Israeli troops kills two Fatah security personnel

Ramallah, West Bank, Feb 2: Israeli troops killed two members of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service, most of whom are loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas, near Ramallah in the West Bank today, hospital officials said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said a force operating in the area shot dead two gunmen in civilian clothes.

The troops identified a gunman in a building they had entered who did not heed calls to drop his weapon. ''The force fired at him and killed him,'' she said.

Gunmen then drew close to other members of the unit who were securing the building outside. The troops fired at them and killed a second fighter, the spokeswoman said.

''They (the gunmen) all wore civilian clothes,'' she added.

The Israeli army has mounted several raids in the occupied West Bank since a Palestinian suicide bomber killed three people in the Israeli resort city of Eilat on Monday.

The suicide bombing, claimed by Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, was the first in Israel in nine months.

Yesterday, Israeli forces killed three members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Abbas's Fatah movement, in the West Bank towns of Nablus and Tulkarm, residents and the military said.

Israeli troops killed a fourth Palestinian near Israel's West Bank barrier yesterday, hospital sources said, adding that the 17-year-old bled to death after being shot in the leg.

A shaky truce between Israel and the Palestinians has been in place in the Gaza Strip since November but does not apply to the West Bank.

Israeli forces frequently raid Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank looking for militants.

REUTERS