MIDDLE EAST: Three Hamas militants were killed, and Palestinian medics said a nine-year-old boy was also shot dead, by Israeli troops who raided the West Bank city of Ramallah before dawn yesterday.
Israeli military sources said the incursion had been planned for months, and that 20 targets were raided simultaneously in what they said was an effort to destroy the Hamas infrastructure in the city, allegedly responsible for the deaths of 68 Israelis in bombings in Israel over the past three years.
The military operation, which involved a large force of tanks, jeeps and armoured personnel carriers, and hundreds of soldiers, including members of the army's elite commando units, also saw dozens of arrests and the demolition of a four-floor residential building. Residents said they were ordered to evacuate the building, and that some 60 people were left homeless.
Israeli officials said the building was believe to be the hideout of the local Hamas commander, Ibrahim Hamad, and that he may have been killed in the demolition. Hamad is alleged to have organized twin suicide bombings in September - at a Jerusalem café and outside an army base near Tel Aviv - in which 16 Israelis were killed.
The army said it was investigating the reports of the death of the Palestinian boy, in a Ramallah refugee camp, who they said may have been killed when soldiers clashed with stone-throwers several hours into the military incursion. Palestinian medics said the boy was shot in the head.
The army said the three Hamas gunmen were all killed after opening fire on the troops.
The army released footage showing one of two explosives factories they said they had discovered.
The raid was condemned by the Palestinian Authority. Mr Saeb Erekat, the former PA chief peace negotiator, said he urged the Israeli government "to stop the policy of incursions, assassinations, settlements, walls, faits accomplis policies and to give dialogue and peace a chance."
The operation also coincided with a visit to the region by the US State Department envoy William Burns, who is attempting to revive the "road map" peace framework.