Prepared by: Hadeel Wahdan

A HEAVY EXCHANGE of fire was reported Saturday evening, August 26, at the village of Aseerah Al-Shimaliyya, near Nablus. According to Palestinian sources, large Israeli troops, accompanied by four helicopters, surrounded the village. Three Israeli soldiers were killed and nine others were injured when a shoot-out erupted between an Israeli special unit and a group of wanted Hamas members in the village. One soldier was reportedly killed by friendly fire.

Aseerah Al Shimaliya is also the home of one of the most wanted Hamas men, Mahmud Abu-Hannud. Israeli forces have been involved in a massive manhunt for Abu-Hannud, who is suspected of being the mastermind in the major suicide-bomb attacks in West Jerusalem, in which 19 Israelis and five suicide bombers were killed. Four of the bombers came from the same village.

A preliminary report has indicated that Abu-Hannud was armed with a pistol and a hand grenade. After hurling the grenade at the soldiers, Abu-Hanud apparently retreated to Palestinian Authority-controlled Nablus, where he was intercepted by Palestinian security forces.
 
 

Reports say that Palestinian ambulances were prevented by Israeli forces from entering or leaving the village, which is still under closure, at press time; Israeli army helicopters hover around the northern mountains of Nablus. The village is situated in Area B, where Palestinians assume civil authority but security is still in Israeli hands. Palestinian sources have said that at least 5 Hamas-supporting villagers were shot and wounded in the shoot-out.

Following the 1998 killing of the brothers Adel and Imad Awadalla in a firefight with the anti-terrorist security unit, and the capture of Mohammed Deif last May by the Palestinian Security Forces in Gaza, Abu-Hannud is now considered the most wanted Hamas man in the territories.

This incident and the killing of the Muktar of Surda "al-Bazzar" ten days ago point to an increase in the activities of the Israeli army in the Palestinian territories. A report by Israeli "Kol Ha'eer" newspaper said the raid on Surda village, in which the Mukhtar was killed, was part of Israeli army training in case violence erupts upon a unilateral declaration of the Palestinian state. This is in spite the fact that, since 1997,Hamas has not carried out any military operation against Israelis.