritual in heart of White House
It was not immediately clear how the army found the shelter. Palestinians say Israel runs a network of informers in the West Bank and Gaza.
The brigades, whose militants have carried out dozens of suicide bombings and attacks against Israelis, promised in a statement unprecedented retaliation – "like an earthquake."
Advertisement - story continues below
Israel launched the Nablus sweep – which it code names "Full Court Press," an aggressive defense in basketball terminology – after preventing a Jerusalem bombing last week planned by Nablus-based militants.
Many Mideast commentators are saying the Palestinian intifadah is being brought to an end. The Palestinians have not been able to carry out a single suicide bombing in Israel since March, which many attribute to the West Bank and Gaza security fences, and targeting killings of top terrorists and raids to detain suspects seem to have proved effective, with Hamas unable to carry out the large-scale revenge attacks they called for after that assassination of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.
Charles Krauthammer, a Washington Post columnist, recently wrote, "While no one was looking, something historic happened in the Middle East. The Palestinian intifadah is over, and the Palestinians have lost...[The violence] created chaos, lawlessness and economic disaster in the Palestinian areas. The Palestinians know the ruin that Arafat has brought, and they are beginning to protest."
