Israeli troops, and under-cover army units, assassinated on Sunday evening one Palestinian fighter in Beit Ta’mar village, east of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, after surrounding a building and breaking into it.
Approximately at 16 hours on Sunday, Israeli under-cover forces backed up by a military helicopter and several armored jeeps, invaded Beit Ta’mar village and surrounded a house that belongs to Souman family.
Directly after surrounding the house, soldiers used a robot to detonate the main door of the building before breaking into it; several rounds of live ammunition were heard in the building.
One wanted resistance fighter was killed in the operation; Jaber Al Akhras was wanted by the Israeli security since October 2003. He was a member of the Palestinian security forces and became wanted by Israel after killing one Israeli officer and one soldier after exchanging fire with them near the tunnel road adjacent to Beit Jala city.
He managed to grab the weapons of the two soldiers and fled the scene.
Al Akhras escaped several assassination attempts after this incident; the latest attempt was carried out three months ago when the Israeli under-cover forces attempted to infiltrate into the Palestinian Security headquarters in Bethlehem in order to assassinate him after he was arrested by the Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian security men exchanged fire with the under-covered forces who retreated later on after their cover was exposed. Al Akhras exchanged fire with the soldiers during the attack apparently using the gun of one of the Palestinian security men.
Al Akhras is originally from the Rafah refugee camp in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. He used to be a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Last year, he joined the Salah Ed Deen Brigades, the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees.
