Israel has dealt its heaviest blow to a key militant group within Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction, killing its most senior West Bank commander. Israeli troops shot dead Nayef Abu Sharkh and five other Palestinian gunmen Saturday during an ambush on their hideout in a house in Nablus, a militant stronghold. It was the deadliest raid into the West Bank for months.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, whose militants have carried out dozens of suicide bombings and attacks against Israelis, vowed revenge and said in a statement its retaliation would be “unprecedented” and “like an earthquake.”

The militant group, one of the driving forces behind a Palestinian uprising that began in September 2000, operates largely from the West Bank where Arafat lives. Also among the dead were two lower-ranking local leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the West Bank. Nablus has long been a center for militant groups that have killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings in over three and a half years of conflict.

The Jewish state launched its latest raid into Nablus’s old city, a warren of ancient streets, three days ago. Lt. Colonel Itzik, an army commander who led the ambush, confirmed the raid was carried out after Israel prevented a bombing in Jerusalem planned by militants based in Nablus. “That’s why we acted this weekend, but even though we act, they (the militants) still manage to carry out attacks. We will continue to act there in the city as long as there’s a threat on Israel.” The killings overshadowed a visit by US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, who urged both sides to fulfil commitments and take advantage of the “moment of opportunity” offered by Ariel Sharon’s Gaza pullout plan.

Israeli troops late last month raided the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza, killing about 44 Palestinians, but have not pushed into West Bank towns with significant force since April.

Earlier on Saturday, Israeli troops shot dead another al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades armed militant in Nablus who military sources said had confronted soldiers. On Friday, soldiers killed two Palestinians, including one gunman in the city.

Atef Sa’ad