Two Palestinians were shot dead and four civilians wounded during a five-hour Israeli raid on a house of a senior Hamas activist in the Sheik Radwan neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip, Monday morning, February 17.
After clearing the building, Israeli tanks, accompanied by attack helicopters, blew up a five-story structure in Gaza City. During the incursion, the Israeli troops seriously injured Riyad Abu-Zeid, the head of the Hamas military wing in the Gaza Strip, who was then arrested by the soldiers. Abu-Zeid later died of his wounds.
Abdelaziz al-Rantissi, a political chief for Hamas in Gaza Strip, said Abu-Zeid was not linked to Hamas' armed wing.
The attack came in retaliation for the Saturday bomb attack on an Israeli tank, which left four soldiers dead. The destroyed building was home to Ahmed Ghandour, top aide to Hamas bombmaker Adnan Al-Roul, who allegedly planned a similar attack that killed three soldiers near the settlement of Dugit, in June 2002. — (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
