RAMALLAH — Israeli special forces killed a senior member of Hamas's Izzedin Kassam military wing in an operation near the southern West Bank city of Hebron. On April 26, Ali Sweti, wanted by Israel since 2002, was killed in a shootout at the home of his relative in Beit Awa.   

Sweti was part of a Hamas military cell in the southern West Bank that targeted Israeli soldiers and Jews, Middle East Newsline reported. In 2004, Sweti was believed to have planned an attack in which an Israeli border police officer was killed near Hebron.

"Sweti escaped an attempted arrest in February 2007," the military statement said.

The killing of Sweti took place amid a reported Hamas weapons buildup in the West Bank. Palestinian sources said the Palestinian Authority captured a huge Hamas weapons cache near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

The cache was said to have contained weapons, ammunition and hundreds of kilograms of explosives. The sources said the cache was found after the arrest of a Hamas military commander by the PA's Preventive Security Apparatus.

Sweti was identified as a member of Hamas's Jahad Mahmad Ismail Sweti squad. Sweti was said to have have been recruited to Hamas in 2002, and immediately began planning attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.

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