RAMALLAH Ñ The man regarded as Hamas's most lethal bombmaker died in a shootout with Israeli forces.
Muhaned Taher, a prominent 26-year-old Hamas commander in the West Bank,
was killed in Nablus on Sunday. Israeli officials said
Taher was responsible for the death of more than 100 Israelis in suicide
bombings.
An Israeli military statement said Taher was responsible for several
major suicide bombing attacks. They included the June 18 attack in which 18
Israelis were killed in a suicide bus bombing, Middle East Newsline reported.
The statement said Taher also manufactured the explosives that were used
in the suicide bombing on Passover eve at an Israeli hotel in Netanya. The
suicide attack killed 29 Israelis and injured 60 others.
Officials said Israeli commando forces surrounded two homes in Nablus on
Sunday evening. They brought a bulldozer to demolish the two houses when
Palestinian insurgents opened fire.
In the exchange of gunfire, Taher was killed. He was regarded as Hamas's chief bombmaker
and has been wanted by Israel since 1999. Taher, a graduate of An Najah University in Nablus, and his aide
were killed.
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the death of Taher is the
leading achievement in the current offensive in the West Bank. Hamas has
warned it will avenge Taher's death.
Taher was also said to have produced the bomb used in the June 2001
attack on an Israeli dance club. Twenty-one Israelis were killed and 80 were
injured in the attack.
