Israeli forces killed a West Bank commander of Hamas in a raid today that could be fatal to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's battle for political survival.
An Israeli soldier was also killed and four wounded in the operation in the city of Nablus, which ended when soldiers blew up an apartment building where Mohammad al-Hanbali had been holed up, making 28 families homeless.
The spectacle of the seven-storey structure crumpling in a heap of dust was likely to give ammunition to opponents of Mr Abbas's efforts to promote a US-backed peace plan and persuade President Yasser Arafat to hand over control of Palestinian security forces.
The army said naval commandos, who also participate in ground-launched attacks, raided the building to detain Mr al-Hanbali (27), who opened fire at them from an elevator shaft where he had been hiding.
Israeli security sources said he was chief commander of Hamas militants in the northern West Bank and responsible for the deaths of dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings in a three-year-old Palestinian uprising for statehood.
The raid came a day after Mr Abbas, a proponent of the faltering peace "road map", called on Palestinian legislators to back him or sack him.
The outcome of the Abbas-Arafat face-off could determine the fate of the peace plan that has been nearly erased by a surge of violence since the collapse last month of a truce militants declared in June.
In an apparent bid to defuse the crisis, the Palestinian parliament was due to follow an inconclusive meeting yesterday with a closed-door session tomorrow to hear more from Mr Abbas on his dispute with Mr Arafat. Mr Abbas could face a no-confidence vote next week.