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Hamas talks of ’revenge’ for Hebron killings

09 October 2010 04:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Israeli troops killed two militants on Friday in an operation targeting Hamas in the West Bank, an act that has sparked outrage over Israeli-Palestinian Authority security ties and militant vows of "revenge", APA reports quoting CNN.
The suspects, slain in Hebron, were wanted for an August attack that killed four Israeli citizens, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. Hamas claimed responsibility for that attack.
A Hamas spokesman called Friday’s military operation a crime and said it was another example of "security collaboration" between the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government.
Hamas’ military wing said it will take "revenge" and blamed Israeli and the "Fatah authority in Ramallah" for the action, a reference to the Palestinian Authority, which holds sway in the West Bank.
Fatah’s rival Hamas, which has supporters in the West Bank, runs the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, an independent who is not affiliated with Fatah, condemned the action "in the strongest terms."
"The path to peace does not pass through the killing and torturing of our citizens by the occupation army and does not pass through settlements and the settler’s terrorism," he said.
Witnesses told CNN that the Israeli military stormed a building in the Jabal Johar neighborhood of Hebron looking for Hamas-affiliated Palestinians and used bulldozers to tear down the structure.
Soldiers surrounding the home of the suspects exchanged fire. Along with the suspects killed, six others were arrested, Israeli military officials said.
The military said the operation was in response to an August 31 attack where four Israelis -- including a pregnant woman -- were killed near Hebron in the West Bank.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called the Hebron operation "a swift response to the murder of four Israelis.
"The IDF and the Shin Bet will continue to operate everywhere, without concessions and with determination against terror organizations, in order to promise the ongoing security of Judea and Samaria," he said, references to what many Israelis call the West Bank.