Israeli undercover troops burst into a West Bank vegetable market Thursday, seizing four fugitives and exchanging heavy fire with Palestinians in the first major raid since the Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to try to ease tensions. Also, a senior Palestinian security officer and Fatah loyalist was killed Thursday in an assault on his house by Hamas gunmen, Palestinian officials said. The officer, Col. Mohammed Ghayeb, had appeared on Palestine TV just moments before his death and appealed for help. Ghayeb's wife was seriously wounded in the attack, in which Hamas fired assault rifles and rockets at the building. Ghayeb was the chief of the Preventive Security Service in northern Gaza, and his killing was expected to trigger revenge attacks by the men under his command.
Separately, in the Jebaliya refugee camp in Gaza, a member of a Hamas security force was killed Thursday when the car he was driving in came under fire from unidentified assailants, a force spokesman said. Four other people were wounded. Hamas accused Fatah of the attack, but Fatah denied involvement.
