"Israel" Martyrs Jihad Local Commander

Source: Alalam.ir, 16-1-2008
JENIN, West Bank, Jan 16--"Israeli" occupying troops on Wednesday martyred the head of the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement in the West Bank, Palestinian security sources said.
Walid Abeidi, 40, was shot dead during exchanges of fire with "Israeli" troops carrying out a pre-dawn raid in the village of Qabatiya near the northern West Bank town of Jenin, the sources said.
The raid comes one day after the deadliest single day of violence in the Gaza Strip, where "Israeli" troops martyred 20 Palestinians, including the son of a top Hamas leader.
"Israeli" tanks, bulldozers and helicopters raided the Gaza Strip Tuesday, martyring the son of a senior Hamas leader and 19 other Palestinians in one of the bloodiest incursions since June.
The killing of Hussam Zahar, 24, the son of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar threatened to fuel the violence even further at a time of fresh talks between "Israel" and the Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas condemned as a "massacre" the killings, adding "Our people cannot keep silence over these massacres".
"What happened today is a massacre, a slaughter against the Palestinian people," Abbas told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
At the morgue at Shifa Hospital, Mahmoud Zahar held his lifeless son's head in his hands and closed his eyes, then kissed him three times on the forehead and recited solemn verses from the Muslim holy book, the Qur'an.
Zahar accused Abbas of complicity in his son's death.
"This is the hope of Abu Mazen and his colleagues, the collaborators with "Israel" and the spies of America," Zahar said, referring to Abbas by his nickname.
Hamas, he vowed, will respond to Tuesday's raid "in the appropriate way. We will defend ourselves by all means.''
Another Zahar son was martyred in a botched "Israeli" assassination attempt against the elder Zahar in his home three years ago.
The killing of Hussam Zahar threatened to heat up Hamas' involvement in the daily barrage of rocket and mortar fire on southern Occupied Palestine.
The operation Tuesday began when undercover occupying troops moved several hundred yards (meters) into the territory to strike an abandoned house east of Gaza City, Hamas said.
When Palestinian resistance fighters discovered the force, an exchange of fire erupted, the movement said.
In the ensuing clashes, "Israeli" tanks fired at least three shells and aircraft struck twice in the area, Hamas said.
In all, 12 fighters and three civilians were martyred by late morning, and 40 Palestinians were wounded, fighters and doctors said.