Islamic Jihad gunmen shot dead

Israeli forces shot and killed two Islamic Jihad gunmen early today, Palestinians and Israeli military officials said.

Israeli forces entered the village of Alar in the Tulkarem area intending to arrest suspects, the officials said.

Two armed Palestinians fled the scene and opened fire on Israeli soldiers, who returned the fire. The two Islamic Jihad militants were killed.

Yesterday, Israeli forces evacuated an old army base in the northern West Bank used last as a staging area for removing settlers and protesters from two settlements last month, but soldiers shot dead a young Palestinian who entered the base too quickly.

Allah Khamtouni, 19, and nine other Palestinians went into the Dotan base near the Palestinian town of Jenin, mistakenly thinking it had been abandoned, Palestinian officials said.

Israeli Colonel Shmulik Kalmi said Khamtouni ran into the base with a group of people. Soldiers fired warning shots in the air, but they did not halt, he said.

Fearing the Palestinians might be planning a suicide bombing, the soldiers fired at Khamtouni’s legs, but he bent down as they fired, was hit in the shoulder and died, Kalmi said.

Both the Israeli army and the Palestinians said Khamtouni was unarmed.

Late yesterday afternoon, the last troops left Dotan and Palestinians flooded in, grabbing what debris and construction materials they could, before Palestinian police opened fire on them, wounding three in the legs, witnesses said. About 60 uniformed police restored order.

The rundown base was retained as a staging post as part of Israel’s forced evacuation last month of the nearby Homesh and Sanur settlements. Settlers evacuated two other settlements voluntarily.