Israelis slay 5 militants

Israelis slay 5 militants

The Israelis announced sanctions against Al-Jazeera.

Los Angeles Times

JERUSALEM — Israeli troops killed five Palestinian militants on the West Bank on Wednesday in a move that could set back attempts to secure a cease-fire with armed groups firing rockets from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry also announced sanctions against Al- Jazeera, the Arabic language news channel, in response to what it charged was biased coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli soldiers and border police launched a combined operation Wednesday afternoon in Bethlehem to capture Mohammed Shehadeh, a senior West Bank military leader of Islamic Jihad.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the soldiers spotted Shehadeh and three other men in a car, concluded they were armed and opened fire, killing all four.

Three of the men were members of Islamic Jihad’s military wing, the militant group said. The fourth, according to Palestinian sources, was Ahmad Balboul, 48, a senior leader in the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the militant wing of the Fatah party, which controls the Palestinian Authority.

Shehadeh, 48, was accused by Israeli officials of planning a series of attacks, including a car bombing in Jerusalem in 2000 and a suicide bombing in the Jerusalem Hilton in 2001. Israel launched a raid to capture him last week but failed, demolishing his family home in the attempt.

An Islamic Jihad spokesman in Gaza confirmed that Shehadeh and two others were part of its military wing.

Earlier in the day, an operation near the West Bank city of Tulkarm killed another militant allied with the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

The sanctions announced against Al-Jazeera reportedly include an embargo on Israeli officials appearing on the channel and a ban on its reporters entering Israeli government buildings.

Since its debut in 1996, Al-Jazeera, which is partially funded by the Qatari government, has faced accusations of bias from both Israel and a host of Arab governments.

The Iraqi government repeatedly has sought to ban the channel or limit its reporters’ activities.