Israel on high alert for revenge attacks

ISRAELI security forces were placed on high alert in readiness for revenge attacks from Hamas as another member of the radical Islamic group was killed, the day after the death of 15 Palestinians in Gaza.

Sameh Arar became the seventh Hamas member to be shot dead by Israeli forces in two days when he was gunned down by a special forces unit in a raid near the West Bank town of Ramallah, Palestinian security and medical sources said yesterday.

An Israeli military source said soldiers had gone to arrest the 24-year-old in the village of Qarawat Bani Zeid but had been forced to shoot him when he tried to flee despite warning shots being fired.