Israeli commander killed while demolishing building

The commander of an elite Israeli army unit was killed today when a wall fell on top of him as his troops were demolishing a Palestinian home.

Lieutenant Colonel Eyal Weiss died during a raid in the West Bank village of Saida, where the Israeli army surrounded the home of a suspected Palestinian militant and began tearing it down.

At one stage, part of a wall his Mr Weiss, who was standing across the road. A Palestinian man was also killed during the Israeli incursion.

Mr Weiss, who commanded the Duvdevan undercover unit was the fourth Israeli soldier to die in just two days.

Last night, three soldiers were killed when Palestinian militants detonated a bomb underneath their tank in the Gaza Strip.