Israeli forces kill Islamic Jihad man, says group

Jenin (West Bank), Feb 21: Israeli undercover forces killed an Islamic Jihad commander in the West Bank today, the militant group said, a day after Israeli police announced they foiled a planned suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.

Islamic Jihad identified him as Mahmoud Abu al-Jahim, its commander in the northern West Bank.

An Israeli army spokeswoman in Tel Aviv had no immediate comment on the shooting in the city of Jenin, a Palestinian militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank..

Jahim was killed a day after Israeli police arrested a suspected Palestinian bomber and several accomplices hiding in an apartment near Tel Aviv. A police spokesman said they had planned to stage an attack in the city hours later.

Israel Army Radio said Jahim had dispatched the suspected bomber, a resident of a village near Jenin. Islamic Jihad last carried out a suicide attack in Israel on January 29, when three people were killed in the Red Sea resort of Eilat.

Witnesses said Jahim was driving his car when undercover troops surprised him and sprayed the vehicle with bullets.

Reuters