Israeli troops shot dead a Hamas commander in a raid on Monday in the occupied West Bank and killed another Palestinian along the Gaza frontier, witnesses and the Israeli army said. The incidents occurred as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was visiting the region to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Al-Quds city and the West Bank in a bid to revive peace talks stalled by violence. In a raid on a hideout in the West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli forces killed Amjad Hanawi, 34, a local Hamas commander. The army said eight other suspected Hamas members were detained during the operation. Reuters quoted Palestinian witnesses as saying Hanawi was shot in the head from close range, but the Israeli army denied this. "The assassination of Amjad Hanawi, commander of the northern West Bank Brigade, will not pass without punishment," Hamas said in a statement. Along the Israel-Gaza frontier, Israeli soldiers opened fire at gunmen spotted near the Israeli-built border fence, killing one of them and wounding two others, the Israeli army said. Palestinian sources said the three belonged to the Popular Resistance Committees and were on a scouting mission.
