Walid Obeidi, 41, a leader of the Al Quds brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank and the top senior leader on the Israeli wanted list was killed in clashes that borke out with the Israeli forces during their invasion into Qabatiya town, near Jenin in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Eyewitnesses reported that at least 60 military vehicles executed a wide scale raid in the area at 3am; they besieged the neighborhoods and closed the roads. Despite the extensive distribution of Israeli forces, resistance fighters from the Al Quds brigades clashed with them from several directions.
Residents reported that Israeli forces besieged the house in Qabatiya where Obeidi lived, in the south of Jenin. They also surrounded the adjacent homes, and asked Obeidi to surrender himself to the forces. When Obeidi refused, a gun battle ensued with the military forces and Obeidi was killed. Four resistance fighters of the Al Quds brigades were with Obeidi and were kidnapped by Israeli forces, two of them were injured in the attack.
Obeidi, a resident of Burqen village, west of Jenin was a top leader of the Islamic Jihad and had been abducted several times before and in the first Intifada. In the wake of the Al Aqsa Intifada, Obeidi allied to the Al Quds brigades and Israelis hold Obeidi responsible for several operations, one of them being the Al Maghareba gate operation in 1984 where 10 Israelis were killed. Israeli sources also reported that Obeidi was also responsible for the attack that was executed in Tel-Aviv in April 2006 that killed 11 Israelis.
Translated by Nisreen Qumsieh – IMEMC News.
