The Israeli army assassinates a Palestinian resistance fighter near Tulkarem city

Wednesday March 12, 2008 13:11 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

Saleh Karkuk, 28, said to be a Palestinian resistance fighter was killed by Israeli army fire during a morning invasion on Wednesday targeting the village of Sieda near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem.

File - 2007

Palestinian sources said that the operation started on Wednesday at dawn when a dozen Israeli military vehicles and a bulldozer invaded the village of Sieda and surrounded a house .

Troops opened fire at the house and forced all the residentsout then detained them until the operation ended witnesses said. Soldiers using loud speakers called upon Karkuk to leave the house or the house would be demolished with him inside.

Shortly after the army bulldozer demolished the front side of the house, soldiers noticed a body on the ground which they opened fire at it then the bulldozer pushed the body, out of the destroyed house.

When villagers identified Karkuk as the dead person some of them tried to take the body soldiers opened fire at them using nearby homes as sniper posts. Medical sources reported no injuries among the villagers in the following clashes.

At around 9: 00 am on Wednesday the Israeli left the village of Sieda after destroying the house completely. The house belonged to Yousif Hamad from the village of Sieda. Shortly after the army left villagers took the body of Karkuk to a local hospital to be sent back to his family in the nearby village of Attel also located near Tulkarem city.

The Islamic Jihad armed wing Al Quds brigades said that Karkuk was one of their fighters and he was hiding from the army in Sieda village, the brigades promise retaliation for this attack.

tulkarem | israeli attacks | news report ghassanb at imemc dot org