Palestinian witnesses identified the militant as Nash'at Abu Jbara, of Hamas, an Islamic group dedicated to Israel's destruction and at the forefront on a two-year-old uprising for independence in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Jbara fatally shot a lieutenant in the Israeli commando unit which was closing in on his cave in Kufr Allabad, near the city of Tulkarm which is under military curfew, before he was gunned down, the Israeli army said in a statement.

Palestinian witnesses heard shooting and then several explosions as helicopters evacuated the Israeli casualty.

Jbara, an officer in Hamas's military wing which has launched dozens of suicide attacks, had been in hiding from Israel for more than four years. The Israeli unit left his bullet-riddled body in an olive grove, the witnesses said.

Israel has conducted many raids for militants, many of them ending fatally, since the Palestinian revolt erupted in September 2000 after peace talks deadlocked.

(NAMPA/REUTERS)

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