A Palestinian man who was shot and then arrested by an Israeli undercover unit died in Israeli custody today Palestinian officials said hours after the Israeli army began to withdrawn from the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Issa Dababissa (53), an activist in Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, was shot at his home near Hebron in the West Bank by an Israeli special forces unit, which then arrested him, Palestinian security officials said they had been informed by the Israeli army.
His son and another man were also injured in the shooting on the balcony of the family home, they said.
Local Fatah leaders accused the Israeli army of summarily executing Mr Dababissa, who they said was accused by Israel of killing a Jewish settler in the region three years ago.
Earlier today the Israeli army began to withdraw from the Palestinian-ruled Ramallah, signalling an end to the two-week-old reoccupation of parts of the West Bank city which had drawn international criticism.
Ramallah was one of six West Bank cities partially reoccupied by Israel after radical Palestinians assassinated a far-right Israeli cabinet minister on October 17th in revenge for Israel's slaying of its leader.
Under heavy international pressure, Israel pulled its troops out of Bethlehem and neighbouring Beit Jala last week and left the Palestinian-ruled city of Qalqilya on Monday after reaching what it said were truce agreements with local commanders.
Israel's defence minister, Mr Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, said his forces would maintain their cordon around the town, taking positions just outside Ramallah.
Five Palestinians were killed in the West Bank yesterday in fresh violence, including three gunmen who the Palestinian Authority said had been "executed" by Israeli forces after they were wounded in an exchange of fire.
The army said the three died in a gun battle in which an Israeli army officer was also killed.
AFP